The Jazz Podcast

Emma Rawicz is an award winning young saxophonist and composer, already making waves on the UK music scene. She has been described as 'a force to be reckoned with' (Jazzwise) and 'a fast rising star' (London Jazz News). At the age of 19 she has already recorded her eagerly awaited debut album featuring Ant Law, made up entirely of her original compositions, due to be released i...

Nick is one of the most dynamic musicians of the millennial generation. An award-winning composer, producer, entrepreneur, educator and trombonist , Finzer is bringing the joy and power of Jazz to traditional fans and the most modern 21st century audiences. He’s on a mission to be a passionate voice defining the sound of Jazz in this age. Support the show

Wadada Leo Smith, trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser is one of the most acclaimed creative artists of his times, both for his music and his writings. For the last five decades, Mr. Smith has been a member of the historical and legendary AACM collective. He distinctly defines his music as “Creative Music.” Mr. Smith’s diverse discography reveals a recorded history centered a...

Since she burst onto the scene in 1996, Fujii has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music. Highlights include a piano trio with Mark Dresser and Jim Black (1997-2009), and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins (2001-2008). In addition to a wide variety of small groups of different instrumentation, Fujii also perfor...

Legendary Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset joins the show to chat about his music, philosophies and career. He's one of a kind, and an absolutely lovely man as well!  Support the show

Peter has directed the Nu Civilisation Orchestra since it's inception in 2009. The NCO has performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Ronnie Scott's, The Royal Northern College of Music. Peter made his BBC Proms conducting debut in 2019 performing  Duke Ellington's 'Sacred Concert'. He has worked with the BBC Concert Orchestra directing his arrangement of Billy Strayhorn'...

Jemma Freese started playing piano around the age of 10 and quickly discovered that she liked making up songs and only enjoyed playing her own material. As a teenager, she was heavily influenced by Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Muse and Tom Waits, this fed into her interest in jazz as a vocalist as well as piano player. From the age of 17 she started writing her own songs to help her get through the b...

Alyn Shipton is an award-winning author, musician and broadcaster, who wrote on jazz for over twenty years for The Times in London, and is a presenter/producer of jazz programmes for BBC Radio. He was Consultant Editor of the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, and has a lifelong interest in oral history, including editing the memoirs of Danny Barker, Doc Cheatham, George Shearing and Chris Barber. His...

In the summer of 2015, a grueling and often bewildering four-year battle with a rare cancer had the acclaimed pianist-composer Michael Wolff on the ropes. He’d fallen into a coma at a New York hospital, and the prognosis had moved from doubtful to defeated. His sons Nat and Alex, in the midst of their ascent as two of the most talented actors of their generation, had returned home to be with their...

Japanese trumpeter and composer NATSUKI TAMURA is internationally recognized for a unique musical vocabulary that blends extended techniques with jazz lyricism. This unpredictable virtuoso’s seemingly limitless creativity led François Couture in All Music Guide to declare that “… we can officially say there are two Natsuki Tamuras: The one playing angular jazz-rock or ferocious free improv… and th...

John Scofield’s guitar work has influenced jazz since the late 70’s  and is going strong today. Possessor of a very distinctive sound and stylistic diversity, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between post-bop, funk edged jazz, and R & B. John has prominently led his own groups in the international Jazz scene, recorded over 30 albums as a leader (man...

Born in Vancouver and raised in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Ingrid Jensen has been hailed as one of the most gifted trumpeters of her generation. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1989, she went on to record three highly acclaimed CDs for the ENJA record label, soon becoming one of the most in-demand trumpet players on the global jazz scene. Support the show

Iconic British jazz vocalist Norma Winstone joins the show to chat about her life, career, albums, heels and wine. Norma Winstone was born in London and first attracted attention in the late sixties when she shared the bill at Ronnie Scott’s club with Roland Kirk. Although she was known initially for evolving her own wordless approach to improvisation, her extraordinary versatility means she is eq...

GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana joins the Blue Note Records family with the release of 12 Stars, her debut album as a leader for the legendary Jazz label. At 33, the Brooklyn-based tenor player from Santiago, Chile has garnered international recognition for her visionary work as a band leader, as well as her deeply meditative interpretation of language and vocabulary.  Tod...

Today we welcome the wonderful bassist  Mark Wade on the show, previewing his newly released album, True Stories.  Based in New York, Wade has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, The Iridium and Birdland. He is a former artist in residence at Flushing Town Hall and tours in North America and Europe. He has played with jazz notables James Spaulding, Eddie Palmieri, Conrad Herwig, Ha...

Bob Mintzer is a saxophonist/arranger/educator who resides in Los Angeles. He is currently holds the Barbara and Buzz McCoy endowed chair at the USC Thornton School of Music. Bob is a 30 year member as saxophonist with the Yellowjackets. He is also the chief conductor of the WDR Big Band in Cologne Germany. Bob has written over 500 big band arrangements, several jazz study books, orchestral and ch...

WALTER THEODORE ROLLINS was born on September 7, 1930 in New York City. He grew up in Harlem not far from the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theatre, and the doorstep of his idol, Coleman Hawkins. After early discovery of Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, he started out on alto saxophone, inspired by Louis Jordan. At the age of sixteen, he switched to tenor, trying to emulate Hawkins. He also fell unde...

New York City-based bassist Mark Lewandowski originally hails from Nottingham, England. His interest in the bass took him to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Whilst studying at the school Mark was rapidly producing a strong name for himself on the London scene; playing regularly at the world famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club by only his second year in the capital. He was a...

Luca Manning is an artist who questions rigidity.  Shaped initially by the buzzing Glasgow music and arts scene, Luca now finds their heart stolen by all that East London has to offer. In their words, Luca’s music could be described as : ‘An ethereal art-pop adventure peeking down alleyways of Improvisation, storytelling and Spoken Word.’ Luca’s most recent work : ’noises with friends e.p’, is per...

“The best new thing that has happened in European jazz for a long time” (Le Monde), Emile Parisien has formed a top-flight American-European sextet for this album, his seventh as leader or co-leader on ACT. The band will be touring in 2022, the year which also marks the tenth anniversary of Parisien’s first appearance on an ACT album. The saxophonist developed his strong sense of direction in musi...

Malik Al Nasir is an author, performance poet and filmmaker from Liverpool. He has produced and appeared in several documentaries with artists such as Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Benjamin Zephaniah and Public Enemy, as well as footballer Mark Walters and many other luminaries. Malik started tracing his roots back through slavery over 15 years ago and his pioneering research has been recognise...

Tara & Rob speak to soul singing/ pianist and composer Natalie Duncan. She has been compared to legendary and multifaceted global artists such as Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin. Her career has spanned many years performing her own music, including featuring in London Jazz Festival’s Jazz Voice Opener, Later with Jools Holland and vocalist for Drum and Bass legend, Goldie. Support the show

Sarah Moule's 5th album, Stormy Emotions, explores the themes of Time and Love in an uplifting collection of songs written by her husband Simon Wallace and the late great jazz lyricist Fran Landesman. In the eighteen years spent working with Simon and Fran, Sarah developed a uniquely close relationship to their material. Born in New York in 1927, Landesman's lyrics have been sung by grea...

Award winning saxophonist and composer Emma Johnson is a Leeds based musician and the bandleader of Emma Johnson’s Gravy Boat. Emma’s music has been played on BBC Radio 3 and her writing has been described as ‘a relaxed, melodic and distinctive style of contemporary jazz’. Today she's our guest on a wonderful show recorded at House of Koko in Leeds.  Support the show

Rick is based in London playing a wide variety of music, and leads his own group playing original jazz music. Rick is a regular performer at Ronnie Scotts, the 606 Jazz Club, Pizza Express Dean Street, The Vortex, The Bull’s Head, and he has appeared at larger UK venues such as the Royal Festival Hall and the Purcell Room. In 2008 Rick won a Yamaha Scholarship Prize for Outstanding Jazz Musicians....