Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

 A group of friends and I are cycling in Derbyshire. There are some challenging hills, cycle paths that are gravel (tricky on a road bike) and we had a little rain. But a lovely day and more to follow tomorrow, Every once in a while, the trail we were on for half of the ride passed under a bridge. Beautiful structures from the past. We enjoyed a lunch break at Tissington, in a deserted railway station, where there were memorials for people who’ve enjoyed hiking and cycling along the abandoned railway tracks. I have no idea what this indicated, but it meant something to train drivers or passengers until the line was closed 60 years ago. At the end of he day, I gave Ella a good clean but I wish I had taken a ‘before’ shot to show how much mud covered her. Now she’s shiny and ready to go on a shorter ride tomorrow.

Freddie Bryant's album 'Upper West Side Love Story' is an ambitious musical dedication to a specific area of New York, but it says a lot about how cities are gentrified. I chatted with Freddie for episode 172 of my podcast Harmonious World and he tells the whole story about this complicated music that is a song cycle and so much more. From the perspective of a child, of a man growing up in this part of town he loves so much and then as an adult looking back, this music sheds an intensely personal light. Musically, it is captivating. Please do listen to the episode and then to the whole album. It's worth it for the music and for the poetry,

I promise you'll love the latest Harmonious World episode with singer  Sara Shiloh Rae  and  The Sondheim Project  - Sara wasn't dismayed when I said that she and the band Bluebird Junction had "taken Broadway and moved it into the middle of nowhere." This really was a great discussion. Sara is a classically-trained singer with opera and concert hall credentials, but there's something joyous and blues-infused about this approach to some classic Sondheim tracks. We had a blast discussing it. Sara's vocal approach to these Sondheim classics treads the delicate line between jazz, Broadway and bluegrass. Along the way, the arrangements and the performances - Max Hoetzel (banjo), Mike Robinson (acoustic guitar, pedal steel guitar), Myles Sloniker (bass), Alex Hargreaves (fiddle), Jacob Jolli (mandolin) and Molly Aronson (cello) - bring a new perspective to some songs we all know so well. Particularly outstanding is the arrangement of Ladies Who Lunch , which fits ...

There is nothing quite like getting lost in music, and that's exactly what happened when I cued up one of the latest releases from Jazz is Dead , featuring jazz-funk legend Lonnie Liston Smith. I highly recommend listening to Lonnie Liston Smith JID017 straight through from Loves Brings Happiness featuring vocalist Loren Oden. That will take you through some stunning tracks , more of which feature Oden's vocals, until you reach the trance-like What May Come and finally A New Spring with more vocals. One of the greatest things about the Jazz is Dead collaborations is the multi-instrumental talents of Adrian Younge alongside the bass of Ali Shaheed Muhammad. It's as if they set out to create music with some of their favourite artists - Roya Ayers, Gary Bartz and Brian Jackson, to name just a few of my favourites. Their own style permeates all of their releases, while they allow the musical soul of their collaborators to rise above it all. The vocal talents of the Jazz is...

The latest episode of Harmonious World features a conversation with composer and pianist Tania Giannouli. Tania's latest album - on Rattle Records from New Zealand - is called  Solo  and it's her first completely solo release. It's a beautiful collection of tracks composer and improvised by Tania. We spoke just a few weeks after I had visited her homeland of Greece and it brought back lots of memories for me, although the music itself is quintessentially international. Thanks to Tania for allowing me to play extracts from  Solo  alongside our conversation. I chose  to open with Novelette , which perfectly sets the tone for the episode and is one of my favourite tracks on this delightful collection. In the middle of the episode, I played a clip from Twin Star , with Same Dream  at the end. Both of these evoke Tania' style and dexterity on the piano and with that perfect combination of composition and improvisation. Just a few weeks ago, I spent time on Cret...

My summer reading this year has included two fascinating books: both of them ostensibly about bass players, but actually they narrate more about the determination and self-determination that transfers across all our lives. The first book -  Upright Bass: the musical life and legacy of Jamil Nasser  - was introduced to me in March by Muneer Nasser, the author, when he joined me for an episode of my podcast , Harmonious World . Muneer and I discussed the book, as well as the music of his father, Jamil, and his own releases. Once I started reading Upright Bass , I couldn't put it down. Nasser drops names about the extraordinary musicians his father worked with, and alongside that he tells the story of an incredible life behind many great jazz gigs and recordings. As well as the musical legacy, Jamil Nasser, who died on 13 February 2010, will be remembered for speaking up against injustice and this book expands on the way he used his voice as a power for good. At his memorial...

I was delighted to interview Elina Duni for the latest episode of Harmonious World : below, you can read my album review of A Time To Remember . A Time To Remember is Elina Duni’s 11th album and it’s a stunning combination of original and standard tracks that show off her voice beautifully, Elina’s band reunites the winning combination of Rob Loft (guitar) , Matthieu Michel (flugelhorn) and Fred Thomas (percussion and piano), with genuine collaboration. In our discussion for Harmonious World, Elina and I discussed the musical interplay between the instruments that is really extraordinary. At times, the lines intermesh and the players trade ideas and music motifs that is subliminal. The whole album represents original tunes composed by Elina, sometimes in collaboration and sometimes inspired by the landscape around her and nature in all its glory - wherever she finds herself. There is a global heme that runs throughout, alongside the whole notion of time. Lockdown presented Elina with t...

 My friends at Jazz Fuel asked a few questions about motivation and music. It sheds a little more light on why I created Harmonious World back in May 2020. Please do read the full interview for Jazz Fuel  and let me know what you think.

  Still having fun as we took our 12th, 13th and 14th journeys to eventually reach home. Our return to the UK, via Switzerland and France, was definitely aided by the overcast and rainy weather. We had four days of hot sun in Italy and largely dry days throughout our journey. Now, it doesn't matter that the temperature has dropped and clouds are covering the sky. Interrail is a truly magnificent way to travel around Europe and I really cannot recommend it highly enough. The slightly clunky need to show a pass alongside a separate seat reservation (only on some legs) is just a bit annoying. And, actually, we weren't asked to show both reservation and pass many times. We found some great hotels and overall the whole experience was great. But there's nothing quite like coming home. We're already planning our next trip ...