Jo Harrop: In The Path Of A Tear and Strictly Come Dancing

If you saw the fabulous Lady Blackbird perform Reborn on this week's BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, you'll have heard backing vocals for our very own Jo Harrop. Jo's latest album is The Path Of A Tear, which came out earlier in 2024.

I was lucky enough to interview Jo for Harmonious World in 2021 when her album Weathering the Storm came out.

The Path Of A Tear was recorded at The Village Studios in Los Angeles in September 2023 and produced by Larry Klein, who is best-known for his groundbreaking work with a host of legendary artists including Joni Mitchell, Madeleine Peyroux and Herbie Hancock. It's a stunning album, including a number of tracks which are destined to become ear-worms.

Jo's performance with Lady Blackbird demonstrates her versatility - her voice suits jazz and soul equally but her solo work, and that with some of the greats of the current London jazz scene like Jamie McCredie and Paul Edis, is simply stunning.

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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...

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Remembering season 20 of Harmonious World

In June 2020, I released the first episode of my podcast - Harmonious World - and I had no idea how much delight it would bring me to share conversations with musicians from around the world. Whether you're a guest, a listener or one of the collaborators who have helped me find my guests, thank you! I now have listeners in 2, 475 cities across 129 countries, so wherever you are, welcome to our collective musical attempts to make the world more harmonious. Season 20 guests were: Chris Gall Sultan Stevenson Fotina Naumenko Quinn Sternberg Tara Minton for International Jazz Day Nicole Zuraitis Dave Keech Ute Lemper Vonn Vanier Iain Farrington Cecilie Strange Becca Wilkins Dave Handler

Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

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