Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series. On this episode, we talk with Detroit-bred, NYC-based jazz violinist Gwen Laster, a nationally acclaimed musician known for her bold voice in modern jazz. We discuss her powerful new 2025 release with her quartet titled “Keepers of the Flame.”

Inspired by Clyde W. Ford’s The Hero With an African Face and her reflections on Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, Gwen explores the African American cultural experience through a vivid musical lens. A recipient of honors from the National Endowment for the Arts and many others, Gwen brings her Detroit roots, Family Love of jazz and soul, and decades of experience to this moving, improvisation-rich album.

🎻 Get the album “Keepers of the Flame”: https://www.gwenlaster.net/event-details/keepers-of-the-flame-album-release

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Joe Dimino Podcaster/Artist

Joe Dimino has been writing & creating in a variety of capacities since his college days at the University of Missouri-Kansas City somewhere around 1993. If you are keeping score, that would be about 29 years+. It all began at UMKCs University News as a Sports Writer & turned into a myriad of expressive avenues. Inventing poems, art, video & audio has always been in the proverbial cards.