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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 & Tom

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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 is
alone, 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 get
into 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.”

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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 FUR

Greg 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. 

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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. 

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Robin tells us about his new single, I'm Coming Home, which is out now! 

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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'. 

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