ANGEL BETHEA

Amy K Bormet: Today's edition is the Angel Bethea edition. It's very exciting for me because I, as I'm sure we'll get into, have known you for so long, and I just love playing with you and I love everything about you. I love hanging out with you. I think that you are one of my favorite musical beings. 

Angel Bethea: Thank you. 

Amy K Bormet: So how did you get into music? What was your, what was your first, uh, itch? 

Angel Bethea: Well, I started out playing actually in church mostly, but right before then, in grade school, we had a band guy come to the school. We didn't have music at first. This was Nativity Catholic Academy in D.C., Northwest D.C., Brightwood area. He came to the school and he brought all these instruments. He brought a list, said, You guys pick what you want to play, Let's get things started, basically. And I took the list home to my mom. I picked clarinet. 

Amy K Bormet: Oh yeah. 

Angel Bethea: So I started out playing clarinet and it was nice. It was fun. It was cool. I took clarinet and went into this program called DC Youth Orchestra in DC. My mom was very supportive. Both my parents were very supportive of it. 

Amy K Bormet: Amazing.

Angel Bethea: Told me, I can play as long as I take things seriously because they have money to waste. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah, buy all those reeds. 

Angel Bethea: Yeah. So I kept playing clarinet and then I got into guitar and they were like, All right, you're going to be trying to play all the things? But my grandma, she was kind enough to get me give me a guitar. And so we started playing church tunes, you know, "Away In A Manger" in Christmas time. Nice for, you know, the church and everything. And then they had a drum set. 

Amy K Bormet: Uh oh. 

Angel Bethea: And I was like, All right. Nobody's playing drum set, but there's a drum set there. Hey, guys, do you mind if I learn to play the kit? And they're like, Oh, yeah, sure. You can learn to play at home to my parents. And of course, they're like, All right, another instrument. All right, cool. Take it seriously. And we got you. Okay. So I learned to play. They hired a teacher for me to learn until I could basically hold church services on my own. Kept playing. And then after graduating from eighth grade. They were like, all right. So, you know, we're looking at high schools. Where do we want to go? And we were looking for somewhere where I could play music. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to play music. It was basketball or music. And so I was in both programs. And my mom, you know, same, same deal. She was like, all right, you know, money's going everywhere. What do you want to do? What do you really want to do? What do you want to concentrate on? And it was hard, but I was like, you know, basketball is, you know, basketball. I really want to play music. So... 

Amy K Bormet: It's a good call. 

Angel Bethea: Yes. Yes. We found Ellington High School. We went there a year early to find out what I needed to do. Do I need to audition? What do I need to know? And DCYO was really good to me and teaching me how to read and all that good stuff, and I went to the summer camp. They had Ellington. That was good. That was fun. I had an amazing time and I met Davey Yarborough and he showed me all the all the goods. He he sat me down. He did the whole. All right, can you play a paradiddle on your right hand and then put it on your left hand and then put your foot? And I was like, all right. He was like, All right, cool. You sound good. Come to the Washington Jazz Arts Institute and I'll teach you everything you need to know to get into this school. 

Angel Bethea: Went to that program, did the summer program at Ellington, got into the school. I was so, so, so happy and everything kind of took off from there. All my teachers were so good to me and teaching me everything I needed to know, career wise, how to operate just as a person in general. Be a good person, be a good musician, study get your technique together, all that good stuff. And. Yeah. So that's how I got into music. Drums, sticking with drums. I'm still at the Washington Jazz Arts Institute. I went there for a while as a student for a few years, which is where I met you. 

Amy K Bormet: Yes. 

Angel Bethea: And you cared about the drummers, you know. So. So you were teaching us theory. You were teaching us how to scat. None of us wanted to scat, but you were like, This is a skill. You need to go. You guys need to know how to have. So just for learning music and keeping things together. And so that was my that was how I got into music. That's how I got where I am now. 

Amy K Bormet: Got started. Wow. 

Angel Bethea: Yeah.

Amy K Bormet: I didn't know you played the clarinet. I love that.

Angel Bethea: Oh, yes. 

Amy K Bormet: I played the clarinet. I was really bad. 

Angel Bethea: Oh. 

Amy K Bormet: But I really enjoyed it, you know, cause my mom's a clarinet player, so we already had clarinets lying around, so it's like, play this. 

Angel Bethea: Oh, great. 

Amy K Bormet: Great. We already have an extra. Yes. That's awesome. I'm also, like, waiting for you to cover Christmas songs now. Um, so many ideas. 

Angel Bethea: Clarinet and drums. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah, I think Ellington is, like, the most magical place ever. 

Angel Bethea: Yes. 

Amy K Bormet: And early on, watching you play and interacting with you when you were a teenager at Ellington and then at Washington Jazz Arts Institute, thinking about how important it is to have that combo experience, to have that play with a small group when you're improvising and when you're learning how to play jazz and especially bebop. And it's really born around these small group ideas. But I know you also really like big band and you play lots of other types of music. And so after you left Ellington, you went to George Mason. 

Angel Bethea: I went to George Mason University. I had other choices, but I'm glad I picked George Mason because it was still, you know, it was far enough from home, but close enough where if I needed to go see my mom, I could go do that. But it was also close to the right there with the D.C. jazz scene. So hopping on the Metro and going to Green Island Cafe, staying there for a while, and then Ubering back home, whatever the case was. But I was glad to still have that interaction with a lot of my Ellington friends. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: And a lot of the Mason students and I went there because Joe McCarthy of Afro Bop Alliance taught there, which I met when Davey Yarborough took us to a play at a Jazz Fest that was in Georgetown, and Afro BOP was playing there. And I saw that guy and I was like, I want to play music the way he does. I want to play the drums the way he does. It was ridiculous. And I was like, okay, where is he at? And he was at Mason. So I went to Mason. He taught me for the first two years there and the last two Harold Summey taught me there, which is another monstrous drummer that was in the D.C. Scene. Yeah. After there I decided to I did my bachelor's there and decided to just stay in the D.C. Area and just continue playing around the scene, playing with you, playing with other people. I look up to playing with peers, figuring out what's going on here and just keeping... Keeping that going. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah, that's awesome. What do you feel like are some of your favorite, your favorite venues to play in DC? 

Angel Bethea: Uh. 

Amy K Bormet: Past or present. 

Angel Bethea: Past or... One of my favorite past venues was the Brixton. Yeah, I really, really loved the Brixton. There was a lot going on upstairs and yes. 

Amy K Bormet: There was a line out the door for the roof. Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: When I first got there, I was like, What is happening? 

Amy K Bormet: And then this many people like jazz. Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: This is a happening place. But in the middle floor, when I first got there, there was jazz on the middle floor and it was, it was so cool. I met so many people there. I met Fred Foss there, who was also really good to me and gave me a lot of kind words and encouraged me a lot while I was there. Will Stevens, I met him there and a lot of other horn players, Herb Scott and then you did a showcase there a few times and that was that was really awesome. So I met a lot of other women there, women, jazz musicians there, and that was one of my favorite spots. And then Mr. Henry's, I don't go as much anymore, but that was one of the first places I also went to. One of my current favorite places is Green Island, because no matter what's going like, people are always playing. There's always music. There's whether it's a good night, bad night, wherever the case is, is always a good time to come and just play and just share what you know or take from what other people are sharing there. Anybody at any point in time comes and they sit in. I remember during the D.C. Jazz Fest, a lot of times a lot of those cats will just stop by and see what's going on because it's open. It's one of the latest open spots also. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: So I don't eat their drink there much, but I play. I just sit there and listen. Listen. Yes. Yeah. So and before it was Green Island, it was Columbia Station. So I was originally playing at right next door, playing at Columbia Station a lot and then moved over to the next building, became Green Island Cafe, I think it's called something else now. 

Amy K Bormet: And now it keeps moving. 

Angel Bethea: Moonlight or something of that nature. Sorry, I'm butchering the name. I can't keep up either. 

Amy K Bormet: I can't keep up either. So the ever changing named spot spot though, who did you play with there at that Columbia station or at Green Island or whatever it's called? 

Angel Bethea: All the names. Yeah. Steve Arnold. Yeah. Salvatore on bass. Of course. Peter Edelman, Elijah Balbed. Who else? Everybody is there. Herb Scott is there. Dave Manley is there. I met another sax player. Her name is Angel. I don't remember her last name. 

Amy K Bormet: Angel McCray. 

Angel Bethea: Angel McCray. Yeah. 

Amy K Bormet: She was on the showcase this year. 

Angel Bethea: She was amazing to listen to also. 

Amy K Bormet: She's a good bass player, too. 

Angel Bethea: I didn't know she played. Wow. 

Amy K Bormet: It's business. It's serious business. 

Angel Bethea: I got to hear her play bass. 

Amy K Bormet: Wow. So you touched a little bit about some of the the shows that you went to and performed at for Washington Women in Jazz. What are your first, uh, memories of performances that you did as part of Washington Women in Jazz? 

Angel Bethea: Oh, I remember we did one at Westminster church. Yeah, we did a big band hit there. Yeah, it was with Shannon.

Amy K Bormet: Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes. 

Angel Bethea: That was really good. That was really cool. I met Savannah Harris there and she was incredible. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: And I was like, All right, yeah, I really want to keep doing this because this is really awesome. That was one of my favorite shows. Hearing how she interpreted the music that you guys wrote, which is another cool thing. There's always original music there. So you're doing some... You're listening to something new, you're hearing something new, and you're learning about all the women in the area. Another... The showcases all of the showcases. We did one at the Atlas. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah.

Angel Bethea: I think might have been my first was at my first showcase, the Atlas I did one. Levine I think that was my first one. Yeah, Levine School of Music. And that was really cool. I met so many people. Sequoyah Snyder 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. That was back at THEARC.

Angel Bethea: At THEARC, yes, at THEARC. 

Amy K Bormet: That's a nice space. Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: So that was that was really cool. Those are some of my first memories of playing with women in jazz. And I remember when you introduced me to the group, you were like, Come on, just, you know, come play and you know, it'll be a good time. And you said you made it sound really fun, but you didn't really put emphasis... I think you wanted us to experience what was happening. You didn't put emphasis like, you're going to meet all these people and but you kind of said it, but you're going to be people. You're going to do this, you're going to do that. 

Angel Bethea: And I was like, you know, we're all like, Cool. That's nice. Yeah, we get to get to be in there. And then you get there and you're like, Wow, there's all these other women doing what I want to do. Learning Like, I'm learning. They're writing, they're playing, they're traveling all over. That's where I met Alex Hamburger. She was one of the judges, I believe. 

Amy K Bormet: Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: And they gave really good feedback. They really listened to your playing and it's a just a great place to be, to learn about, to meet other women doing what you're doing and playing and sharing their knowledge. And you get to learn a lot from them. And they're all traveling. They're all around the world. They're here, they're in Europe, they're everywhere. The fact that you bring artists from other countries here to just for the festival is really awesome because they bring a taste of what they do. They're here in the as to what we're doing. So and what you're doing for all of us here. So 

Amy K Bormet: it's all happening. 

Angel Bethea: That's... Yes. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. I think that's my every year that's my favorite thing. The Emerging Artist Showcase. And it's always overwhelming because there's so many people and everybody's coming from all these different spaces and everybody has different expectations of what they want the event to be. And I've been trying to think about how to actually make it serve the community instead of, you know, this sort of individual ego vibe. Because when I first started, I did it gone through yet again many names. So when I first started, it was the Young artist competition. And I don't know if you ever came to any of those, but we had a competition, and I think the very first year was Danielle Wertz, the singer, and she won. And then Taylor Lee also also won. Um, and so, you know, Isabelle de Leon won. 

Angel Bethea: I remember. Okay. 

Amy K Bormet: So those were like the early it was like 2012, 2013 

Angel Bethea: beginnings.

Amy K Bormet: the very beginnings of this thing. And I was like, Oh, I just want to get, you know, I want to get younger people involved with what I'm doing. At the time I was like 27. So I was like, I need the youth. I'm so old. And so, yeah, I started doing that. And and I realized very quickly after three years that the competition was not the vibe that I, I wanted, um, for the group because people would come in and they would play and then they would leave and then everybody would be kind of like deflated except for the winner who was like elated. But it didn't really... It didn't really make any sense because it wasn't achieving the goals that I wanted, which was like the things that you said, like everybody's hanging out, everybody's networking, everybody's happy to meet everybody else. They're not just like eyeballing. And there's so much, um, there's so many competitions for student musicians that I think it can be really overwhelming and really uncomfortable to be in yet another competition and especially for women to be like, Now we found all the women and we're gonna make them compete. It's like, Well, maybe instead we could like, everybody could play with everybody else. And once I started encouraging people to bring original compositions and, you know, setting up times for rehearsals and things like that, it really has blossomed and now is the Emerging Artist showcase. So yeah, that's one of my favorite things. 

Angel Bethea: That is also one of my favorite things. 

Amy K Bormet: I'm so glad I made it for you. I was like, Angel wiill crush this. 

Angel Bethea: Oh my. It's like every year you meet somebody new. Yeah, you meet somebody different. And it's incredible. Even when the same folks come, it's always a great time to just be around each other, playing with each other. I went to. New Orleans for the Jazz Education Network Conference with the George Mason University Jazz Group. And I saw some of the women that were at the showcase. That was really, really cool. 

Amy K Bormet: Oh, nice. 

Angel Bethea: Sophie Smith 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah, 

Angel Bethea: trumpet player. I met her there. I saw her playing and then I saw her at the showcase and I was like, Oh man, this is cool. But that's what it's about. You bring all the people together and we get to network some more, and you do encourage us to keep in touch and to play with each other, talk with each other, get advice from each other. And it's like an intergenerational thing and then like a lifelong thing at the same time. Because no matter, you know how old we get, how much we learn, how much we do, we can still reach out to each other and say, Hey, I need help on this. Oh, hey, are you playing over here? Let me come see you play? Or, you know, that kind of family that you create family environment as opposed to competition deal that you say, which is also good. You know, you still learn that way, but you take it a step further when you have us create kind of a community and networking system together. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah, definitely. I think that network for me when I was in college was not really there that that women... Women in jazz network, even though I went to you know, I went to University of Michigan and the head of the Jazz Department, Ellen Rowe, is a woman. And I studied with Geri Allen, a woman, and Mary Ann Haden taught there, who was also great woman, bass player in Detroit. So I was surrounded by women teachers. I had women teachers, I think is kind of rare for a jazz program even now, sadly, but I didn't really have that sense of like women as peers out on the, on the scene. And there's so much that can be said for being able to connect to people and say, Oh, hey, I'm coming up, you know, I'm coming up to New York or I'm coming to Philly or I'm going down to North Carolina. And, you know, do you want to share a bill with me? Do you want to collaborate? And that brings me to my next question, which is, what do you remember about Washington women in jazz collaborations and the artists that you played with? Are there specific people that stick out other than me? Obviously we've played together a ton. We've had some really good times. We'll get to that. But thinking about other people outside of, um, you know, people that have come into town, but also people that you've played with a lot, um, as part of Washington women in jazz. 

Angel Bethea: Leigh Pilzer is one of the people that stick out a lot. Um, I run into her seeing her play on the scene and a lot of other venues and with her own group, her own big band. And I learned about her being a part of the Women in Jazz Fest. And then she also went to Mason as well. So when I was leaving, she was there, which was really awesome seeing her do her arrangements and stuff. She was one of the women that stuck out. Karine Chapdelaine. Basically. I talk about this all the time with her, but seeing her on the Women in Jazz stage playing bass and having her two kids like one sitting on the bass. 

Amy K Bormet: making it happen,

Angel Bethea: One running around there. And that made me feel like I could be a mom and care about my career so much and do all the things at the at the same time and still still be a great musician. So Karine, Leigh, who else? Savannah Harris. I don't know how long she was there, but again, she was one of my first memories of getting in touch with the organization. Yeah. Sequoia Snyder. Yeah, went to Ellington with her and she's doing incredible. 

Amy K Bormet: Amazing piano player. Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: Yeah, those are some of my first calls. 

Amy K Bormet: Some of your faves

Angel Bethea: Yeah. Some of my people. 

Amy K Bormet: Not to insult anyone else!

Angel Bethea: No, not at all. 

Amy K Bormet: All of them. All of them are great. All the concerts were perfect. Nailed it. We've done it. We've done a lot of stuff, man, I... What do you think in terms of, you know, working as a musician on the scene? What what do you feel like there? Um, you know, any difficulties that that come up? Just being a musician and working, especially here in D.C., do you think of like specific things that you hear about? I think all over the world it's hard to be a musician, but thinking about what you know, what we could improve as a scene in D.C.? What kind of things would you like to see improved? 

Angel Bethea: I would like to see. The whole venue thing. Of course, for me, they're closing all the time. They're. They're opening and there's just being able to Create something that lasts a little longer, if that makes sense. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. Some stability. 

Angel Bethea: Some stability. Yes. So there may be other things we need to work on as well. As women musicians in the industry. Me, myself included, you know, getting our business stuff together and making sure we can control stuff like that and help it last longer and grow more. 

Amy K Bormet: No, I was just thinking about... What else do you want to improve in the city or with the community or...

Angel Bethea: Of... I'd say, If we could do more of what you've created for us, which is there's the festival, but after the festival, sometimes we spread out and we don't. We try the best to keep in contact. But if we also you do that for us. And then some of us need to also take on the like lead pillars doing the same thing as well, but take on that mentorship and sharing that networking with each other, calling each other more for gigs, hits, help. We have other talents and people know how to market and you know, there's so many men doing everything so we could use each other also in doing that. So myself included, I was looking at some of my lists of people to call and I was just like, Oh man, there's only this many women on my list to call for this stuff. Yeah, so just networking more. And I think that's yeah, that's what I can think of for now. 

Amy K Bormet: Building it up. Yeah, that's true. And I think about that how, um, you know, on the stage saying all the women performers, but also thinking about how we can support women as promoters and women as engineers and women stage managers and all those other things that we need to, to have a successful performance. Um, and really finding those people also and lifting them up within our community has been something that the last couple of years I've been trying to think about more like how can I collaborate with different organizations that also support women or are run by women? Dior Ashley Brown from the DC Music Summit, I know we've done some fun shows with her and um, at the Kennedy Center and also with the, for the D.C. Music Summit we've played. And I was thinking about just, you know, the Boulanger initiative, it's a women's composers program up in Maryland and, and thinking about how we can continue to have these collaborations with people that support the same types of things that we are working toward. We have the same goals across the board. So that's something that has been really, really cool to start to move in that direction so that it's more than just seeing women as performers, but also it's the full, the full gamut of production. 

Angel Bethea: Yeah. 

Amy K Bormet: And having those types of things. Um, so what do you think, What do you think about when you think about like your, your goals as a, as a musician and as a, as a performer and as a person, What, you know, what are some of those things that, that you see yourself doing in the future? 

Angel Bethea: Um, I still do want to I was talking about this when we were in St. Croix, but I want to wait. 

Amy K Bormet: Let's talk about St. Croix first. 

Angel Bethea: Yes. Yes. Okay. 

Amy K Bormet: Wait, no, tell me what you want to do and then we'll go back. We'll go back. We'll go back. I'm too Excited. 

Angel Bethea: Yes, I do. I still want to have my own group. I haven't really hit that idea hard yet. But still, I'm always thinking about it. Who I want to put my group. What do I want my group to sound like? I want to write more. Yeah. And give my own group. So that's. That's one of my goals and put out, put out a project and see how that goes. So that's kind of they all kind of run in the same I have to do the first step, second step, third, get to that project. But yeah, that's my that's one of my goals right now. 

Amy K Bormet: That's super cool. 

Angel Bethea: And just meeting more, more young young women who are young. I'm still young. Yes. 

Amy K Bormet: Very youthful. 

Angel Bethea: Who are younger that I can pas what I know, too, and, you know, take from them, too. We're always learning and exchanging that. But yeah, that's my goal. I want to continuing teaching and. Um, just getting my own project out there. 

Amy K Bormet: That's awesome. Yeah, well, can't wait to hear that. You know? You know, I'm ready for it. Um, and I think that you're such a great, um, a great teacher and a great mentor for so many students. And it's been so... Such a blast to see you as a teenager in Washington Jazz Arts Institute and now co-teaching with me and hanging out and just really gaining all of this beautiful community and information exchange. I always talk about it as like mutual mentorship because we refer to ourselves not just as teachers over there, but as, um, you know, mentors and the program. So thinking about how much we're learning from the, the other students in the program and, and how much we're gaining ourselves teaching there, it's, it's really satisfying. And what kind of things do you feel like are like top of your list in terms of teaching and mentoring? 

Angel Bethea: Teaching, of course, all the basics. You know, you talk about the roots of the music, listening to the music, going to see your peers. For me, playing is is extremely important. Being able to get your roots, your basics, you know, learn paradiddles and you know, all that stuff for drummers, for other drummers. Also chord changes and playing your scales, stuff like that. But for me, beyond that is, is the networking, networking and creating a family, finding people that you vibe with well and meeting other musicians that you might not so much, but you're still learning from them also. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: So for me, after you leave the drum set, are you able to connect with those people still and... Share an exchange with those folks still. So that's really important to me. And then passing, no matter how young or old you are, but sharing that with someone else also because it's sad going somewhere and like nobody likes a mean person. So being... 

Amy K Bormet: withholding all of their information. Yeah.

Angel Bethea: I've met some people that I really, really look up to and they were like complete jerks and it was just like, yeah, really sad and disappointing. But don't be that person. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah, don't be that, Be that guy. 

Angel Bethea: Yeah, that's, that's sad. But yeah. So that's important to me. And I really pushed that on my students also to make sure you play well and make sure the people you meet, you can be personable even if you don't like them. Even if you don't, you know, we don't know. But make sure you can still be personable and share and play on the stage with them too. It's going to show in the music. It's going to show in your playing when you don't, you know? Vibe well, or if you're a jerk, you know, at least to me, I think it comes out sometimes in your playing. But yeah, just just play well. Make sure you work on that and make sure you work on your people skills also. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah, people skills. That's rough. You know, you're never going to get a gig if you don't return the phone call. You know what I mean? That's a rough one. Some people still haven't learned that. We've got a lot of grown people out there. I'm like, Hello? Are you there? 

Angel Bethea: Yes. You don't want the gig? all right? 

Amy K Bormet: No. Okay. I get the point. Yeah. One of my favorite things that we have ever done together was to spend two weeks in St. Croix And you and me and Karine Chapdelaine at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts. And that was just so much fun. I What was your experience like? I know we did so many, so many things, but what was your experience like going down there? And I know you have Jamaican roots, Caribbean roots, and you know, what does it feel like playing music in the Caribbean and meeting people

Angel Bethea: That was incredible. And that whole two weeks was just, I need to go back. I would like to go back. Please take us back. Let's go. Let's go. 

Amy K Bormet: Call him up. Yeah, we're Available, y'all. We're available. 

Angel Bethea: It was such an interesting time as well because we got there and, you know, the goal was, you know, share music, teach them about jazz, teach them about some of what we do in D.C. And while there, we learned so much about them. Also the music that they like them putting a twist on, you know, what we give them. Um, and just seeing the, the country itself was so inspiring, just everywhere, so beautiful. And the people are so kind, they're so nice. Every, you know, you wake up and everyone is saying, Good morning, as opposed to here, you know, where you might get a good morning. Maybe they'll look you in the eye, but maybe not. 

Amy K Bormet: They're not going to say anything. They got their headphones on. 

Angel Bethea: They're not talking to you. Yeah. But yeah, it was it was it was so amazing. And they were just so happy to get to be with us and share some of what we were there for because they also were coming from on top of the pandemic. 

Amy K Bormet: They had a hurricane. 

Angel Bethea: Hurricane, Yes. Hit the two hurricanes, I think, which they haven't gotten to fully recover from before the pandemic hit. So they were just really excited and grateful. And that was really inspiring for me. On top of the students and the people there being so inspiring and welcoming, welcoming, seeing you just writing every morning, writing and playing. And I was like, wow, this is this is why the music sounds so good. This is...

Amy K Bormet: It was beautiful there, too. We had we had the best rehearsal spot with the with the windows open straight out to the beach and we're surrounded by paintings and a second floor of an art gallery and the breeze is coming in. 

Angel Bethea: But it's like, I got to see the. The inner workings and behind the scenes of why you do what you do so well. So just waking up and seeing that, I was just like, wow, that's that's incredible. She's like, she she was on it. 

Amy K Bormet: It was so inspiring to just to be around all that beauty and all that, all that love. People showed us so much love there. I think that... Especially the students, the high schools that we went to, they had, you know, had hadn't been in music programs for a couple of years because of the pandemic. And it was sort of end of the year when we were there. And so they were all like antsy and immediately jumped on what we were doing and, you know, teaching them just some blues stuff, some really intro jazz stuff and, and getting them away from, I think the, you know, the paper and the page and having to sweat all that and actually just thinking about how to play together was was really inspirational to see that spark where suddenly they all were like, Oh, okay, I can take a solo. Like, Oh. 

Angel Bethea: The ones who were shy before. And then they started out like, Oh, what is this? What is? And then we got into it and they were like, Oh, yeah, let me, let me jump in. Let me get a, get a solo in there. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: And then some of them not knowing much about it when we got there. And then as we were leaving, having taken two choruses or whatever that you gave them to play over, you know, the Ellington tunes that we were doing. So that was really nice to see them be able to do something that they didn't want to do or weren't necessarily interested in because they didn't know what to expect quite yet. Just being so excited to say that they took some solos over the tunes that you brought to them. So that was awesome to you. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. Well, another thing that of course I really liked that kind of came out of conversations we had while we were in St. Croix, was putting together this big band for this past year at Atlas Performing Arts Center. And so I had to get Leigh Pilzer because she's the big band master. She knows she knows how to do all of it so, so well and how to corral all the all the musicians, which is a whole other art form. And, and it was so much fun, um, for me to start to put together the music that we had been playing in a trio format and thinking about how we can use it as a big band. 

Amy K Bormet: Um, what was that, that big band experience like for you? 

Angel Bethea: That was nice. That was really cool. First of all, meeting all the people, there were so, so many people, some that I that I met before and some that I hadn't met, some that I had been watching for a while. Langston was on there. Ali and her husband were there. 

Amy K Bormet: Albrecht, Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: that was that was really cool. Seeing and being on the same hit with everybody, I was like, This is, this is awesome. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. 

Angel Bethea: Which is what you said. Leigh Pilzer is so great at putting together people and then hearing all you guys tunes that you we hear them in combos and, you know, maybe solo pieces and stuff like that make big band versions of it. 

Amy K Bormet: That was really cool. So my, I was, I was just excited to be a part of that and to learn, learn some more fills and, you know, playing together with all those people. So that was really cool for me. 

Amy K Bormet: Yeah. 

Amy K Bormet: What is your favorite thing like about big band drumming? You have favorite drummers or people that you like. 

Angel Bethea: I love this support. I love being able to support people's different interpretations of the music. If that makes sense. How to Play along with different musicians. Eric Williams, I love listening to his playing, too. And he has a... Kind of for me, like he lays back a little more and he going from that and then Ali really driving it. And then, oh, man, it was so many different... That's what I like most playing, supporting and interpreting the music. And it it just it sounds so good. So I tell my students, you need to listen to big band music. Make sure you listen to this person. That person. Yeah. 

Amy K Bormet: So who are you? Yeah. Who are your favorite big band drummers? 

Angel Bethea: Sonny Greer. Yeah, Philly Joe. Oh, man. There's so many different ones. Even current Steve Fidrych hearing him play Kevin McDonald. All those guys. But really the Sinatra at the Sands album has to be one of my favorites, one of my favorite albums, because they're just hitting so hard. Everything there is to know about Big Band. I feel like you can listen to that album and, you know, pick something up from each tune. It's really, really crazy. 

Amy K Bormet: That's awesome. Yeah, I love that record, too. It's genius. What do you think? Like the first memories you have of playing Baby band? Did you play? You played at Ellington. I'm assuming you played a big band. 

Angel Bethea: My first experience with Big band, my only experience for a while. 

Amy K Bormet: Wow. You didn't play big band at George Mason? 

Angel Bethea: Yes, at Mason. I did. But before then it was just Ellington was the only place I got to play big band, which was really, really nice. Any other time I was playing with a big band was like theater stuff. DCYO had some stuff, but it wasn't quite big band. It was them trying to do something. But that was my early, earliest experience and we we studied a lot of... Yarborough had us studying a lot of the Ellington and Basie and even Sammy Nestico arrangements and other, you know, folks playing this great music. So that was my just listening to a lot of those and learning how to drive a group, how to lay back, how to support shout choruses and all that type of stuff was just everything in one. Everything you could love about the music in one one, one setting. So that's my favorite and earliest memories of the music that's playing in big band. 

Amy K Bormet: All right, now I'm ready. I'm ready to play some music. Should we. Should we play some music? 

Angel Bethea: Let's play. Let's play some music. 

Amy K Bormet: Let's do it.