Content I Recommend

• Lygia Pape: Minimalist line drawings. I saw these on display at The Art Institute of Chicago spring break 2017 with my college roommates. They were my favorite exhibit and inspired the artwork for my first album.
• Colossal: A website showcasing new art projects of all mediums from around the world.
• Emma Kunz: Drawings to other dimensions
• Dustin Yellin: Magazine collages in layered resin

• The Minimalists This message has been hugely influential message for me (we’re talking the minimalist lifestyle not the cool one with Steve Reich and John Adams).
• Nicholas Payton He doesn’t use this anymore, but there’s a great catalogue of essays on there. I prefer it to what he’s putting out on Instagram these days.

• David Foster Wallace: Consider The Lobster – I honestly love everything by him but this collection of essays is an accessible and varied introduction to his work.
• Jaron Lanier: 10 Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. Jaron is my favorite thought leader. He advocates for humane tech solutions and ideologies, and has lead the most interesting life I’ve ever known. He’s the founder of virtual reality and also an accomplished musician (this guy advises major tech companies and also sits in with Jon Batiste on The Late Show and I don’t understand how one person does so many things at a high level).

• Denis Villeneuve: Arrival
• Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things A fantastic introduction to questioning the things and relationships around you. an’t recommend this enough. This lifestyle continues to shape my values in a healthy way.
• Jordan Peele: Us
• Wes Anderson: The Royal Tenenbaums

So obviously there’s a lot of great music to choose from. These albums made the cut because I can listen to all of them without wanting to skip any tracks.

• Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Live at Fillmore West: Concrete evidence of the genius of Aretha. Bernard Purdie’s pocket is next level on this one.
• Duke Ellington: And His Mother Called Him Bill The orchestra’s eulogy to Billy Strayhorn. You can hear the tears and pain behind the notes.
• Charles Lloyd Quartet: Mirror This group has really created their own thing. There’s all these unique, slippery textures going on that blend together beautifully. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to sound like Eric Harland on this record.
• Ahmad Jamal: Happy Moods There’s the same space and selfless magic from the trio’s Live at The Pershing record but this one gets slept on.
• Brian Blade Fellowship: Perceptual Every few weeks I have a funny moment where I stop practicing whatever new technique I’m hung up on because I remember I really just want to sound like Brian Blade.
• Janelle Monáe: Dirty Computer She gives me hope for pop music.
• Joshua Redman’s Mood Swing: Perfect example of improvised music with structured parts and roles.
• Benny Green Trio’s Testifyin’!: I love the different textures the trio find in this one. The tracks are all pretty short and they swing like hell.
• Caroline Shaw & Attacca Quartet: Orange I’m admittedly not well listened in the classical world, so I can’t really speak to where it stands in that space. I can say it’s one of the most moving works of music I’ve ever heard and a treasure in my collection. I don’t know how so much music can come from 4 people.

• Ologies w/ Alie Ward: These are funny and informative and Alie puts an admirable amount of care into the production of each episode.
• Creative Pep Talk: Hands down my favorite podcast. Andy J Pizza churns out positivity every week in actionable, enjoyable monologues. There’s a ton of great advice shared on marketing, social media, connecting with fans, and going deeper in our creative practice.
• Working It Out: I’m coming out of a big comedy binge and this podcast is such a gem. Mike Birbiglia gets together with other comedians to workshop their material together. It’s a delightful behind-the-scenes view of how comedy works and what makes a joke a joke.

This is a dangerous category. It hurts to think about how many hours of my life have been spent alone in front of a tv binging sitcoms. But I still think the medium is an incredible opportunity to connect with a world and/or characters in a deeply personal way. Now I’m very careful about starting a series, and have zero problem moving on at any point. With that in mind, I do believe these shows are worth your time: Watch with friends!

• BoJack Horseman: Brutally intelligent and the kind of dark only an animation can pull off. No other show has stuck with me like BoJack. I don’t recommend watching more than 3 episodes in a single sitting – it will put you in a weird place. (Netflix)
• Fleabag: This is the thing I recommend most in the whole world. It’s absurdly funny, refreshingly unique, and only 12 episodes long. Truly the most honest and rewarding representation of dating and sex I’ve ever seen. (Amazon Prime)
• The Office: But only once and it’s okay to take your time (Netflix)
• Avatar The Last Airbender: Pretty much perfect and totally worth revisiting as an adult. The character arcs and world-building are as good as it gets. (Netflix)

• Brain Blade Fellowship Live at Chicago Music Exchange: I watch this youtube concert at least once a month. When Brain Plays the fill (you’ll know it when it happens) I yell inside my house. Couldn’t stop myself if I wanted to.
• Angelo Badalemti explains how he wrote Laura Palmer’s Theme: If you’re a Twin Peaks fan this is potentially the best thing on the internet.
• Kris Johnson’s Safe: This is an amazing example of how visual art can accompany music (rather than the music accompanying the visuals).
• Ben Wendel’s Seasons: December (ft. Ambrose Akinmusire) One of the most beautiful things on YouTube in my book. It’s a thoughtful combination of natural and electronic acoustics, and Ambrose just about plays himself out of the screen and into the room with you.
• Mikel Patrick Avery: Mikel has lot’s of great videos on his YouTube page including Music For 1/2 Size Piano. He’s also behind my favorite interview to date. Follow him on the socials because every once in a while he does a screening of Play: Mikel’s interdisciplinary masterpiece and one of the most compelling things I’ve ever scene.