The Jazz Podcast

Matthew Halsall is a trumpeter, producer and composer who is redefining spiritual jazz for the next generation. Over the course of nine albums, numerous accolades and his taste-making label, Gondwana Records, he’s become a vital voice in UK music with his lithe, limitless blend of jazz and deeply meditative influences that’s in tune with the natural world. His thoughtful and refined style draws on the foundations laid by greats like Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, but adds the sample-fuelled electronica that he first heard in clubs, as well as global percussive influences and his signature – what you might call – sparkle. Today we feature his new album,  An Ever Changing View, which is out today! 

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Zoe Rahman: https://www.zoerahman.com/

Zoe Rahman’s style is deeply rooted in jazz yet it reflects her classical background, British/Bengali heritage and very broad musical taste. Known for her powerful technique, wide-ranging imagination and exuberant performance, she has become a highly sought-after musician on the international music scene, having worked with the likes of Courtney Pine, George Mraz, Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra and many other artists. A MOBO Award winner, Mercury Prize nominee and Ivor Novello Impact Award winner, Rahman is a unique presence in the British music industry.

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https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gemini--6#/

An artist interested in multiple musical directions and one who strives for quality and sincerity in his work. His exciting energy has compelled him towards many different musical directions and projects. Considered by his contemporaries as cutting edge, Gray shows promise as an artist that will not only move the music forward, but one who will share his unique musical vision with the world of music.

Devin Gray’s fresh approach to modern drumming has enabled him to play with many of the worlds great jazz musicians. He has performed and recorded with innovative musicians of contrasting styles and backgrounds such as: David Liebman, Tony Malaby, Gary Thomas, Ingrid Jensen, Dave Burrell, Dave Ballou, Michael Formanek, Nate Wooley, Stephan Crump, George Garzone, Chris Speed, Drew Gress, Sam Rivers, Ralph Alessi, John O’Gallagher, Ellery Eskelin, Kris Davis, Ted Rosenthal, Matt Mitchell, Satoko Fujii, Uri Caine, Andrew D’Angelo, Vardan Ovsepian, Angelica Sanchez, as well as many others.

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If you enjoy this show, you can preorder Rob's new album Gemini at this link below.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gemini--6

Today John joins the show to chat about his incredible career so far. 

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Saxophonists Andy and Suzanne join the show to chat to Rob about their career, their move from Manchester to Berlin and then again to Prague. A journey not to be missed! 

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Rob Buckland has crafted a career around his primary work as a saxophonist that defies categorisation. Renowned for a highly distinctive, original sound, with real personality and projection, combined with an open-minded approach to repertoire and performance styles, his work takes him around the globe in an astonishing variety of musical settings.

Constantly evolving, Rob's most recent projects include a new collaboration with world-renowned Jazz pianist and composer Gwilym Simcock. Featuring the two musicians in both classical and jazz contexts, joined by string quartet, this project merges genres seamlessly to create a new take on some beautiful classical inspired repertoire, with improvisation sympathetically woven into the fabric of the music. This project will record a CD in 2021, and has expanded to a programme with jazz quartet and orchestra. He is also a founder member of the Neoteric Ensemble, a six-piece brass and saxophones chamber group that is currently commissioning and recording a new programme of original music.

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Award-winning New York City jazz pianist and accordionist Ben Rosenblum has been described as “mature beyond his years,” (Sea of Tranquility), an “impressive talent” (All About Jazz), who “caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits” (Downbeat Magazine). Since the release of his debut trio album, Instead (4 stars, Downbeat), Rosenblum has toured extensively with his trio and sextet throughout the United States, including multiple trips to the Northeast, Midwest, South and West Coast, as well as internationally in Canada, Europe and Japan. He was a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall's Stern-Perelman Auditorium – with Reona Ito's New York Harmonic Band – and has appeared at prestigious venues throughout the world, including at the Appel Room at Lincoln Center, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Ravinia, Himawari-No-Sato Concert Hall in Yokohama, Bird's Eye inBasel and the Library of Congress. Rosenblum's second trio album in 2018, River City, was called “richly romantic” and “well-realized” by JAZZIZ Magazine, which featured the title track as part of their Best of Fall 2018 CD. In 2020, Rosenblum released his third album, Kites and Strings, which is the first to feature him on both piano and accordion alongside his new sextet, the Nebula Project. That year, the Nebula Project was votedrunner-up for Best New Artist in JazzTimes' Readers' Poll. Most recently, Rosenblum recently his fourth album, A Thousand Pebbles, in 2023. In May 2023, Rosenblum and the album were featured in a Downbeat Magazine article entitled "Worldly Jazz Adventuring." Rosenblum has been privileged to share the stage with many highly acclaimed jazz musicians, including extensive work with Curtis Lundy, Winard Harper, Deborah Davis and Chris Washburne, as well as appearances with Bobby Watson, Sean Jones, TS Monk, Warren Wolf, Eliot Zigmund, and many others. Rosenblum's musical interests also extend beyond jazz to include work in numerous world music scenes, including musical styles from Brazil, Peru, Croatia, Bulgaria, India, Ireland, Jewish traditions and more.

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Ally Fiola is a Nova Scotian saxophonist and film composer. Her recently recorded original jazz album, Interblaze, features 3x Grammy winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), Grammy winning keyboardist Glenn Patscha (Bonnie Raitt), Kurdish guitarist Shvan Kaban, and many top-tier Nova Scotian musicians, including co-producer Chris Mitchell. Ally’s full and soulful  saxophone tone is influenced by Cannonball Adderley, Maceo Parker, Hank Mobley, and David Sanborn, to name a few. 

Quirky melodies combined with joyous grooves and unexpected twists and turns, Ally’s jazz compositions are often inspired by New Orleans brass band, soul, and contemporary jazz. As an experienced composer, she connects to a wide-range of listeners with music that is emotionally charged, infused with personality yet widely accessible. “Thoughts of Home”, an original composition from her latest album, was nominated for the 2022 Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards in the jazz category.  

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Amy Jones is one of the leading pop vocalists in the UK. Running her own band and business, The White Keys, she has built up an empire to rival any music business start up. Today she shares with us her journey as a musician and an entrepreneur. 

https://amysyed.tumblr.com/

www.instagram.com/amy.vt.jones

www.thewhitekeys.co.uk

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Shirley Smart is recognised as one of the UK’s most versatile and creative cellists – being equally at home and well versed in jazz and Middle Eastern music, as well as classical music.

Originally trained under Raphael Wallfisch at the Guilldhall School of Music, and Janos Starker in Paris, she subsequently moved to Jerusalem, where she remained for 10 years, studying and performing a wide variety of musical traditions from the North Africa, Turkey and Middle East. She was also highly active on the jazz scene, working with artists including Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital and Yasmin Levy. Since returning to the UK, she has quickly become known as one of the most creative cellists on the music scene and has worked with many leading jazz and world music groups, including Antonio Forcione, Mulato Astatke, Gilad Atzmon, Neil Cowley, Julian Ferraretto, Robert Mitchell, Maya Youssef and Alice Zawadski.

She leads her own trio, with John Crawford on piano, and Demi Garcia Sabaton drums, and band Melange.

Shirley is Head of Performance and a Lecturer in Music at City University and Kent University, and also teaches Improvisation and Jazz at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. She is a visiting tutor for the National Youth Jazz Collective, and an in demand workshop leader.

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