All right.

Hey, there.

I'm alldaywes host of the Monday night Jazz Odyssey from 10 p.m.

to midnight on KUVO.

And we're here in the Bonfils Stanton performance Studio at the Buell Public Media Center.

Today's guest is one of the most exciting and forward thinking voices in the modern jazz scene.

Sasha Berliner is a vibraphonist, composer and band leader whose music blends emotional depth, rhythmic fire and a fearless sense of exploration.

She's also been a powerful voice for change in the music world, speaking out on issues of equality, representation and the artists role in today's culture.

Sasha, thanks so much for being here at KUVO today.

I'm happy to be here.

Thanks for having me.

Awesome.

So what drew you into the vibraphone?

It's such a unique instrument.

Yeah.

This is this is always a good question.

I started on the drums and I auditioned for a performing arts high school that basically introduced me to the vibraphone, and I stuck with it ever since.

Wow.

That's cool.

Yeah.

You know, vibes is kind of like a great in-between of percussion and melodic instruments, so.

Yeah.

That is enticing.

Yeah, it was definitely my bridge into the melodic and harmonic aspect of music, of which I did not know very much of before the vibraphone.

So yeah, it's very amazing.

And so who are some of your earliest musical influences like, and how have they changed over time?

Yeah, it's definitely changed.

I grew up with a lot of rock music.

That's sort of what my parents bonded over.

And, you know, and part of what made them, you know, attracted to each other.

And the music that I heard growing up as a kid.

So anything from like Led Zeppelin to Radiohead to Frank Zappa, you know, I heard that stuff a lot as a kid.

My first vibraphone teacher was very influenced by Gary Burton, so that was the first vibraphonist that I ever heard and was really influenced by.

But of course, I quickly came into Bobby Hutcherson from California, and I really love his compositions, and he has a really fearless approach to the vibraphone, and his sense of improvization and exploration is really amazing.

You know, with touring and creating, being an advocate and how do you, you know, keep your head straight through all of it and, you know, keep account of your mental health and, you know, deal with burnout.

Yeah, that's also a good question because it is something that I do struggle with from time to time.

I moved from New York City to Los Angeles and a huge reason for that.

I mean, I started teaching at a university called, UCI, University of California, Irvine.

So that was part of the reason to move to California.

But another thing was because of mental health and burnout.

I think New York is a little more of a stressful living environment.

Even if you live in Brooklyn or Queens or somewhere more chill.

There's something about commuting there.

And like bringing my vibraphone into Times Square to play a gig or something like that and just lugging it up a, you know, a giant like prewar building in Brooklyn at 2 a.m.

that I just was not a fan of.

And I think moving to LA made a really big impact on my mental health.

But definitely going outside and exercising.

I'm big into cooking, so I usually cook if I'm feeling overwhelmed.

It's a good outlet for me.

And then I've also recently started picking up DJing, and to me, DJing is a lot like learning an audio interface like Logic or Ableton and I think the process of going about it is less meticulous.

Maybe.

I mean, like learn transitions and stuff like that, but it's more relaxed.

It's more it doesn't feel as high pressure for me.

So that's usually like a nice thing to do to to get me to like, relax and to, have a good time.

Exploring those other outlets.

Exactly.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Well, Sasha, thank you so much for, you know, sharing your time and your knowledge and energy with us today.

You know, it's been amazing having you talk about your journey and your creative process.

Wishing you all the best on the road ahead.

And you know, we'll be watching along with you.

Thank you so much.

You bet.