Harmonious World

It's all about the jazz festivals at the moment - so much great live music around. This week, I chat with Tobie Medland, who has curated the Gypsy Jazz Festival of London. There are some great acts announced for 6-12 May 2024.Thanks to Tobie for providing some excellent tracks to hear alongside our conversation, in case you're unsure what Gypsy jazz sounds like.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

If you like jazz, you should get along to Watford Jazz Festival, 12-19 May 2024.If you don't know much about jazz (yet), do the same.I had a chat with founder and festival director Chris Newstead, who ran through all the delights on offer this year, so if you can, you should pop along to see some of the great acts appearing in Watford.The Harmonious World theme tune you can hear at the start and end of our conversation was composed and performed by pianist Joe English.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

We start season 16 of Harmonious World with another in-person conversation, This one was with bassist Mark Wade, who first appeared on the podcast in 2020, at the height of the pandemic.It was great to chat with Mark in the wonderful setting of Benslow Music.Thank you to Mark for chatting with me before he started tutoring and performing across Europe, and for allowing me to share tracks from True Stories alongside our conversation.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Welcome to season 16 of Harmonious World.I hope that 2024 is a happy and healthy year for you all so far. Some of my guests and listeners are in parts of the world where that probably seems impossible, and I really hope that we see some progress in seeing a return to sanity and kindness everywhere.For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Hilary Seabrook and I’m a writer, podcaster and musician (with a little teaching thrown in).You can find out more about me on my blog - there’s also lots of album and gig reviewsSeason 15 was a spectacular one and the statistics for listeners are quite extraordinary. I’ve had some amazing guests, including China Moses, Jeff Atmajian, Joey Alexander, Tim Boniface, Didier Recloux and Mark Lockheart.I have also been using my theme tune, which you can hear now and was composed and performed by Joe English.There are some amazing interviews already in the bag for April and more planned for the rest of Season 16 and I hope you enjoy listening to them every week . If you want to know in advance who I’m chatting with, you’ll need to subscribe! Another subscriber bonus is a cute key ring: there’s more merchandise on the way.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Welcome to a special Easter episode of Harmonious World with sax player and Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge, Tim Boniface.Although I set out to discuss Tim's latest composition - jazz suite Psalter: Themes for Peace - we also discussed his Christmas suite The Infant and The Eight Words, an Easter suite that you can hear extracts of alongside our conversation.Thank you to Tim for chatting with me in his tranquil study at Girton, and for allowing me to share tracks from the album alongside our conversation.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

This is my second episode with Paul Edis (the first is here), and this time he's joined by sax player Vasilis Xenopoulos to discuss their forthcoming quartet album Feels Like Home.This album reminds me of the ethos behind Harmonious World itself, in that it's about all of us working to try to make the world a better place - no matter where we call home.I hope you enjoy our conversation, including the extra section at the front where Paul and I catch up about the impact of lockdown, which can sometimes seem so unreal now. Thank you to both Paul and Vasilis for spending time with me, and for allowing me to share tracks from the album alongside our conversation.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Subscriber-only episodeIt's been too long in the making, but here's a Subscriber Special episode.March has already been a great month for Harmonious World, with lots of new listeners.I'd like to thank all my subscribers for your support - if you haven't already received it, your key ring is in the post! There will be more merchandise coming soon and you'll be the first to know about it.Meanwhile, don't forget about my blog, where I review gigs and albums that aren't always linked to a specific Harmonious World episode.Please do let me know what you enjoy listening to: I have conversations booked in through April. Many of them are in person, which is a process I am really enjoying.Look out for a very special International Jazz Day episode on 30 April, featuring jazz harpist Alina Bzezhinska.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Thanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Discussing jazz composition and performance with drummer Gustavo Cortinas proved so much of why I love recording episodes of Harmonious World. Gustavo is from Mexico City, living in Chicago and influenced by jazz and classical music from around the world.Live in Chicago is a stunning album that Gustavo describes as a snapshot of his musical journey.Thank you to Gustavo for spending time with me, and for allowing me to share tracks from the album alongside our conversation.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

This, the 200th episode of Harmonious World, is somewhat self-indulgent, as it features a conversation with Dan Jennings, broadcaster and host of the podcast Desperately Seeking Paul, who interviewed me back in lockdown. You'll hear in our conversation why it's self-indulgent and why it appears on the 40th anniversary of the release of The Style Council album Cafe Bleu.You can read the Guardian article we refer to in our chat.Thank you to Dan for spending time with me, and I hope you enjoy listening in to our conversation. The music at the start and end is the Harmonious World theme tune, from pianist, composer and bandleader Joe English.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Welcome to my special International Women's Day 2024 episode, featuring a coffee-shop conversation with singer songwriter and radio presenter China Moses.China kindly allowed me to feature a couple of the tracks from her China Moses & The Vibe Tribe EP from 2021, which I hope give you a taste of her amazing vocal talents. Listen to her show on JazzFM to hear more of her own great taste in music.Thank you to China for spending time with me, and I hope you enjoy listening in to our conversation.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

For the latest episode of Harmonious World, I am joined by sax player, composer and educator David Bixler to discuss his latest album, The Langston Hughes Project Volume 1.As part of the conversation, David introduces the Langston Hughes poem Mother to Son, which is simply stunning and probably an inspiration for us all.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

My conversation with composer Didier Recloux was in a noisy coffee bar, but I hope you can hear our chat clearly - it was fascinating.Didier's latest album is Monsieur Linh and his Child and the first single - First Walk - is out today (28 February 2024).We also discuss Didier's links with Zeinab Badawi and her BBC World series The History of Africa Part 1 and 2, for which he composed the soundtracks.Thanks to Didier for joining me in conversation and for sharing tracks from Monsieur Linh and his Child alongside our chat. I'm now very much looking forward to reading the book.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

It was a great pleasure to have a conversation with classical pianist Burkard Schliessmann: his album Live & Encores is out now.If you love classical solo piano, this is the album for you. If you haven't explored the music of Bach, Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann, then this is a fabulous starting point.Not only is this great music, performed brilliantly, the recording quality is outstanding using Dolby Atmos high-definition audio.Thanks to Burkard for joining me in conversation and for sharing tracks from Live & Encores alongside our chat.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

I really enjoy these live chats and the background noise adds some atmosphere - this time it's a chat with sax player, composer and band leader Mark Lockheart in London's Barbican Centre.Mark's latest album - Smiling - is out on Edition Records at the end of March and you can hear a couple of tracks from it.Thanks to Mark for joining me in conversation and for sharing tracks from Smiling alongside our chat.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Pianist Jim Clayton has unleashed his vocals on the latest album Look Out!  and in this conversation he explains why.This conversation was a joy and - once again - I was reminded why I decided to start this podcast nearly four years ago - there's a sense of people like Jim in this episode simply sharing why they do what they do. And it helps us all understand music a little better.Thanks to Jim for joining me in conversation and for sharing tracks from Look Out! alongside our chat.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Pianist and composer Joey Alexander has recently released his seventh album - Continuance - and he joined me to discuss it.We chatted just hours after he finished a five show run at New York's Birdland to officially launch the album. He's an interesting young man and a truly phenomenal pianist and composer.Thanks to Joey for joining me in conversation and for sharing tracks from Continuance alongside our chat.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

I met arranger, orchestrator and composer Jeff Atmajian at Abbey Road studios in November, while visiting past guests on the show Michael Shapiro and Danae Zanthe Vlasse. He kindly agreed to be interviewed by me in person, so we met in Islington when he was finishing a recording for the TV show 'Call the Midwife'.Jeff is intensely interesting and finding questions to ask him was a breeze.  He's worked on many film scores and those for some of the best-known film and TV composers. The tracks you hear at the start and finish of the show are from 'Creation: Once Upon All TIme' by Carol Schuller Milner, but there are numerous tracks I could have selected. Thanks to Jeff for sparing time to join me in the conversation and sharing the tracks alongside our chat.I hope you enjoy listening to our chat and the background noise isn't too much of a distraction: this conversation really was a joy.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Pianist and composer David Lopato has interesting stories to tell together with his diverse, fascinating collection of tracks on Short Stories.Thanks to David for sparing time to join me in the conversation and discussing the tracks alongside our chat.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

This was a delightful conversation and I'm glad to be able to share it with you at the very start of 2024 and season 15 of Harmonious World.Singer Lucy-Anne Daniels is very much one to watch and I can highly recommend you search for a gig where you can hear her sing and watch her own the stage.Although it's a great honour for me to be able to interview some titans of music, I'm really going to seek out new artists like Lucy-Anne (and composer of my Harmonious World theme tune, Joe English) to promote. You can watch a video of her performing with fellow musicians from the Birmingham Conservatoire.Watch out for my new blog feature of upcoming gigs - mostly UK but anything that looks interesting and especially those that feature past or future guests.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Welcome to a brief trailer for season 15 of Harmonious World. It's really just an excuse to wish you - listeners and guests - a very happy and healthy 2024.Thanks to pianist and composer Joe English for my theme tune.Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showThanks for listening to Harmonious World. You can support the show by becoming a subscriber.Please rate and review wherever you find your podcasts - it really helps.Read my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter