Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller are the stellar comedy team known for their countless appearances on many television shows and commercials from the 1960's to their current internet series on Red Hour Digital, including their own 80's sitcom, The Stiller and Meara Show. Together and separately, this duo has generated tremendous acclaim for their insightful comedic take on life and relationships. Watch them HERE!

Elsa Hahne is a Swedish-born author, photographer, and designer. Her works have appeared in numerous international magazines and newspapers, including Time and New York Magazine and won several New Orleans Press Club awards. She is the art director and food editor of OffBeat, New Orleans’ premiere music magazine. Her most recent book is “The Gravy: In the Kitchen with New Orleans Musicians”. More on Elsa HERE!

Leah is our M57 Visual Arts Curator. She is a successful artist as well as an Outreach Coordinator at the Art Students League. Check out her page HERE!

Emilie, a third-generation painter, is the daughter of Noel Rockmore (sometimes referred to as the Picasso of New Orleans). Rockmore is well known, for painting more than 800 portraits of the musicians of Preservation Jazz Hall. Emilie has been painting for more than 30 years, and now regularly sketches the musicians working in New Orleans today. She was always a painter first, but in the past two years, drawing has taken precedence and, happily, a sketchpad is well suited to the environment of music clubs. Check out her page on our blog HERE!

Born and raised in New York, Milton Glaser has received numerous awards and much praise for his work in graphic design and illustrations, which includes the world-renowned “I Love NY” logo. The co-founder of New York Magazine with Clay Felker, Mr. Glaser’s work is in the permanent collection of many museums, including the Museum of Modern Art. Check out his page HERE!

John Boutté is an American jazz singer based in New Orleans, Louisiana, who has been active since the mid-1990s. Born into a large Creole family that goes back seven generations in Louisiana, he was exposed to music early in life, soaking up New Orleans jazz, soul, blues and gospel, then adding his own Creole traditions along the way. Today, Boutte works with a wonderful amalgam of styles -- from torchy jazz to aching soul and African-American gospel -- all convincingly delivered. Check out John's page HERE!

Eva is a native of Honduras who immigrated to New Orleans in 1964. Eva embraces both cultures, especially as she experiences the “only in New Orleans” fusion of locals who Second Line to Salsa music and Salsa to Second Line music. She recognized and embraced the similarities in both cultures and has been committed for the past 20 years to raising awareness by bringing communities together through music, food and culture. She presently works for the New Orleans Musicians Clinic and Assistance Foundation as a Community Resources Liaison. She also conducts outreach and produces outreach events in the Hispanic Community to identify Hispanic musicians, folkloric dance groups and other artisans and tradition bearers to raise awareness of the services offered at the clinic.

Felice Guimont, RN is the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic (NOMC) Patient Advocate and a native New Orleanian. She is a performing artist, nurse, and patient of the NOMC. Her efforts include advocating on behalf of other musicians who have had difficulty obtaining appropriate health care, as well as providing wellness education. She is passionate about eradicating the devastating toll, which preventable illnesses have had on New Orleans’ musicians. More on Felice HERE!

Earlier this year we had the opportunity to talk to Iris Dankner and Barbara Schorr as they prepared to open their very first Holiday House Hamptons. Iris, a sixteen year breast cancer survivor, founded Holiday House in 2008. Holiday House is the first designer show house held in New York City to benefit a breast cancer organization. Recruiting top interior designers in the New York City area, the showhouse is held in a historic mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. This year, Holiday House runs Tuesdays through Sundays from November 21 through December 18, benefitting The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF), founded by Evelyn Lauder in 1993. Barbara Schorr is the owner of B. Schorr Events, a full service event planning organization, now in its 5th year. She is also the Director of Production and the Event Manager of Holiday House NYC and Holiday House Hamptons, both of which are divisions of Mission in Pink. Learn more about Holiday House NYC HERE!

Actor/Director/Producer Lee Grant won The Critics' Circle Award for her portrayal of the shoplifter in Detective Story on Broadway. The film version garnered her the Cannes Film Festival Citation for Best Actress as well as her first Academy Award Nomination while still in her 20’s. Ms. Grant was blacklisted in the 1950’s; after 12 years on the blacklist, she again received acclaim for her work on Peyton Place (Emmy Award winner). She went on to great success with In The Heat of The Night (Golden Globe nomination), The Landlord (Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award winner), and Shampoo (Academy Award winner), Voyage of the Damned (Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award winner). Her documentary film Down and Out in America won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. To learn more about Ms. Grant, please click HERE!

Larry Peerce made his directing debut with One Potato, Two Potato in 1964. Peerce went on to direct several episodes of the Western television series Branded and the superhero series Batman, among other shows, before directing the documentary The Big T.N.T. Show, featuring The Byrds, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Donovan, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Ronettes, and The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. He directed the films Goodbye, Columbus, The Incident, and A Separate Peace. To learn more about Mr. Peerce, please click HERE!

Sami was born in London and raised in Paris, studied at the jazz department of the Versailles Conservatory, and began playing in major French jazz clubs (Sunrise-Sunside, Le Baiser Salé, Jazzcartoon) shortly thereafter. He opened for Louis Sclavis at the Versailles Jazz Festival with his own quartet in May of 2009. During that time, Sami studied at the Sorbonne, earning Masters degrees in philosophy and in political science. In January 2010, he arrived in New York and began to study at the New School on a full scholarship. Since his arrival, he has had the opportunity to perform with his own band at Dizzy’s, and as a sideman at some of the city’s great venues: Lincoln Center, the Iridium, the Living Room, Shrine, Alphabet Lounge, Freddy's Backroom. He has toured in countries around the world, including Israel, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, and more. Most recently, he was spotted with his saxophone doing stand-up comedy at Stand Up NY. Click HERE to learn more about Sami.

Alfonso Vilallonga is the composer of the score of “Blancanieves,” a modern retelling of the Snow White tale, which was a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nominee in 2013. His newest album, “Alphosphore Variations,” is available only in Spain, or wherever Alfonso is performing (as of late Fall 2013), and songs from this CD are premiering in the US on our Episode 6 podcast. Alfonso lives and works in Barcelona. Learn more about Alfonso HERE!

Robert Osborne has been the prime time host and anchor of Turner Classic Movies since its debut in April 1994. He wrote for The Hollywood Reporter from 1977 until 2009. Robert is the author of numerous books on the Academy Awards. His “75 Years Of The Oscar” — written at the request of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — was praised by The Weekly Observer as "A scholar's dream, a researcher's paradise, a movie buff's heaven." His latest addition to the series is “80 Years Of The Oscar.” Osborne has received an Honorary Doctorate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and has been presented with the National Board of Review's William K. Everson Award. He has also been honored by Lighthouse International for his contributions to preserving film history, and has been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. More about Robert Osborne HERE!

Tatev Yeghiazaryan is an Armenian-born vocalist, composer, producer and performer whose music is inspired and influenced by classical, jazz and Armenian music, as well as her lifelong fascination with authentic cartoons and the haunting magic of fairy tales. Her project “Off The Wall” is a stop motion animation about 3 animated characters, created and drawn by her sister Sona Yeghiazaryan, who are introduced to a new world in which they turn into 3-dimensional characters made of clay, with Sona directing and Tatev composing the soundtrack. Tatev composes music for her septet “Soundsketch” which aims, in her words, “to ornate and strengthen the visual experience of motion pictures.” She collaborates with her sisters as an ensemble, the YY Sisters, which performs Armenian folk, traditional and classical music, as well as some original music composed by Tatev. See more of Tatev HERE!

Tania Grossinger, a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, is a freelance writer and public relations consultant. Best known for her memoir "Growing Up at Grossinger's," she is currently the author of "Memoir of an Independent Woman; An Unconventional Life Well Lived" (Skyhorse Publishing, 2013) and "Jackie and Me; A Very Special Friendship" (Sky Pony Press, 2013.) In addition to having published over 100 travel articles in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, she has also appeared on the Today show, Good Morning, America, 20/20, NPR, and over 150 national, syndicated and local TV and radio shows. Her public relations credits range from Playboy Magazine and the Playboy Club to Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique” and the Israel Ministry of Tourism. She was also travel/lifestyle contributor to Sally Jessy Raphael's TalkNet and is listed in Who's Who of America. Learn more about Tania HERE!

Clark Wolf has more than thirty years of experience in the food industry and is founder and President of Clark Wolf Company, a New York-based food and restaurant consulting firm. He has been called the "slam dunk, hit city food consultant" and a "Merchandising Maestro." Wolf is a Contributing Authority to Food Arts Magazine, a member of salon.com's Kitchen Cabinet and a regular guest on KSRO's "The Drive." He has written a regular cuisine and culture commentary column for Forbes Magazine and has been contributing editor to COOK'S Magazine. His book, "American Cheeses," was called "a savvy valentine to the men and women who devote their lives to the labor-intensive passion of cheesemaking," by The New York Times. He has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, the TV Food Network, and as a regular contributor on CNBC's "The Real Story."

Winner of the Bill Hicks Spirit Award for Thought Provoking Comedy, bestselling author of "Get Rich Cheating," Senior Writer for The War Room with Jennifer Granholm, syndicated radio host, regular on MSNBC, CNN, Current TV & Sirius/XM, Exec Producer of TheFinalEdition.com & The Final Edition Radio Hour, writer for Comedy Central, IFC, & TheStreet.com, star of hit festival shows, & more... Jeff Kreisler attacks politics, money, culture, and life with passion, absurdity, and hope.

"I'm interested in creating art that explores post-modern identity issues, the essence of language, consumer culture, entertainment, and human impact on the environment. I believe that sculpture has a ritual function, making my art objects essentially 'useful' in a psychological sense. Over a decade of extensive international travel has had a powerful influence on my personal and conceptual development. I have a wicked sense of humor and a thick subversive streak. In my work, as well as in my life, I'm interested in exploring the boundary between the sacred and the mundane. I create work in a vast range of 2D and 3D media. Many of my pieces incorporate DIY electronics and experimental interactive components. I tend towards using heavy contrast, bright colors, and intricately decorated surfaces in all of my work regardless of media. My work falls somewhere between folk/outsider art and mad scientist experiments and is full of symbolic ritual and psychological imagery combined with kitsch. The art objects I create appear playful and humorous at first, but when the viewer looks deeper they realize that they are also full of double meanings, twisted games, dirty jokes, and challenging social, political, and personal implications. By using glossy, jewel-like surfaces and whimsical forms I pull the viewer into my narrative where they discover that underneath this surface glitz are deeper themes that satirize consumer culture and the status quo. My work is like cosmic candy that is full of the razor blades of truth."

Leslie Cooper, Production Director grew up a vocalist with jazz musicians for parents. She manages a Trad Jazz/Brass band comprised of High school students. She is director of a music education program called "Pass it On." She is a member of the Traditional Jazz Educators Network and has assisted with music educational programs for students of all ages for the past 24 years. She is a board member for the Friends of the Jazz and Heritage School of Music and serves on the Education Committee of the American Federation of Musicians, local 174-496 New Orleans, Louisiana and is President of New Orleans Women in Music (NOWIM).

Gary's approach to food combines his southern roots and passion for all things New Orleans, his home for the past 13 years. He is a New Orleans-based nutrition and exercise scientist, cook, gardener, teacher, writer & occasional drummer. Gary is the mentor farmer at the Hollygrove Market and Farm in New Orleans. In 2012, he established the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food in partnership with the New Orleans Musicians' Health Clinic. Gary's cooking layers simple preparations of food that is grown locally, seasonally and sustainably, and educates adults and youth on how eating locally promotes personal health and wellness, supports local economies, empowers communities, saves both time and money and tastes better than the stuff produced on assembly lines. www.performwell.net.

Elsa Hahne is the author of "The Gravy - In the Kitchen with New Orleans Musicians" and "You Are Where You Eat - Stories and Recipes from the Neighborhoods of New Orleans,” which was supported by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. She is the Art Director and Food Editor of OffBeat, New Orleans' premier music magazine, and a journalist by trade. Her writing and photography have appeared in numerous international magazines and newspapers, including Time and New York Magazine. Elsa Hahne has won several New Orleans Press Club awards for her photography and design, including two for Best Cover, and the Hal Ledet Award for Print Photography. Originally from Sweden, Elsa Hahne has lived in New Orleans since 2002.

Dana Honn grew up working at his family's Mexican restaurant, La Placita. He was cooking and waiting tables by the age of 11, and loved every minute of it ... well, almost. By the time he graduated from college (music composition with a minor in Hindi/East Indian studies), he had worked continuously in the food service industry for more than 15 years. His passion for composing and teaching music was always accompanied by a desire to expand his culinary horizons and he took advantage of every opportunity to taste, research and prepare various ethnic cuisines. In 1992, he moved to Brazil with his wife Christina, where he taught music and theatre at an American international school. Living in Brazil and taking trips throughout South America and Spain had lasting impacts on Dana's palate. Upon his return to the U.S., he founded Telarts, a film production and media company in San Francisco which he continues to oversee, and gave cooking classes in his spare time with Christina. In New Orleans, Dana and Christina founded Cafe Carmo. He is inspired by and committed to New Orleans and believes that "this city invites us to see beyond convention, through a looking glass of history and tradition to find those things which are superbly unique... it's a conduit for creativity, originality and coincidence. I guess that has some relevance as far as what excites me most as a cook, discovering the essence of a recipe, taking it back to its origins, reinterpreting and eventually presenting it on a plate at Carmo, hopefully to the delight of our diners."

Johnny Marcia, producer of "Que Pasa," was born in New Orleans to Honduran parents. Marcia started his musical career at a very young age, joining his father's Latin band, Los Sagitarios, at the age of 16. Los Sagitarios was extremely popular, playing for about 35 years. In 2001, with a new vision, he gradually took over the group and changed the name to Rumba Buena. Rumba Buena expanded to playing more genres of music and performing at different and larger venues. Today, this group is one of the most popular local Latin groups specializing in salsa, merengue and bachata rhythms, just to name a few. Johnny felt something was still missing when it came to promoting Latino culture, and, together with Javier Olondo and a local Telemundo affiliate in New Orleans, Johnny brought his ideas to the table and is now a producer for the weekly 30 minute television show, “Que Pasa New Orleans.”

Brenda Melara is a writer with a diverse background in Hispanic media in the Greater New Orleans area. Her work experience includes journalism, television, radio, marketing, advertising, bilingual education and music promotion. Over a span of 25 years, with a strong involvement in the Hispanic community, she has witnessed the changing trends and needs, targeting this important demographic in the United States. Brenda was born and raised in New Orleans and is fluent in both English and Spanish. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama & Communications from the University of New Orleans. Brenda works in advertising and marketing, is the Editor of the bilingual newspaper “El Tiempo New Orleans,” and is Media Consultant for the television show, “Que Pasa New Orleans.”

Javier Olondo, producer and host of "Que Pasa New Orleans," was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Havana, Cuba where he first learned classical guitar. He teaches classical guitar at Tulane University in New Orleans and tours throughout the US and Europe. Javier regularly promotes Latino culture and artists, hosting a radio show in Barcelona ("Dijous amb Salsa").

Murf began his career in restaurants at 15 and has only occasionally looked back. A New Orleans resident since 2001, Murf focused on cooking until stumbling into the world of bourbon as a waiter at Bourbon House. Thus was born a love of spirits. After Katrina, Murf returned to New Orleans having studied under Clif Travers at Om in Boston. Murf brought his newfound passion for craft cocktails to Elizabeth's, Bombay Club, and Bar Tonique before managing the bar at Sylvain and eventually becoming General Manager there. Sainte Marie Brasserie offered Murf an opportunity to craft an entirely new beverage program in the developing Central Business District.

Emilie, a third-generation painter, is the daughter of Noel Rockmore (sometimes referred to as the Picasso of New Orleans). Emilie has been painting for more than 30 years, and now regularly sketches the musicians working in New Orleans today. She was always a painter first, but in the past two years, drawing has taken precedence and, happily, a sketchpad is well suited to the environment of music clubs. She says, "I am moved by music and I admire musicians more than anything in the world. That is what propels me to show up and once there, I can no more not draw than not breathe. Everything is moving, in flux, and yet I see details and the whole scene at times in snapshots which I suppose forces me to capture the image in bursts. Every drawing is an amalgam of moments observed and experienced during the evening. And of course, the rhythm of the music influences the patterns of pen strokes."

Spencer Wiggins is an American soul and gospel singer. He is considered to be one of the best kept secrets in soul music. Spencer started recording singles with Goldwax Records in 1964 with "Lovers Crime." Wiggins recorded 8 more singles with Goldwax, including the single "I Never Loved A Woman (The Way I Love You)" which featured Duane Allman on the guitar. Spencer that moved to Fame records and recorded two more singles, including the single "Double Lovin" which was a minor hit on the R&B charts. Spencer then moved to Miami and became a deacon of a Baptist church there. In 2002 he released "Keys to The Kingdom", a full length spiritual LP which featured his powerful singing and modern production techniques. In 1999 he began touring again, performing in various venues including The Ponderosa Stomp Festival in New Orleans in 2013.