Singer, songwriter and film & TV composer Tawiah and bassoonist Linton Stephens join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the last five tracks in the current series. Love and longing feature prominently, be it for a distant homeland, a parent to a child, or infatuation. But the curtain rises to a famous march representing the forces of darkness in the evil empire.

Add to Playlist returns for a new series towards the end of May.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme) by John Williams

Other music in this episode:

Nut Rocker by B. Bumble & The Stingers

Lyricist Richard Stilgoe and musician and songwriter Natalie Duncan prepare for a square dance as they add five more tracks to the playlist. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from Scottish reels to Mars, via California's Santa Monica Boulevard.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Eightsome Reel by The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra

Other music in this episode:

King by Years & Years

Pianist Keelan Carew and trombonist Carol Jarvis join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist, as they take us from the great Winifred Atwell to an ambitious prog-rock reimagining of Aaron Copland's Rodeo ballet.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Tickle the Ivories by Winifred Atwell

Other music in this episode:

Radioactive by Carol Jarvis

Concertina and melodeon player Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and composer and arranger Anne Dudley contribute to the next five tracks on the playlist. Alongside Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, they take us on a journey from the elegant vocals of Amy Winehouse to a Japanese folk tune about hardworking fishermen.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Love is a Losing Game by Amy Winehouse

Other music in this episode:

Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

British-Syrian Maya Youssef - virtuoso player of the Middle Eastern stringed instrument the qanun - and conductor Ben Gernon, join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist. Starting by the dock of the bay, they travel to Damascus, Hamburg and land on a 1950s familiar pop classic sung by a 14-year-old.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

Other music in this episode:

Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore

Bandleader and jazz saxophonist Emma Rawicz and the writer and composer Neil Brand join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the next five tracks to the playlist. The journey takes them from Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, across the English Channel in a rickety aeroplane, then right up to the moon with Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

The Bucket’s Got a Hole in it by Kid Ory

Other music in this episode:

Tamacún by Rodrigo y Gabriela

Irish violinist Aoife Ní Bhriain and jazz pianist and composer Julian Joseph are the first guests in the new series with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe. Together they add the first five tracks, taking us from the Mercury Prize-winning jazz group Ezra Collective to a celebrated pair of sisters at the piano, via a 1975 pop classic heavily influenced by Frédéric Chopin.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

God Gave Me Feet For Dancing by Ezra Collective

Other music in this episode:

Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac

Georgie Ward, composer and keyboard player to the stars, and cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe, head to the Add to Playlist studio to add the final five tracks of the series. Together with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, this episode takes us from a reinterpretation of a Bob Marley classic to a Sinatra father-and-daughter 'novelty' song via a ground-breaking aunt-and-niece double-act from Tanzania.

Add to Playlist returns for a new series on 27 Feb 2025

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Redemption Song by the Kanneh-Masons

Other music in this episode:

Be the One by Dua Lipa, Live from the Royal Albert Hall

Kora player and composer Seckou Keita and screen composer Tess Tyler join Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye as they add five more tracks to the playlist, taking us from bootlegs to Africa's biggest-selling single, via an early classic video game. They are joined by the British producer Nick Patrick, the man behind two of the tracks in today's playlist.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Cindy C. by Prince

Other music in this episode:

Sallisaw Blue by John Moreland

Bassoonist Amy Harman, cellist Francesca Ter-Berg and baritone and composer Roderick Williams get in the festive spirit as they create a dynamic playlist of five classic seasonal tracks. In this Add to Playlist winter special, Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye are going to take us from a solitary chorister to a massive Christmas singalong banger, so sleigh bells at the ready...

Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Once In Royal David’s City by The Choir of King's College, Cambridge

Other music in this episode:

Here Comes Santa Claus by Bob Dylan