Carol Duboc – Founder / Host of Music Matters

The concept of Wine and Music was conceived after a music tour and trip to the Napa Valley wineries. After writing and arranging hit songs for such artists as Patti LaBelle, Chante Moore, Stephanie Mills, The Fine Young Cannibals and Tom Jones to name a few, Carol Duboc stepped out as a solo artist releasing five contemporary jazz albums including "Duboc"  featuring Gerald Albright and Jeff Lorber (2003), "All of You" (2005) and the most recent release “Bacharach Songbook” featuring three time Grammy Nominee Hubert Laws. These albums and several Best Women of Jazz albums released by Warner Brothers, have earned her critical acclaim as one of the top jazz singers and composers on the music scene today. Shortly following the release of her second solo CD entitled "Duboc", Carol landed the role of Pumpkin in MGM's movie "Be Cool" which was in theatres in March of 2005 and stars John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Danny Devito.

As a composer and arranger, Carol has assembled an impressive list of credits; she wrote "This Word is All" on Patti Labelle 's "Gems" CD which went Gold, and wrote and did the vocal arrangements on "Precious", the title cut on Chante Moore's Gold CD. Carol also penned the hit single "Never Do You Wrong" for Stephanie Mills, and songs on Jade 's "Jade To The Max" CD, which attained Platinum status to name a few. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Carol moved to Los Angeles, California to attend U.S.C.'s school of music to study music composition, vocal performance and music engineering. While in school at U.S.C., her natural soulful vocal style and songwriting talents attracted the attention of R&B producer Teddy Riley. She quickly began working as a singer, writer and arranger for some of the top artists and producers in the industry including George Duke, Maurice White, The Fine Young Cannibals and more. For more info visit: carolduboc.com

Jonathan Mitchell - Resident Sommelier, Writer and Host

Sommelier Jonathan Mitchell has spent years perfecting wine lists for such restaurants as The Palm, Pacific Dining Car, Morton's of Chicago (Boston, Beverly Hills and Burbank), Sterling Steakhouse/Sideways Lounge and Spazio.

He was the sole American judge at the Japan Wine Challenge, hosted by Steven Spurrier and Ronald Brown. He judged side-by-side with such wine luminaries as Lynne Sherriff, Andrew Caillard, Anthony Rose, Michel Bettane, Eduardo Chadwick, and David Wrigley.

He is regularly featured on Tom Leykis's "The Tasting Room", 103.1 Indie FM's "Wino Wednesdays" with Joe Escalante, and is a regular participant on Anthony Dias Blue's "Tasting Magazine" Wine Panel (formerly the Bon Appetit Panel). He can also be found on the pages of Chalk Hill's "Guide to Sommeliers in America," and in Variety. He has appeared on the KTLA Morning Show, FOX 11 News, and the syndicated radio shows "The Lighten Up Lounge" and "What's Cookin'?" as well.

In his spare time, he travels to wine country to spend time tasting the latest and talking to winemakers. He also runs private wine seminars and tastings for private parties and major corporations. His wine lists are comprised of many of the greatest wines from all around the world, encompassing all price points and styles. In his current role as the assistant General Manager at The Palm West Hollywood, Jonathan combines an easygoing, relaxed style with great passion as he traverses the dining room on a nightly basis, helping guests find that perfect wine to complete their dining experience!

His emphasis is on helping people trust their palate. His mission is to help demystify wine for guests, letting them know that the only thing they NEED to know about wine is if they like it or not. "YOU know what you like, YOU'RE the expert!" That attitude has won Jonathan fans citywide, and his wine tastings, wine dinners and other related events are well-attended. He keeps up on current trends for fun, and has a roundtable of his own, meeting monthly with LA's top sommeliers and wine professionals for a casual but educational double-blind tasting. Jonathan's Wineblog

David Lawrence Radio Host of the Top Ten Pairing Countdown

New media expert, David Lawrence, anchors and is the executive producer for the award-winning network music show "The Net Music Countdown," which is syndicated on over 70 radio stations. He has been on radio for nearly 30 years as a top rated radio personality on stations like WMAL and is a founding member and was executive producer of the legendary radio comedy ensemble, the "American Comedy Network." While the Emmy-award winning and Clio-nominated Lawrence is deeply rooted in the music industry, he is also heard nightly as the wacky, highly opinionated host of the "David Lawrence Show" and weekend "Online Tonight," which are both nationaly syndicated radio talk shows, revolving around pop culture and the high-tech lifestyle. Lawrence makes regular appearances as an industry commentator on TechTV, CNN, FOX, CBS, MS-NBC, to name a few.

Contributors

Alex Lee - Writer/Editor, Way to Listen page
Allison Elder - Writer/Radio Personality/Editor, The Moment page
C.S. Higdon - Writer/Radio Personality
Candi R. Sellers - Writer/Assistant Editor, The Ear Page
Janie Franz - Writer
Claudia Melatini - Writer
Alex Palmer - Writer
Dale Mettam - Writer
Tré Gibbs - Writer
Troy Gronseth - Writer
Fayeruz Barbari - Writer
Adam Denno - Writer/Photos