‘Transatlantic’ from Garrett Keast and the Berlin Academy of American Music

Conductor Garrett Keast joined me for a delightful conversation about music, Berlin and specifically the debut album from the Berlin Academy of American Music.

    Transatlantic is a wonderful album and I highly recommend it for the dedicated classical music fan and for those looking for something new to listen to. There's new and more traditional American compositions, including Copland's Appalachian Spring and Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks. 

    Thanks to Garrett for allowing me to use tracks from the album alongside our conversation.

Merry Christmas - a special episode for Harmonious World

My interview for this Christmas special is with Daniel Hyde, Musical Director of The Choir of Kings College Cambridge. The choir's album - In the Bleak Midwinter - reflects the extraordinary Christmases of both 2020 and 2021. 

    The next tracks I discuss in this episode are a variety, all released in time for Christmas this year and I hope you enjoy the work of these artists:

* Sancta Nox: Christmas Matins from Bavaria from the Seminarians of Wigratzbad
* The Mass by Patrick Cassidy
* More Honourable than the Cherubim by PaTRAM Institute Male Choir
* Winter Tales by Various Artists
* Boogie Woogie Santa from Lyn Stanley

    Thanks to all these amazing artists for allowing me to use clips of their tracks in this special Christmas episode. Please do let me know which tracks you enjoyed the most.

    Merry Christmas to you all.

A Tuesday podcast with ‘Tues Days’

I was delighted to be joined by soprano sax player Jane Ira Bloom for our second interview alongside her collaborator, drummer and percussionist Allison Miller.

    Tues Days is the pair's album of improvised sax and drum duets recorded in March and April 2021. The music is both rhythmic and lyrical, displaying a very clear exploration of their productive Tuesdays playing together.

    Thanks to Jane and Allison for allowing me to start and finish this episode with tracks from the album alongside our conversation.

‘In These Trees’ collaboration

Orchard starts and finishes this week's episode of Harmonious World, as I discuss the writing and recording of the track with writer and radio host Binnie Klein.

     Binnie’s brand new collaborative project is very exciting and includes a video for Orchard, which features the voice of Australian artist Tartie.

    Thanks to Binnie for allowing me to start and finish this episode with the single alongside our conversation.

'Look at What a Mess You Made of Me'

This week's episode of Harmonious World starts with a composition by my guest, John Finbury and the glorious bass of Christian McBride.

     John has three singles out now - Look at What a Mess You Made of Me, Boulevard and Ring the Bells, the latter of which was composed in memory of the late, great, Chick Corea.

     John talked through the composition and recording process behind each of the tracks and it was a fascinating conversation.

     Thanks to John for allowing me to play extracts from the three tracks alongside our conversation.

Right book, right time.

I've been meaning to write this blog for several days. Suddenly, it became particularly apposite.

    At the October meeting of my book club, we needed to choose our November reading material and we settled on David Harewood's 'Maybe I Don't Belong Here'. There were several books suggested, but we were intrigued by the story of an actor who appeared to have struggled with his mental health and discussed it publicly. At that point, none of us had seen Harewood's BAFTA-nominated, BBC documentary 'Psychosis and Me'.

    When we gathered in November at our beautiful venue, Hitchin's historic Kite at the Red Hart, there was an overwhelming sense of appreciation for the book, for the honesty of the writer, and for the way this autobiography resonated with so many of us.

    I'm choosing not to attribute any of my comments to real people - if members of the book club choose to tell their own story and give their own response to the book, I'd be delighted if they could make their own comments below.

    Adam had a close family member whose own difficult and life-changing story was told to great effect in public. None of us had known that before we began discussing Harewood's story and we were all moved to compare the two stories: it's likely that this other family member would not have been mentioned without us all reading 'Maybe I Don't Belong Here'. Adam also talked another close family member who is a person of colour, and several of us were as distressed to hear some of their experiences as we had been about Harewood's.

I enjoyed reading much of this alongside a vegan bacon butty and a peppermint tea!