Skip to main content

Season 15 trailer

Welcome to season 15 of Harmonious World.


The first thing I would like to say is ‘Happy New Year’. I really hope that 2024 is a happy and healthy year for us all. 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. Even here in the UK, where we will almost certainly see a General Election in May.


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).


Season 14 was a spectacular one and the statistics for listeners are quite extraordinary. I’ve had some amazing guests, including Christian McBride, Soweto Kinch and an extraordinary interview with Gadi from Shalosh Trio in Israel.


I also began using my theme tune, which you can hear now and was composed and performed by Joe English.


As part of my blog posting schedule, I’m now uploading dates for upcoming gigs, usually from past guests. That will be in addition to gig and album reviews and links to other sites I’m writing for, including The Riff and Kind of Jazz.


There are some amazing interviews already in the bag for January and more planned for the rest of Season 15 and I hope you enjoy listening to them every week - they usually go live on a Wednesday. Please do let me know which episodes in particular you enjoy.


For now, please remember my reason for starting this podcast. In the words of the great Quincy Jones: “Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if everyone shared a little of what they’re good at.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Maria Schneider: Live at The Barbican

Tonight’s performance in the main hall at London’s Barbican Centre confirmed Maria Schneider ’s position as one of the finest composers of our generation. Working with the sublime Oslo Jazz Ensemble (formerly Denada), Schneider presented a selection of tunes from her ‘Data Lords’ double album from 2020 and the result was simply extraordinary. Photo credit @Hilary Seabrook With a host of Grammy awards and a Pulitzer Prize nomination for Data Lords , Schneider has proved her right to stand on the Barbican stage in front of one of the finest ensembles in the world. Her music allows every member to shine, individually and collectively. Sax players who double on clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and alto flute, trumpets and flugelhorns, an accordion and multiple percussion pieces wielded by the drummer collectively provide a range of timbres, textures and dynamics that thrilled this audience. The Data Lords  compositions celebrate everything that is wonderful about nature, as well as all ...

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album -  Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man  brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...

The Darius Brubeck Quartet: Live at Jazz Cafe Posk

My first visit to Jazz Cafe Posk in London's Hammersmith coincided with the 60th anniversary of Posk - The Polish Social and Cultural Association - and the first performance in the club by pianist and composer Darius Brubeck. Photo credit @ Hilary Seabrook Darius was 10 when he joined his father on a historic tour of Poland. The Dave Brubeck Quartet toured Poland from 6 to 18 March 1958, just three years after the communist regime's ban on jazz was lifted. Without a doubt, this was the biggest jazz event in post-war Poland, with the archetypal and hugely successful outfit of Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass) and Joe Morello (drums). Sixty years later, in  2018, Darius took his own quartet - the same one he brought to Posk in May 2024 - to Poland for a significant tour, recorded and released as the Live in Poland album. Several of the tracks from this album were in the set at Posk and this quartet displayed in depth the benefits of playing to...