Episode 6

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Published on:

21st May 2026

Helen Feest: Building community one jam at a time

Feestet's jazz jams are steaming hot affairs, even when the air is crisp in the atmosphere. Bandleader and singer Helen Feest belts out tunes on vocals, and the band warms up the already misty crowd while jammers await their turn on the stage.

Today, on Taste the Music, Helen Feest joins us to talk about the vibe, how she got into this crazy thing called jazz singing, and what kind of outfit she’s running anyway (it turns out it’s a good one). She also gets into how a very old way of getting paid might just be making a comeback (not that one!). And it’s helping build a little community, too.

Today’s episode of Taste the music was written, produced, and edited by me, Mark Griffin. You can check out more of Helen Feest and the Feestet’s music at Feestet.com. Taste the music was created by me and Whitney Mann, who has a new single out on Bandcamp, right this second! Solid horns!

Show artwork for Taste the Music: Conversations about creating.

About the Podcast

Taste the Music: Conversations about creating.
Interviews, stories, and talks about why artists create.
Taste the Music is a show where the artist tells their story about what drives creation. Here we’re going to figure out the reasons we’re driven to make music, and how that vocation ends up forming in some people, or maybe in all of us.

Each week we’ll hear an account of the path to creation by artists, and we’ll try to get at a few questions: why do this? Why write a song, paint a painting, recite a poem, tell a joke, or craft a beer?

And we’ll also seek to answer another question, something that we hope gets at a cultural truth about who we are as a people: why do we choose to sometimes not do these things?

About your host

Profile picture for Mark Griffin

Mark Griffin

Mark is a science and culture writer based in Madison. He's written about groundbreaking cancer treatments, advancements in renewable energy, and trying to figure out how to find a mushroom in the woods. He currently resides in Madison, WI.