Harmonious World

The first Harmonious World episode of season 7 - and 2022 - features composer and pianist Paul Edis . The Still Point of the Turning World   brings Paul's stunning composing and performing zeal to this debut album on Lateralize Records . We had a great chat about how Paul came to release this album and something about what the future holds. Thanks to Paul for allowing me to use tracks from th...

Conductor Garrett Keast joined me for a delightful conversation about music, Berlin and specifically the debut album from the Berlin Academy of American Music . Transatlantic is a wonderful album and I highly recommend it for the dedicated classical music fan and for those looking for something new to listen to. There's new and more traditional American compositions, including Copland's...

My interview for this Christmas special is with Daniel Hyde, Musical Director of The Choir of Kings College Cambridge . The choir's album - In the Bleak Midwinter - reflects the extraordinary Christmases of both 2020 and 2021. The next tracks I discuss in this episode are a variety, all released in time for Christmas this year and I hope you enjoy the work of these artists: * Sancta Nox: Chri...

I was delighted to be joined by soprano sax player Jane Ira Bloom for our second interview alongside her collaborator, drummer and percussionist Allison Miller . Tues Days is the pair's album of improvised sax and drum duets recorded in March and April 2021. The music is both rhythmic and lyrical, displaying a very clear exploration of their productive Tuesdays playing together. Thanks to Jan...

Orchard starts and finishes this week's episode of Harmonious World, as I discuss the writing and recording of the track with writer and radio host Binnie Klein . Binnie's brand new collaborative project is very exciting and includes a video for Orchard , which features the voice of Australian artist Tartie . Thanks to Binnie for allowing me to start and finish this episode with the sing...

This week's episode starts with a composition by my guest, John Finbury and the glorious bass of Christian McBride. John has three singles out now - Look at What a Mess You Made of Me , Boulevard and Ring the Bells , the latter of which was composed in memory of the late, great, Chick Corea. John talked through the composition and recording process behind each of the tracks and it was a fasci...

This episode of Harmonious World features talented singer, lyricist, writer and arranger Ami Oprenova . Ami's album - Precious Days - brings together a huge range of musical influences. It owes something to Ami's time with gypsy swing group Coco 'n' the fellas , as well as jazz, swing and blues. All with a bit of European folk music. Thanks to Ami for allowing me to play extrac...

I'm joined by the hugely talented and inspirational  pianist Craig Taborn for the latest episode of Harmonious World. Shadow Plays is out now on ECM records and is produced by the prolific Manfred Eicher. Recorded at the Wiener Konzerthaus on 2 March 2020, this is a real musical moment in time and you can hear Craig and I discuss the start of the pandemic as he experienced it at the end of a...

I was joined by sax player and composer Jon Gordon for the latest episode of Harmonious World. Jon's latest album is Stranger Than Fiction - a fabulous collection of tracks that reflect something of Gordon's response to the crises facing us in the world around us. This conversation was a joy and I hope you enjoy listening in. Thanks to Jon for allowing me to play extracts from Stranger T...

Award-winning composer and pianist Matthew Puckett joins me for this episode of Harmonious World. Before I Go is a wonderful soundtrack to a new movie of the same name . Matthew has worked with director Eric Schaeffer on several of his films and their creative partnership continues with this beautiful soundtrack. Thanks to Matthew for allowing me to play extracts from Before I Go alongside our con...

This episode of Harmonious World features a conversation with violinist Matthew Detrick, who is also Artistic Director of the Apollo Chamber Players . Apollo Chamber Players are a busy group of musicians who are working on a whole series of fascinating musical projects, including the album With Malice Toward None  which came out in August. We barely scratched the surface in our chat, but I hope it...

Another fascinating conversation for Harmonious World, this time with pianist RIOPY . This was a great pleasure, to both interview RIOPY and, indeed, listen back to our conversation in editing this episode. His album, Bliss is out now and I hope you enjoy listening to the clips I'm including. Thanks to RIOPY for allowing me to play extracts from Bliss alongside our conversation. Follow me on...

I hope you'll enjoy listening to my conversation with violinist Hideko Udagawa . Nostalgic Russia - Hideko's latest album - is out now and features some of the most gorgeous pieces written for violin and piano, and transcriptions of two pieces that were originally written for solo piano. We discuss all this and more and I hope you enjoy listening. Thanks to Hideko for allowing me to play...

I hope you'll enjoy listening to my conversation with pianist and composer Lisa Swerdlow . Lisa's latest single is All Is Not Lost and we discuss that, together with her Coming to America concerto, which is also available now. Lisa is a beautiful pianist and these compositions have a great deal to offer, both musically and philosophically. Thanks to Lisa for allowing me to play extracts...

Another delightful and hugely talented guest on Harmonious World and this time it's bassist, Marc Johnson . Marc's latest album, Overpass , is out now on ECM Records. and I hope you enjoy listening to the sample of the tracks on the podcast. It's a fascinating album and beautiful music - some standards and some originals. Thanks to Marc for allowing me to play extracts from Overpass...

Welcome to season 6 of Harmonious World. I can't quite believe that I've been doing this for so long, nor that I'm getting so many listeners now. I'm grateful to all of you. I've been looking back at my previous episodes, listening to some of the music and I have really spoken to many, many extraordinary musicians. I am particularly looking forward to spending some time li...

With apologies for the quality of this interview, where technology between the UK and Russia wasn't always reliable, but this is nevertheless a great interview with an outstanding sax player, Igor Butman . We had a fascinating discussion about his music and the bridge he is constantly building between Moscow and New York. His new album - Only Now -  is available now. I cannot recommend it hig...

Another blast from my past - I discovered on interviewing guitarist Chris Standring that we were undoubtedly in the same room or on the same stage in the past. His album - Wonderful World -  is out now and it's a delightful collection of jazz standards accompanied by stunning strings.  We discussed my two favourite tracks - Green Dolphin Street and Autumn in New York - and it's great to...

It was such a joy to interview singer Carmela Rappazzo for the latest episode of Harmonious World. Love and Other Difficulties is a wonderful album (including pianist Oscar Rossignoli, who was a guest on episode 69) and it was a pleasure to discuss it and New Orleans in general with Carmela.   Thanks to Carmela for allowing me to play extracts from Love and Other Difficulties alongside our convers...

This latest episode features composer, arranger and sometime keys and bass player Sacha Puttnam . Out shortly is Sacha's album Spirit of Cinema with the Classic Film Orchestra. This is a superb collection of Sacha's compositions that pay homage to just a few of David Puttnam's superb films. This was a great conversation - there's a lot to learn about Sacha's approach to mu...

One of the joys of hosting this podcast is the artists I'm discovering and Patricia Barber is definitely a great new find to add to my list. With not one, but TWO albums out now, there's lots to discover, alongside Patricia's amazing back catalogue. Higher is a collection of original tracks, while Clique collects together some of the standards Patricia is used to adding to her set,...

In a delightful conversation with cellist Bion Tsang , we explored some of the reasons for Bach's long-lasting appeal. Bion has just released a double CD collection of Bach's cello suites.  Alongside Bion's own undeniable talent, the sonorous, rare Stradivari cello combine with the acoustics of the Bastyr Chapel, Seattle to produce a wonderful album. Thanks to Bion for allowing me t...

For this episode of Harmonious World, I chatted with pianist Tim Chernikoff . Tim's debut trio album - Pieces of Sanity - is out on 24 September and it's well worth a listen. beautiful original tracks by Tim himself and  covers of Wayne Short and Chick Corea tracks, as well as the stunning Till We Die by Rodgers and Hart. Thanks to Tim for allowing me to play extracts from the album alon...

The latest episode of Harmonious World features my interview with bassist David Arend from the musical collective Alchemy Sound Project . Afrika Love is Alchemy Sound Project's third album and it features five tracks that individually and collective tell a story worth listening to. Thanks to David for allowing me to play extracts from the album alongside our conversation. Follow me on instagr...

Pianist Oscar Rossignoli joined me for the latest  episode  of Harmonious World. Inertia - Oscar's debut solo album - is a collection of original works and improvisations. It is a tribute to so much of the last year, and not least the passing of Chick Corea and the Covid-19 pandemic. But it is, above all, a collection of beautiful solo piano works that are original composition and improvisati...