Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

Every once in a while, an album drops into your inbox and isn't going anywhere. Morse Code Through The Lights is just such an album. Incontrovertibly controversial, this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this one has absolutely, instantly, made it onto my list of top albums of 2024. Drummer Tom Bancroft and his band Playtime, which began in Edinburgh as Adventures in New Music ten years ago as a weekly session, have produced something delightfully experimental and brilliantly creative. Four of Scotland's most-established jazz musicians - Martin Kershaw (sax), Graeme Stephen (guitar), Mario Caribe (bass) and Tom Bancroft (drums) - tried out new music and new ideas together. Once lockdown struck in 2020, they decided to explore the possibilities of improvising music together online, partly for something to do, and partly because it was something they could do for their audience. Most of us discovered - or thought we had - that improvising online was difficult or imposs

British six-time Grammy winner Jacob Collier and Norwegian alt-pop superstar AURORA have recorded a performance in partnership with Greenpeace International to highlight the urgent need to protect the oceans and stop deep sea mining. It's just gone live, so watch it here ... Watch the performance here Jacob Collier and AURORA for Greenpeace British six-time Grammy winner, Jacob Collier, has collaborated with Norwegian alt-pop superstar, AURORA, for the first time in a magical performance in the Arctic, released today. The stars appear together on a platform floating amidst icebergs in front of the imposing glacier, Sveabreen, Svalbard. They perform a haunting mash-up of their two songs, A Rock Somewhere and The Seed, in a rallying cry for ocean and climate protection. The creative performance was delivered in partnership with Greenpeace International from the organisation’s ship Arctic Sunrise. The singer songwriters have joined forces in the fragile Arctic to highlight the urgent

October has come in with shorter days and darker mornings here in the UK, but I hope it finds you well and looking forward to some great nights listening to some excellent music. Check out some of these venues and events below, especially those featuring past guests on the Harmonious World podcast: Thursday 3 October: Low Four Studios, Manchester Sax player, clarinettist and composer Tom Thorp brings his Ilumetris ensemble to perform tracks from Here, There Be Monsters, alongside Neil Yates (trumpet and Flugelhorn, Andy Stamatakis-Brown (piano), Grant Russell (bass) and John Arnesen (drums).  Click here for tickets & info Friday 4 October: Pump House Theatre, 5 Local Board Rd, Watford WD17 2JP Celebrating the Sarah Vaughan Centenary: to mark Sassy’s 100th, a show starring Lulu Pierre and Marvin Muoneke, which recreates highlights of the Sassy repertoire and the famous duets with Billy Eckstine – as well as her work with Tony Bennett and Joe Williams. With the Alex Webb Quintet.  Cl