Today we’d like to introduce you to John O’Leary.
Hi John, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Ever since I was a kid it was no secret that I was totally obsessed with music.
Piano was actually my first instrument; I think one of my earliest core memories of music lessons was when my teacher showed me the blues for the first time. It was just 3 little chords and a blues scale, but I was so into it, so I went straight home, wrote a blues tune, and showed my parents, who were always super supportive of me. By fifth grade I was doing band on saxophone and chorus at the same time, and by senior year of high school I was doing it all: 3 band classes on sax, clarinet, and flute… AP music theory class… drum major of the marching band… my friends and I even had a rock band that won the talent show with our face-melting cover of The Who’s “Baba O’Reiley”. I was Lord of the band geeks, and I was really happy to have found my place in the world, when it seemed like everyone around me was still searching for their purpose.
Growing up in the Metro Atlanta suburbs (Peachtree City), I was really lucky to have had some incredibly supportive middle and high school band directors. I think my big “Oh shit” moment, where I first knew I wanted to study music, was when I was accepted into the Governor’s Honors Program, a selective summer program held at Valdosta State University. I learned a lot that summer from David Springfield (VSU Jazz Department Head), who has been inspiring generations of high school kids to follow their dreams like I did. After that I got accepted into the Georgia State University’s youth honor band, the “Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra”. Gordon Vernick (GSU jazz department head) directs the big band there, and Mace Hibbard was also very involved with the saxophones back then: I consider both of them to be my “Atlanta Jazz Mentors” and have always looked up to them as sources of inspiration.
It was because of all these great Georgia music institutions that I was able to go on and pursue a master’s degree at a top conservatory, and to have the fulfilling, if not at times difficult, career that I’ve carved out for myself. So my origin story isn’t so much of a “Boy faces adversity and overcomes great odds to achieve his dreams” kind of thing… it’s more like: “Boy grows up in a supportive community that helps encourage him to achieve his dreams”, and I think that is a glowing reflection on the state of art in Atlanta, and also across Georgia.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
After graduating from the Manhattan School of Music jazz studies masters degree program, I was in a ton of student debt, so I took a job working as a musician on cruise ships. We went all over North and South America with the Broadway production “After Midnight: A Cotton Club Musical”. The music was fun, traveling the world was a blast, and I literally worked 2 nights a week… so it was the good life… I finally felt like all my hard work was paying off and I was reaping the benefits of my labor… but that would all change in 2020 once I came back off the boat…
I met my wife Beatriz while working on ships, and after just 6 months I knew that I wanted to marry her. She is from Brazil, so after we got engaged, we started the difficult, expensive, and lengthy process of applying for a marriage visa… during COVID… in New York City… which was basically ground zero for the pandemic in America. Suddenly, all my gigs were cancelled, including a date to perform at Carnegie Hall… my music teaching income was cut in half… and my side job as a cater waiter completely disappeared. In addition, as per immigration law, my wife was not legally allowed to work for that entire first year of marriage!
I made it through the year by working physical labor jobs and taking any other work I could, and eventually when everything came back to NYC, it was like water returning to the Serengeti: I was able to get involved in a bunch of performing work and side jobs that got us back on our feet. I realize now that my experience being married to an immigrant during this crazy time was just a small taste of what other immigrants, refugees, and Americans have gone through. I was lucky to have had the means to work, some savings to fall back on, and family to depend on… but a lot of people moving to this country don’t, so while this was one of my biggest obstacles personally, it is unfortunately common for many, and that is a topic I want to explore in my upcoming musical project.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
…When you fall in love with a Brazillian, you also fall in love with Brazil…
I’m currently working on a new album with my band Projeto Brasileiro titled “Sem Fronteiras: Without Borders”. Musically, it’s one of my most exciting and ambitious projects ever: It’s a 4-part suite of continuous music, with each composition exploring different concepts relating to cross-culturalism, immigration, and the state of America today.
After making countless trips to Brazil, learning Portuguese, meeting my wife’s friends and family, and deep diving into Brazillian music, I’ve learned so much about the culture and traditions of Brazillian people, and I’ve found a new direction to take my music that is both personally fulfilling and also serves a greater purpose: to better connect people across the world through art.
In Projeto Brasileiro’s upcoming release “Sem Fronteiras”, we discover how music can bring together people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and countries. We continue a long-standing tradition of respect and love between American and Brazilian artists, to show that we have more in common with each other than we think. Since music is a universal language, we can use it to see that we all want the same thing: to live a happy, peaceful life, and to protect and support our loved ones.
At a time when our leaders are sewing hate, xenophobia, and racism… love is a political protest.
Be a rebel and join the revolution! Open your arms to your neighbors, have them over for dinner, strike up a conversation with your new coworker who moved from abroad, befriend the new kid at school who might eat strange foods or wear different clothes than you. You might make a life long friend, have your entire world view changed, or you might even fall in love.
Projeto Brasileiro is still in the early stages of rehearsing and refining “Sem Fronteiras: Without Borders”, so keep an eye out on our social media pages for upcoming shows in the Atlanta area!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Jazz music is all about taking risks. When you are improvising, there are a million things that could go wrong, and there are a billion possibilities of where the music could go. Once the tune starts, you have to dive in head on and take command, or it’ll pass you by. It is a music that requires every musician on the band stand to be present at all times and firing on all cylinders. You can’t be doom scrolling on your phone or thinking about how you’re gonna ask out Judy from work. You have to be focused, and you have to mean what you say.
I’ve always loved how Jazz not only pushes the limits musically, but also holds a mirror up to society. Jazz music doesn’t shy away from the hard topics. Jazz musicians don’t sit down and shut up. You won’t hear Jazz fans and supporters ever tell a musician to “just play the music”. The music itself is weaved into the fabric of the Black American experience, and so it is inherently political. Similarly, Samba and Bossa Nova, among other styles, are not simply fun beachy elevator music wallpaper bullshit… If you study the history of Brazil: their struggle with a facist militant dictator – protestors, musicians, and innocent civilians murdered in the streets or tortured – the attempt to control public thought and to silence artists… you’ll discover as I have that Jazz and Brazilian music are actually saying the same thing:
Music is Freedom. Art is Love. And anyone that tries to stifle Music, Art, Freedom, or Love, is your enemy. If we lift up our voices to express ourselves openly and be who we truly are, we can all live in a world where we support each other, help those in need, and can live in peace.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.johnolearymusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnoleary251/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@johnoleary251
