The Jazz Podcast

Send us your thoughts! (In) Love explores the different aspects and essences of love, through a simple yet sophisticated musical language, reflecting the singer and song-writer's experience gathered during the last years. The original songs which compose this collection include jazz, world music, bossa nova, and also a jazz ballad composed by the music veteran Ivan Lins, with lyrics written by Sofia Hoffmann. Enjoy!Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Gwilym and Emma have teamed up to record a new album Big Visit on ACT, which is out now. They sit down with Tara Minton to share their thoughts on the new music. Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Out February 7, 2025, Griot Songs marks the return of the Omar Thomas Large Ensemble after more than a decade, featuring soloists Jason Palmer, Mark Zaleski, Alex Brown, Mark Cocheo and others “Griot Songs firmly plants Omar Thomas in the pantheon of distinguished and exceptional writers. He blurs the lines stylistically in the best of ways with a texturally compelling 'heart and soul' sonic story all his own.”– Grammy-winning drummer/composer Terri Lyne Carrington“Omar Thomas… proves himself a modern-day griot - summoning influences, traditions, and narratives from both past and present, framing them in a manner that is at varying times tender, dramatic, mystical, and joyful - but always absolutely captivating!” – Grammy-nominated composer/bandleader Chuck OwenIn West African tradition, the griot is a storyteller, poet and musician whose songs become a repository for a community's traditions and history. Sixteen years in the making, Griot Songs – the breathtaking third release by the Omar Thomas Large Ensemble – is a distinctly personal and emotionally vibrant take on the role of the modern griot. Through his visionary compositions and arrangements, Omar Thomas spins captivating narratives from his own experiences, inspirations and heritage.It's been over a decade since the release of the Omar Thomas Large Ensemble's last album, We Will Know: An LGBT Civil Rights Piece in Four Movements, which Grammy Award-winning drummer and composer Terri Lyne Carrington hailed as a “thought provoking, multi-layered masterpiece.” The big band made its auspicious debut in 2013 with I Am, which entered the iTunes Jazz Charts at #1. But Griot Songs, out February 7, 2025, is the project that Thomas has envisioned since initially forming the ensemble for his graduate composition recital at New England Conservatory in 2008. The earliest versions of three of the pieces on the album date back to that time, with the remainder spanning several years of composing, revising and dreaming.In the meantime, Thomas established himself an acclaimed and in-demand composer for wind ensemble. In 2019, he was awarded the National Bandmasters Association / Revelli Award for his wind composition “Come Sunday,” becoming the first Black composer awarded the honor in the contest's 42-year history. In addition, he's a respected educator currently serving as Associate Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Griot Songs marks Thomas' impassioned return to his roots. “I was ready to reintroduce myself as a big band composer,” he declares.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! The French Impressionists revolutionized the art world by privileging the emotional and spiritual perception of the natural world over its literal reproduction. Hailing from France, harpist Isabelle Olivier has always felt an innate affinity for Impressionism and discovered its echoes within her other artistic passions, primarily the parallel worlds of jazz and classical music.On her vibrant new album, Impressions, Olivier conjures a bold musical landscape from the lush and stirring hues of her diverse influences. Inspired by tenor sax icon John Coltrane's revered composition “Impressions,” she explores the confluences of jazz and Impressionism with a painter's instinct for complementary colors, forms and textures. “I think about Impressionism as a combination between elegance, minimalism, spectral notions, feelings and vibes – things that you can feel but you cannot explain,” Olivier describes. “Looking at Impressionist art is like becoming part of nature, to the point where you forget that you're human. I love this feeling.”Out now in Europe and in the US/Canada on March 21, 2025 via Olivier's Rewound Echoes imprint, Impressions features a versatile and genre-fluid ensemble that includes the harpist's sons – pianist and accordionist Tom Olivier-Beuf and electronic musician Raphael Olivier – along with a string quartet (violinists Mathias Naon and Anne Le Pape, violist Cyprien Busolini and cellist Jean-Philippe Feiss) and drummer Baptiste Thiebault. In addition to Olivier's Impressionism-inspired compositions, the album is interspersed with a number of group improvisations that suggest or were suggested by impressionistic ideas – from the misty, crepuscular “Fog on the Lake” to the stark, pointillist “A Pizzicato Life.”With its many references to Chicago art and artists, Impressions brings together the two metropolises that Olivier calls home – the Windy City and the City of Lights, Chicago and Paris. The album bridges various landmarks for the harpist, including her roots in jazz and classical music, as well as her love for aural and visual art. These seemingly divergent poles have never been separate in her mind – she was introduced to her instrument in the first place by Duchess, the harp-playing cat in Walt Disney's jazz-inflected 1970 animated film The Aristocats. Not long after finishing her classical studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Lyon, she co-founded the jazz quartet Océan with the Moutin Brothers, well known figures on the French and American jazz scenes.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler (1930–2014) was one of the most enigmatic and influential musicians in recent memory. His instantly recognisable sound was a driving force within every major innovation in modern European jazz during the last half of the 20th century.More importantly, his life provides us with a profound example of the way music can manifest itself in the most unlikely of vessels. As a lonely and shy teenager in Canada, he sought refuge from his difficult home life in the friendships he forged through a mutual love of bebop. After an unexpectedly bold move to London at the age of 22, he struggled with his confidence for years before making his first big break with the John Dankworth Orchestra. Kenny would soon find his voice in a triumvirate of musical communities: straight-ahead jazz, the burgeoning free scene, and in the busy recording studios.Throughout his life, he constantly pursued personal growth while investing in his friends from every corner of the music business who would bring the inimitable beauty, precision, and chaos in his compositions to life. And in an artform where individuality represents the highest level of expression, Kenny was peerless. Indeed, few jazz artists of any era developed such a fingerprint in one area, let alone becoming immediately identifiable as virtuoso instrumentalists, improvisors, and composers.Kenny Wheeler's life is a compelling – and fundamentally human – story. This book brings together over 130 original interviews and new archival and biographical research on Wheeler's life and music, chronicling his journey from small town Canada to international acclaim. It is as much a perspective on the history and development of jazz in Britain and Europe as it is the extraordinary tale of this improbable pioneer.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! The members of all-star family jazz band The 3 Cohens — featuring Anat Cohen (clarinet), Avishai Cohen (trumpet) and Yuval Cohen (soprano saxophone) — have always taken time out from their ever-burgeoning careers as soloists and bandleaders to reconvene for music-making together. The siblings developed a deep musical bond growing up in Tel Aviv, with improvising together becoming second nature for them. The 3 Cohens recorded four studio albums over a decade: 2003's One, 2007's Braid, 2011's Family and 2013's Tightrope, with the last three released by Anzic Records, the indie label founded by Anat with kindred-spirit producer-collaborator Oded Lev-Ari. DownBeat put The 3 Cohens — with Anat the middle child to the elder Yuval and younger Avishai — on the cover of its January 2012 issue, hailing the trio's “chemistry, alchemy, telepathy.” Ten years on from that milestone, the 3 Cohens reunited for a live collaboration with Germany's lauded WDR Big Band (a Köln-based ensemble that has been performing jazz on West German Radio since 1957); the program showcased tailormade arrangements by Lev-Ari of compositions by himself and each member of The 3 Cohens, as well as two of their favorite classics: Gerry Mulligan's “Festive Minor” and the Louis Armstrong hit “Tiger Rag.” The performance was recorded for a very special live album, Interaction. Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Jon Irabagon is a Filipino-American saxophonist, composer, and founder of Irabbagast Records.[1]Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition[1] and one of Time Out's "25 essential New York City jazz icons",[2] Irabagon is known for the breadth of his work on a jazz continuum ranging "from postbop to free improvisation, avant country to doom metal".[3] His "extraordinary eclecticism"[4] has led to performances with such diverse artists as Wynton Marsalis,[5] Lou Reed, Evan Parker, Billy Joel, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Bertha Hope, Herbie Hancock, Conor Oberst,[6] Christian McBride,[7] Mike Pride,[8] Kenny Barron, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Bill Laswell, Peter Evans,[9] Tyshawn Sorey, Ingrid Laubrock,[10] Ava Mendoza,[11] Mick Barr, and Tom Rainey.Irabagon's many projects as bandleader include a quartet with Luis Perdomo, Yasushi Nakamura, and Rudy Royston,[12] as well as a trio with Mark Helias and Barry Altschul.[13] He is also a member of the Mary Halvorson Quintet, Septet,[14] and Octet;[15] the Dave Douglas Quintet;Support the show

Send us your thoughts! An oft-repeated Chinese proverb states, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Looking back from a vantage point several steps along her own proverbial journey, British composer and pianist Claire Cope came to discover that no matter how daunting a venture may become, it's always taking that first step that requires the most courage. That realization provided the inspiration behind Every Journey, the gorgeous second album by Cope's Ensemble C.Every Journey will be released on March 7, 2025, to coincide with International Women's Day on March 8. The occasion is significant given the fount of inspiration that Cope found in the stories of intrepid women pioneers who undertook their own daring journeys. The books of writer and explorer Jacki Hill-Murphy were key resources – specifically Adventuresses, a compendium of stories of 18th and 19th-century female explorers, and The Extraordinary Tale of Kate Marsden, about a Victorian nurse who trekked across pre-Revolutionary Russia to find a possible cure for leprosy. Musically, the groundbreaking compositions of Maria Schneider provided a luminous north star for Cope's own writing.Arriving five years after Ensemble C's acclaimed debut, Small World, Cope's follow-up represents significant evolutions in both the composer's life and her musical vision. Where Small World offered Cope's introductory statement as a composer, a path she arrived at onlygradually, Every Journey is a remarkably assured expansion of that mindset. Significantly, Ensemble C has bloomed from a septet to an 11-piece group, allowing for a wealth of new colors and possibilities, of which Cope takes bold and vibrant advantage. The intricate music she's devised for the ensemble reflects her existence in both the jazz and contemporary classical music realms. Closer to home, Cope became a mother in the interval between albums, a development that can't help but deepen one's insight and empathy.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! When Nishla & Tom met in Manchester in 2019, they quickly realised they had made a rare musical connection. Over the years, the pair's work has blossomed sideways into an array of creative projects, but at the core of their partnership is a deep respect for the history and culture of the music they play, and a preoccupation with drawing out the characters and stories they find there.Last winter, Nishla & Tom played a two-night residency at Manchester's Low Four Studios in front of a live audience. In the candlelight glow, they recorded a selection of their favourite songs– all approached with musical freeness, and drawn through their joint lens into a curious, winding narrative. The result is a live duo album, tinged with melancholy and their signature playful questioning. Nishla Smith (voice), Tom Harris (piano).  "Her voice is exquisite, a symbol of unreachable beauty." The Guardian on Nishla “Simply sublime.” The Reviews Hub on Nishla & TomSupport the show

Send us your thoughts! French and American singer Laura Anglade is a promising storyteller hailing from the idyllic town of Brousse-le-Château, France. She draws inspiration from Carmen McRae, Blossom Dearie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Billie Holiday, Michel Legrand and Barbra Streisand, among others.Laura has made a mark in the music scenes of New York, Paris, London, Toronto and Montreal, collaborating with some of the world's finest musicians, including Peter Bernstein, Jonathan Kreisberg, Ben Paterson, Ira Coleman, Reg Schwager, and Neil Swainson, to name a few.In 2022, she joined singer Melody Gardot across the east and west coasts of the United States and Europe. Laura has performed in renowned venues such as Olympia (Paris), the Royal Festival Hall (London), Town Hall (New York City), the Ace Theatre Hotel (Los Angeles), and the main stage at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal.Her debut album, ‘I've Got Just About Everything' (Justin Time Records, 2019) was met with praise by critics and fans alike. Her second JUNO-nominated album, ‘Venez Donc Chez Moi' (Justin Time Records, 2022) is a duo recording featuring Montreal guitarist Sam Kirmayer, with whom she was awarded the “Prix Opus" for Jazz Concert of the Year in 2023. With her latest release, “April in Paris,” Anglade introduces a cappella – the young protagonist isalone, looking forward with both excitement and trepidation to a new life ahead. She inhabits the character in her vocal, breathing life into an experience she can relate to even if she hasn't lived it exactly.“I've been reflecting recently on the parallels between acting and singing,” she explains. “Each art form is an extension of the other. Singing, like acting, is rooted in human expression, in the power of a good story. I never pursued musical theater growing up, but I've found that the deeper I getinto this music and grow as a person, the more each song feels like performing a role. I visualize each song as if it were a monologue in a film, and somehow shape-shift myself into the part. That led to this album having a distinct beginning, middle and end.”Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Hailed as a “fully committed saxophonist and visionary” by The New Yorker, Ingrid Laubrock has evolved a distinctive, fascinatingly complex and richly layered sonic vocabulary that spans her efforts as an improviser, as leader of her own diverse ensembles or, as in the case of her captivating new album Purposing The Air, as composer and conceptualist for other musicians.Out April 11, 2025, Purposing The Air marks yet another adventurous exploration in a career marked by bold innovations. The album continues Laubrock's engagement with the voice, following the blend of orchestra and choir on Contemporary Chaos Practices (2018). Purposing the Air is an expansive collection of 60 miniatures setting the words of poet Erica Hunt and her emotionally incisive piece “Mood Librarian – a poem in koan.” Approaching the poem's succinct two- or three-line fragments as separate compositions, Laubrock tailored each of them for one of four duos: vocalist Fay Victor with cellist Mariel Roberts, vocalist Sara Serpa with pianist Matt Mitchell, vocalist Theo Bleckmann with guitarist Ben Monder, and mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway with violinist Ari Streisfeld, aka the contemporary classical music ensemble Duo Cortona.While she's never before so fully integrated words and voice into her work, Laubrock has enjoyed a lifelong appreciation for poetry and literature. Her father was a Goethe scholar, while her mother instilled a love for language in her children from an early age. During the early years of her career in London, Laubrock was a member of the Brazilian-influenced band Nois 4, which featured the Brazilian singer Mônica Vasconcelos as well as vocal contributions by Laubrock herself.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and American guitarist Mary Halvorson show how virtuosity and joy of playing can be beautifully combined in a duo. Their snapping, over-snapping runs sparkle with the neighboring genres of jazz in particle form. Is this now flamenco, blues, country, noise? Unison voices in a rhythm that has more of Stravinsky or progressive rock than Louis Armstrong or John Coltrane. If there were anyone left who harbored prejudices against female jazz musicians (about which female jazz musicians are always complaining), these two would offer a shimmering quick fix. Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Swedish jazz virtuoso Ebba Åsman has announced the forthcoming release of her third full-length record When You Know. The new album arrives March 21st, 2025 via Dorado Records.Coinciding with the announcement of ‘When You Know' of the upcoming album are the joint first singles - the title track ‘When You Know' and ‘No Answer'. The pair of songs channel the feelings that came into clarity for Åsman during her time in the woods: the stresses of not knowing where you're headed, sensing that you're losing grip of the life you've built, drowning in the infinite questions that swirl around in your head – and ultimately, accepting the uncertainty of it all. The latter track has been described as the turning point of the album, where acceptance of the circumstances begin to prevail.Coming off of a Swedish Grammy (GRAMMIS) nomination for her 2023 sophomore album ‘Be Free', live showings at North Sea Jazz Festival and London's Ronnie Scott's and an appointment as one of Yamaha's brand ambassadors, the trombonist, songwriter and producer sought to quiet the noise around her and challenge the jazz genre's rigid rules for her next project. The end result is ‘When You Know'; a smoky and melancholic 10-track cocktail of jazz, alternative R&B, indie, Hip-Hop and ambient sonics that experiments at every turn. On hand to co-produce the record and provide the electronic elements that move ‘When You Know' away from the jazz world and into more avant-garde territory, Ebba collaborated with Berlin-based producer Lucy Liebe. Packing a potent emotional punch into a running time of just 31 minutes, the 10 tracks are a reflection of Ebba herself: direct, driven, precise. Retreating to a cabin outside of her small hometown of Hammarö, 200 miles west of Stockholm, she recorded the album in the dead of winter. With the temperatures outside nearing minus-thirty degrees, Åsman logged off for a month – disconnecting from TV, social media and emails. Embracing with vigour both the deep sense of calm and the challenges that come with the cold but also the stillness and solitude that is yielded being in the wilderness.Though this is Åsman's third studio album, it will be the first time she's singing on record. An important statement and moment of transition for Ebba. Elaborating on this further she said: “If you're singing, you are the closest you can be to your own expression but I wanted to first be respected as an instrumentalist. If you're a woman and you tell people you're a musician, everyone assumes and says “Oh – so you're a singer?”. ‘When You Know' will mark the moment on which Ebba Åsman's exceptional gifts are finally crystallised. At age 7, she began learning trombone and by 15, she won a place to study the instrument at the Södra Latin School in Stockholm. The renowned hot-house for Swedish talent whose alumni include Lykke Li, Yung Lean and the prolific hit songwriter Max Martin. But when she moved to the Netherlands to study at the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music, she began to push against the constraints of formal learning.  Self-identifying as a “jazz rebel”, rather than being preoccupied with the theoretical and mechanical aspects of jazz, Ebba operates from a mode of pure intuition and feeling. At just 26, ‘When You Know' finds Åsman continuing to push the boundaries of jazz through the two distinct sides of her musical self: the notes she conjures from the trombone and now, her voice.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Trombone-playing singer-songwriter Aubrey Logan hails from the picturesque surroundings near Seattle, WA. Raised by her two music-educator parents, she began her artistic endeavors as a child singing in theatre and in church, Thoughtful songwriters like Billy Joel & Carole King influenced her early childhood via her singing mother and trumpet-playing father, as well as the soulful musicianship of American horn bands such as Chicago, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Steeley Dan, and more.  Things took an intriguing turn when she picked up the trombone at the age of 12, igniting her passion for the jazz tradition.Aubrey possesses a distinct yet truly unique voice, able to take a song from practically any era or genre and really making it her own, through surprising vocal melisma, scatt jazz interludes and a blissful warm tone that expands over her entire catalogue of originals to innovatively-arranged hits.Her accolades are as impressive as they are extensive, from clinching victory in the prestigious Shure Montreux Voice competition in 2009 to securing a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where she stands as an alumna. Notably recognized as a top trombone player by Downbeat magazine, Aubrey has graced stages globally, touring alongside renowned artists like Dave Koz & Postmodern Jukebox.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Guitarist, producer, composer & arranger Greg Sanders is an integral part of the UK's alternative world & jazz scenes. Greg was a founding member of three influential underground world/jazz/fusion groups that formed studying at London's SOAS  University from 2008 - 2011:         - alternative afrobeat / post-punk trio Ruby & The Vines with bassist & vocalist Binisa Bonner   (Ata Kak) and drummer Ben Assiter (James Blake);   - London latin cult legends Wara (with Eliane Correa);   - and psychedelic jazz / live hip-hop collective FURGreg went on to create the jazz / world ensemble Teotima, releasing two critically acclaimed LPs on First Word Records (Counting The Ways, 2013 & Weightless, 2019).As a collaborator, Greg is sought out for his deep musicality and versatility, and has performed and recorded with Senegalese kora master Kadialy Kouyate, Zambian singer-songwriter Namvula, Portuguese singer-songwriter singer Inês Loubet, jazz bass bandleader Jonny Wickham, Brazilian jazz artist BABO MORENO, Brazilian MPB party favourites Big Ben Jorge, as well as Samba Azul, Irini Arabatzi, Hannah Brine and others.From 2016 - 2018, Greg completed an MA in Jazz Performance & Composition at London's Royal Academy of Music, studying with UK jazz legends including Chris Montague, Mike Walker, Pete Churchill and Nick Smart.Greg works closely with Congolese-Argentinian singer-songwriter Juanita Euka, and co-wrote, produced and arranged Juanita's debut LP 'Mabanzo' (Strut Records, 2022), and is the musical director for live shows.The trio LP Eight Songs (2022) (with Tom Herbert and George Bird) was Greg's first small-group jazz project as a leader. Today he joins the show to preview his new album, Perfect Strangers. Support the show

Send us your thoughts! John founded Crown Lane with his wife, back in 2007, and has ensured the business stays ahead of changes in the industry. He loves eating out and spending time with his boys and foster daughter. Today he joins the show to tell us about how he set up and sustains the studio as well as all the brilliant events he runs in the community. Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Robin tells us about his new single, I'm Coming Home, which is out now! Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Winner of the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the year, Xhosa Cole is an embodiment of the success of numerous community arts programmes in Birmingham including the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra, Jazzlines Ensemble, and Birmingham Music Service. Having grown up in Handsworth and first played the Tenor at Andy Hamilton's Ladywood Community Music School, he's now among a long legacy of Birmingham Saxophonists including Soweto Kinch and Shabaka Hutchings. Xhosa has performed twice at the BBC Proms, composed music for the Ripieno Players - a Birmingham-based string orchestra, recorded saxophone for Mahalia's debut album ‘Love and Compromise', and completed a 22 date UK tour. Xhosa Also received the Parliamentary Jazz Award for ‘Best Newcomer' in 2019 and Jazz FM 'Breakthrough Act of the Year'. Crown Lane StudioDiscover South London's hidden gem for musicians. Crown Lane Studio is a stunning multiroom complex.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! As a finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2020, winner of the Rising Star category in the 2019 British Jazz Awards and three-time nominee in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, Alex is known to be one of the most in-demand and versatile saxophonists to have emerged on the British jazz scene.Praised for her intelligent ear for harmony and a deep knowledge of repertoire across a broad spectrum of styles, Alex's sound is steeped in the tradition of bebop. Her total respect for the heritage of the music can be heard in a fiery, melodic approach inspired by the likes of Phil Woods, Cannonball Adderley and Vincent Herring. As a bandleader, Alex's quartet features some of the UK's finest musicians: David Newton, Dave Green and Steve Brown. In summer 2022, she released her latest album “Only A Year” and since then, her quartet have toured extensively around the country, appearing at jazz clubs and festivals including Swanage Jazz Festival and Scarborough Jazz Festival.Crown Lane StudioDiscover South London's hidden gem for musicians. Crown Lane Studio is a stunning multiroom complex.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Hailing from the North Coast of Scotland, bassist/composer Ali Watson journeyed to London to pursue his studies in music, returning to his homeland in 2022 to establish himself in Glasgow's vibrant jazz scene. Driven by a desire to craft music that served as an escape and antidote to the relentlessness and overstimulation of modern life, his debut album ‘Terrarium' is set to release on November 26th.Watson describes his music as ‘complex yet melodic'; drawing on Contemporary Jazz, Scottish Folk, Impressionist Classical music and his heroes in Aaron Parks, Kit Downes and Larry Grenadier to make his own distinctive imprint on modern Scottish Jazz. Beginning most of his compositions on the upright piano in his mother's home, Watson finds the safety and seclusion he experiences there enables him to enter an uninhibited and spontaneous state of mind, unaffected by the rest of the world. Led by lyrical folk melodies, colourful harmony, intimate instrumental textures and gently propellant grooves, each of Watson's nine deeply personal compositions are interpreted and performed by his quartet with maturity, personality and feeling. Support the show

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Send us your thoughts! Tigran Hamasyan is considered one of the most remarkable and distinctive jazz-meets-rock pianists/composers of his generation. A piano virtuoso with groove power, Hamasyan seamlessly fuses potent jazz improvisation and progressive rock with the rich folkloric music of his native Armenia.In addition to awards and critical acclaim, Hamasyan has built a dedicated following worldwide, as well as praise from Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau and the late Chick Corea. “With startling combinations of jazz, minimalist, electronic, folk and songwriterly elements…Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. You'll hear nothing else like this” (NPR)Support the show

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Send us your thoughts! Tom is based in Manchester, UK. He studied Saxophone and composition at the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester. His classical training from Rob Buckland (saxophone), Camden Reeves and Gary Carpenter (composition) continues to inform all of his original work, which blends his distinctive voice as an improviser, with a characteristically genre bending compositional flare that absorbs the language of contemporary classical, popular and jazz styles.He studied Jazz with Steve Berry and Tim Garland under a scholarship kindly granted by The Kinder Family Trust and with sponsorship from The Royal Society of Musicians.Tom now works internationally as a performer and composer of Jazz, Classical and Commercial Music. Tom has performed at venues which have included The Royal Albert Hall, Royal Exchange Theatre, Colston Hall, Glastonbury Festival, King's Place London, Band on the Wall, The Royal Philharmonic Hall and the world famous 100 Club as well as for various TV/Radio platforms. His professional life involves work in a variety of disciplines such as session touring and studio work, theatre pit work, multi-instrumental positions and original jazz projects. He accepts commissions from Classical performers for new works, as well as composing for commercial briefs including Film/TV and arranging.Support the show

Send us your thoughts! Joan Hutton is a performer, composer and educator residing in Minneapolis. Joan's diverse interests have taken her from jazz, free improv and funk to classical, chamber music and pit orchestras. She has released two jazz albums featuring her original music, with co-leader Sue Orfield, on Shifting Paradigm Records: “Take That Back” (2022) and “Splash” (2024.) She is a member of the Ancia Saxophone Quartet, which has recordings out on the Naxos and Albany labels. Joan teaches a large studio of private students around the Twin Cities and is the saxophone and clarinet instructor at Augsburg University.Support the show

Darius and Cathy join the show to share their lifetime of work and achievements. With a new book and film Playing The Changes as well as a rerelease of The Jazzanians iconic album We Have Waited Too Long theres so much to catch up on! Support the Show.

In a world which celebrates the virtuosity of the individual, HLK's vision has been to develop their ensemble virtuosity, compelled by a unified vision. The music comprises precise notated sections, moments of conversational interaction and room for individual improvisation. It is a delicate but powerful balance. This unique, interdependent rhythmic language has required unparalleled commitment, but yielded astonishing results. The Trio's music is celebrated for being emotionally and cerebrally challenging yet accessible, captivating audiences young and old across the UK and mainland Europe.HLK have completed their second recorded volume: ‘Anthropometricks'. Their unique musical relationship with Dame Evelyn Glennie has evolved and the results captured in five of the eight compositions on the album. Two additional artists have also been invited into the fray. British Cellist Natalie Clein's rich tone and melodic interpretation add a wealth of texture. Varijashree Venugopal contributes a spell-binding vocal performance, including an incredible improvisation on the title track. Today Rich Kass, Rich Harrold and Ant Law join Rob Cope to chat about the new album. Support the Show.

Sam joins Rob Cope to tell us all about his brand-new album. We chat about the music, the influences and the key decisions behind the project.Support the Show.

Loren's began her career as something of a prodigy at age 13, when she won a songwriting contest, gaining national attention. Before she was 19, she did a stint in Nashville, soaking up that city's ancestry of great American songwriting. She recorded her first album at 20, and from there she was off and running, recording successive albums that garnered awards, Billboard recognition and an international following that has sent her touring around the globe, including stops in Korea, Africa, Japan, Canada and the Caribbean, to name a few locations. Her records regularly make “best of” lists, and her sublime talents as a vocalist are attested to by several albums hitting the #1 slot on Canadian and Japanese jazz charts. Today she joins the show to tell us all about her new album. Support the Show.

Swedish artist, Vidya talks to Tara Minton about her new album, Adi Shakti. Support the Show.

Professor of the Practice in the Department of Music at Duke University, Anthony Kelley joined the Duke faculty in 2000 after serving as Composer-in-Residence with the Richmond Symphony for three years under a grant from Meet the Composer, Inc. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Duke University, and he earned a Ph.D. in Musical Composition from the University of California at Berkeley.In 2021, Kelley was appointed as Composer in Residence for the North Carolina Symphony. His major works for symphony orchestra include: Spirituals of Liberation (commissioned and  premiered in 2022 by the North Carolina Symphony, with Evan Feldman and Michelle Di Russo, conducting); the piano concerto, Africamerica (premiered in 1999, by the Richmond Symphony with piano soloist, Donal Fox and George Manahan, conducting); and The Breaks (commissioned and premiered in 1998 by The American Composers Orchestra under the direction of Gerard Schwartz). The Baltimore, Detroit, Atlanta, Oakland East Bay, Marin (CA) and San Antonio symphony orchestras have also performed Kelley's symphonic music.Among his awards and honors are the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Institute and Academy of Arts and Letters, and composition fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.  Some of his other work includes his soundtracks to the H. Lee Waters/Tom Whiteside film, Conjuring Bearden, (2006), and Dante James's film, The Doll (2007), explores music as linked with other media, arts, and sociological phenomena. A recording of Kelley's work, Grist for the Mill (commissioned by the Mallarme Chamber Players), was released in August, 2009 and is available for purchase on iTunes.Support the Show.

Our guest host Martin Hummel interviews Rob Cope about his new album, Gemini which is out now. Rob chats about his influences and inspirations and Martin does a stunning job in the captains chair. Support the show

Music has been an integral part of Martin's entire life. Since his early days as a musician, Martin staged concerts as a teenager (featuring Elton John), worked in various music clubs and was a DJ/Music Director in professional radio.  For 17 years, he was responsible for Pepsi-Cola's international communications, where he worked with the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Tina Turner, The Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Robbie Williams and Pink, amongst many others. He's founded Ubuntu Music, one of the great labels for new music and jazz and today he shares his thoughts on running the label with us. You will often find him at live shows, whatever the time of the day or night, looking for the next Bird, Dizzy, Esperanza, Charlie, Miles, Ron, Ella, Art or Chet.Support the show

As a band leader and co-leader he is responsible for much of the output of the groups; Lammas, The Underground Orchestra, Storms / Nocturnes (feat. Joe Locke and Geoffrey Keezer), Acoustic Triangle, the last few years of Bill Bruford's Earthworks, and The Lighthouse Trio, (feat; Gwilym Simcock and Asaf Sirkis). This final group makes a 20th anniversary come-back tour and release during 2024! Today we chat to Tim about his new album, Moment of Departure. Support the show

Kirk is a musician and writer based in Portland, as well as being a multi-instrumentalist he makes a music podcast, Strong Songs and produces and co-hosts the Triple Click video game podcast.Today he joins the show to chat to Rob Cope about all things podcasts, jazz as well as a look into music in video games. Support the show

Simon's latest project features his recently formed U.S. Jazz Octet with three front line horns and vocals. There are special guest appearances by leading U.K. jazz artists, including Tim Garland and Paul Booth and, for the first time, Simon's arrangements appear alongside his original compositions. Simon explains his thinking behind For the Dreamers: “I think that, deep down, I always knew (hoped!) that I would spend some time in America one day; form a band there; do some concerts; and record an album. My only surprise is that it took me until my mid-forties to do it! I wanted to harness my love for many genres of American music, utilise local American musicians and compose music for that particularly confident way they have of playing. This is the resulting album!Support the show

Mark joins the show to chat about his new album, Smiling. Joining the show is Olivia Cuttill as a guest host. Saxophonist and composer Mark Lockheart first came to prominence in the mid 1980s with the influential big band Loose Tubes. In 1992 Mark formed the eclectic co-led quartet Perfect Houseplants, a group that released six albums and collaborated with classical artists such as the Orlando Consort, Andrew Manze and Pamela Thorby. The mid-90s saw Mark recording and performing with many jazz, folk and pop artists, including Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, June Tabor, Stereolab, Jah Wobble, Robert Wyatt, Prefab Sprout, Don Um Romao, Thomas Dolby and Radiohead.In 2003 Mark joined Seb Rochford's Polar Bear, which over a period of 12 years recorded six ground-breaking albums. The band's second album, Held On The Tips Of Fingers, was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Award and later appeared in Jazzwise's 100 Albums That Shook the World. The band's fifth album, In Each And Every Way, was also nominated for a Mercury Award in 2013. In 2007 Mark was a featured soloist (along with John Pattitucci and Gwilym Simcock) in Mark Anthony Turnage's About Water, which premiered on the Southbank in June 2007. Mark collaborated several times more with Turnage, performing his A Man Descending with the Southbank Sinfonia in 2008 and more recently as one of the featured musicians in Turnage's opera Anna Nicole, which premiered at the Royal Opera House in London in 2011. In 2009 Mark's quintet album In Deep was released to critical acclaim. The following year saw the release of Mark's first big band album Days Like These with the Hamburg-based NDR big band. That same year Mark was awarded APPJC Parliamentary Jazz Musician of the Year 2010. In 2013 Mark released Ellington In Anticipation, a radical reworking of Ellington melodies with an all-star line up including Seb Rochford and Liam Noble. The album received numerous four and five-star reviews and was MOJO magazine's Jazz Album of 2013 and nominated as Best Jazz CD of 2013 by the APPJC at the 2014 Parliamentary Awards.  An invitation to perform at the New York Rochester Jazz Festival in 2014 led to the formation of Mark's trio, Malija, with bassist Jasper Hoiby and pianist Liam Noble. Malija's debut album The Day I Had Everything was released in December 2015 to critical acclaim. The group's second album Instinct was released in 2017 followed by a 21-date tour.  In 2016 Mark was awarded Jazz FM Instrumentalist of the Year and also nominated for the British Composer Awards for his composition With One Voice. A few years later saw the birth of two very contrasting projects , the jazz/orchestral work titled Days On Earth for jazz sextet and 30-piece orchestra, released on Edition Records in January 2019 and a set of English Renaissance music ‘Salvator Mundi' recorded at Temple church in London with organist Roger Sayer.mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issuesmosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County's news magazine show, exploring Jewish...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Rob Cope chats to Olivia about her brand new album, The Whole Damn Plan, featuring guest host and long time friend of the show, Mark Lockheart. Our 7th birthday celebrated in style with one of the finest musicians of the next generation.mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issuesmosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County's news magazine show, exploring Jewish...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Swedish jazz vocalist and composer Clara Green talks to Tara Minton about her new record, "Being Green."mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issuesmosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County's news magazine show, exploring Jewish...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Jamil joins the show today to chat about his new album, Red Kite. He has recorded and collaborated with many artists and recorded four albums of his own music, each of which have received national and international accolades. Jazz UK writes about Jamil: His music is both swinging and sophisticated, Sheriff showing himself to be a constantly inventive arranger. Just when you think you've heard it all, he'll come up with something fresh. As a composer, arranger and pianist Jamil has toured extensively throughout the UK and performed at national and international jazz festivals. Described by The Guardian as "someone who has made a real difference to the vitality of the jazz scene in the North of England.mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issuesmosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County's news magazine show, exploring Jewish...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Born in Detroit, raised in London and now based in Kraków, Alex Roth is a composer, guitarist, producer and interdisciplinary collaborator who over the last decade has earned a reputation as “one of contemporary music's most innovative and impressive talents” (musicOMH). His diverse body of work encompasses improvised performances; a wide range of concert music from solo to orchestral compositions; scores for dance, theatre and film; leading numerous bands; and producing electronic music. He has collaborated with some of Europe's leading experimental musicians, such as John Butcher, Arve Henriksen, Savina Yannatou, Kit Downes, Mikolaj Trzaska and Olga Szwajgier.Alex leads the acclaimed improvising trio Cut The Sky (whose debut album, with Waclaw Zimpel and Hubert Zemler, was selected by Polityka as one of 2023's best releases); produces experimental electronic music as Supersigil; co-directs Sephardic music group Sefiroth (for whom he also directed the multimedia performance Arvoles Lloran por Luvia); and founded the networked ensemble MultiTraction Orchestra, whose debut album Reactor One was hailed by The Guardian as "a remarkable sonic collage by an A-list of international improvisers.”mosaic: Exploring Jewish Issuesmosaic is Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County's news magazine show, exploring Jewish...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Today a living legend joins the show! Even for a successful composer and arranger in Hollywood, Gordon Goodwin's numbers are impressive: A 2006 GRAMMY Award for his Instrumental Arrangement of “Incredits” from the Pixar film The Incredibles, three Emmy Awards, and thirteen GRAMMY nominations.Support the show

Multi-award winner as best jazz vocalist - BBC Jazz Awards 2007 and 2004 and Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2018,alongside nominations from the Jazz FM Awards 2013 and Downbeat Magazine 2017 - Ian Shaw has amassed a number of highly acclaimed internationally released albums and is a popular performer both in the UK and the US. He has been cited, along with Mark Murphy and Kurt Elling, as one of the world's finest male jazz vocalists.Support the show

Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979)[1] is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine studio albums, three compilation albums, one live album and twenty-four singles. Since April 2010, he has presented a weekly Tuesday evening jazz show on BBC Radio 2.Today he comes on The Jazz Podcast to chat to Rob Cope.Support the show

Face to Face, Nikki's new album is out today! As a founder member of the hugely innovative Creative Jazz Orchestra in the early 90s, Nikki Iles came to prominence working with musicians such as Anthony Braxton, Vince Mendoza, Mark Anthony Turnage, Kenny Wheeler and Mike Gibbs.Mike subsequently booked her for one of her first recording dates with great American musicians, Steve Swallow and Bob Moses on the CD “By The Way” on AH HUM records. For many years, Nikki served a lengthy apprenticeship in the North of England playing with the cream of British and American jazz such as Peter King, Iain Ballamy, Art Farmer, Peter King ,Tina May ,Tim Garland and Jim Mullen.Many of these relationships were re- kindled later ,when after a car accident, Nikki finally decided to make the move to London in 1998. Here she joined the groups and toured and recorded with musicians such as Steve Arguelles, Mick Hutton, Martin Speake, Stan Sulzmann and Julian Arguelles and Norma Winstone .Several awards followed with the BT British Jazz Award and an IAJE Award in America for services to Jazz. Although well known as a pianist, composition still remains a major part of her musical life.The breadth of Nikki's artistic vision has led her to disregard the arbitrary boundaries of the jazz scene and most notably, commissions have included a collaboration with American dancer Mimi Cichanowicz , the UMO Jazz Orchestra in Finland, “A Gentle Prayer “ - London Sinfonietta , “Red Ellen” - Tim Garland's Northern Underground Band, “Carillion – The LPO's Renga ensemble and this year “The Caged Bird” from the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers.Nikki was honoured to have her piece HUSH commissioned by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra featured at the 2012 Proms ( BBC TV) and more recently write for the great American singer, Kurt Elling and The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra.Recently she has been particularly busy - she was awarded the prestigious Ivors Academy Gold Badge and the Ivor Novello Award - winning the best large ensemble composition in 2021.Support the show

Nicky Schrire is a multitalented and inventive British-South African vocalist and composer based in Toronto, Canada. Her work has seen her likened to vocalists Joni Mitchell, Norma Winstone, and Esperanza Spalding with The BostonGlobe's Jon Garelick noting that “though her approach has earned her comparisons to Gretchen Parlato and Becca Stevens, the similarities are superficial…she's got her own thing, and it's very much worth listening to.”A graduate of the South African College of Music and New York's Manhattan School of Music, she studied with Anthea Haupt, Peter Eldridge, Theo Bleckmann, and Dave Liebman. Schrire has performed in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, London, Dublin and South Africa, with musicians including Ben Wendel, Gerald Clayton, Fabian Almazan, Nir Felder, and Taylor Eigsti. She released three critically acclaimed jazz albums-2012's "Freedom Flight", 2013's "Space and Time", and the 2014 EP "To The Spring"-which earned her comparisons to songwriters like Joan Baez and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her duo album “Space & Time” featured Grammy-nominated pianists Gerald Clayton, Gil Goldstein and Fabian Almazan. The Ottawa Citizen's Peter Hum described the recording as “fifty minutes of emotionally eventful, richly crafted music”.Support the show

Mária talks about her creative process and new album, Topol'ana.Support the show

Nils Petter Molvær, Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, who takes multiple music styles – jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music – and effortlessly reshapes them into unique and dramatic soundscapes of deep intensity.Support the show

Neset made an astonishingly powerful impression when he first emerged onto the European jazz scene as a young saxophonist of protean gifts more than a decade ago.Django Bates, who was a teacher and a significant mentor at the Rhythmic Conservatory in Copenhagen, had Neset in several of his band, and also appeared on Neset's breakthrough album, Golden Xplosion (Edition, 2011).Support the show

Greek born with Egyptian roots, electric jazz harpist and composer Maria-Christina Harper is reinventing the sound of the harp in the jazz world. With her anarchic spirit and an interest in exploring what the harp can do, rather than exploring its traditional sounds, she presents her instrument in new and exciting ways. Combining her traditional music roots with free jazz she creates an irresistible, compelling sound cosmos. It's where East meets West.Based in the UK, Maria-Christina collaborates with two outstanding, highly acclaimed players to form the Harper Trio featuring drummer's-drummer Evan Jenkins and the dynamic saxophonist Josephine Davies (Instrumentalist Of the Year, 2019 Parliamentary Jazz Awards).Support the show

Aline Homzy is an award-winning violinist and composer. Originally from Montreal, born to a Québécois mom and an American dad with Eastern-European roots, Aline's original music reflects her culturally-diverse background.Beyond composing music, Aline is a regular violinist in the studios of Toronto, recording other artists' original music. Aline is seeked-out for her lightning-fast sight-reading skills, her deep knowledge of jazz and improvisation and her musicality and upbeat personality. Some artists that she has recorded for include David Occhipinti, Andrew Downing, Iskwé, The Weather Station, Amanda Tosoff and many more. She is also the leader of the string section for SymphRONica (2019 Juno-nominated), Maurizio Guarini's “A Goblin's Chamber Music”, De Bouche à oreille – série de spectacles francophone, and many other Toronto- based projects that record and perform in the city. Aline has also performed and/ or recorded with international artists such as Munir Hossn (Brazil), Emma Smith (Edinburgh), Jake Sherman (USA), Leah Michelle (USA), Ed Sheeran (Great Britain), Danilo Perez (Panama), Cho Yongwon (South Korea), Mikko Hildèn (Sweden), amongst others. Aline has performed in halls and venues such as Koerner Hall, Massey Hall, The Glenn Gould Studio, the Burdock, the Great Hall, various stages for the TD International Toronto Jazz Festival, Festival international de jazz de Montréal, Stockholm International jazz festival and many chamber-music and jazz-related concert series.Support the show