Shawn “Thunder” Wallace is a multi-talented jazz musician. A saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who has toured extensively with The Count Basie Orchestra. As the Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Professor at the Ohio State University, he channels his interests and proficiency in jazz to understanding the stories and people that make jazz a rich art form.
Dr. Wallace has now used this time of lockdown and staying at home to conduct a series of fascinating interviews with jazz artists. Dubbed the “The Quarantine Interviews.” Since the end of March, Wallace has conducted 20 plus interviews that are one-on-one candid conversations. They can be found on his Doctor Thunder YouTube page. Here, we provide a few favorites so far. Before doing so, here is a brief bio of Shawn “Thunder” Wallace so you can get to know him a bit better:
Shawn “Thunder” Wallace is a versatile performer, recording artist, composer, clinician and arranger, skilled in jazz music, and equally comfortable with classical, contemporary Christian and gospel music. He has been seen and heard nationally on CBS, BET, NBC, and NPR. In addition to receiving recognition from many newspapers and publications including Billboard and Contemporary Christian Music Magazine, he is a winner of Downbeat magazine’s Outstanding Soloist award.
Dr. Wallace is the director of Jazz Studies and associate professor of jazz saxophone at The Ohio State University. He is also the minister of music and worship arts at Second Baptist Church. He has released eight CDs, is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, flute, clarinet, piano, bass, and guitar) and is the leader of Perfect Storm and The Shawn “Thunder” Wallace Quartet. Dr. Wallace is a Vandoren Artist and endorses Gemeinhardt musical instruments. He appeared in the 2017 movie Miles Ahead and authored the book How to Improvise over Chord Changes (Hal Leonard, 2018). Dr. Wallace tours frequently with The Count Basie Orchestra and also regularly performs with The Columbus Jazz Orchestra.
Here are a few JazzBuffalo favorites of “The Quarantine Interviews”:
