Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

It was a pleasure to interview trumpeter Muneer Nasser for Harmonious World back in March 2023, and then to review his book in August the same year. The combination of accomplished musician and fascinating historian and writer on telling his father’s story is engaging and now Muneer has released his latest quintet album: ‘ Blue House Session ’. This album takes Muneer and his trumpet around the musical world and there’s something for everyone, from originals to covers, such as Miles Davis’s All Blues and the standard Polka Dots and Moonbeams . Recorded in the summer of 2023 with a stunning band that allows the trumpeter to shine alongside the others: Elijah Easton (tenor sax), Allyn Johnson (piano), James King Jr (bass) and John Lamkin III (drums). Alongside his trumpet, Muneer grabs the flugehorn from time to time, and he almost seems more at ease on the slightly larger and more mellow horn. Muneer’s musical talent comes from a lot of hard work, but also, genetically, via his bass-p...

A long travel day that included a brief stop over in Hamburg to change trains. We left our hotel in Copenhagen just after 8am and, although we'd been warned about disruption on the German train services, our experience could hardly have been better. Arrival in Berlin coincided with the city’s Pride march, with hundreds of people on the streets and in the restaurants. On arrival at our hotel, we discovered that the view from our (palatial) room looks out over the German Resistance Museum, which is definitely on our list to visit in the three days we’re here. Both Richard and I have spent time in Berlin over the years, but so much has changed that there is still plenty we want to see. 

Today began for us with a bus from Copenhagen across the Oresund bridge into Sweden. Pity the poor tourists who had forgotten their passports and were removed at the border by Swedish police. Apart from the resulting delay to the bus, it was a relatively swift crossing and we arrived into Malmo just in time for a boat trip around the canals. On a wander around the city centre, we chanced upon the Form Design Museum which hap popped upon an earlier TripAdvisor search. It was a simple but beautiful place, with examples of work by students at the university, as well as some more sophisticated pieces. And great vegan snacks. The train return journey to Copenhagen was quicker but offered less good views, especially of the crossing. However, a walk around Copenhagen’s impressive Botanic Garden through to the National Museum was a great way to spend the late afternoon. Copenhagen combines nature and art

Copenhagen has so much to offer and today was spent wandering around some of the areas we had seen by bus and finding some new sights. My highlights of the day - and possibly the entire trip - we’re the view from the top of the spire at Our Saviours Church and the calligraphy exhibition in the David Collection. A snail made from waste that can’t be recycled  Christiania is the most bohemian, anarchic area of Copenhagen and it’s well worth a visit. They have an innovative recycling scheme and are developing the area, but as a collective and it seems to be taking some time. Somehow, visiting is something of an intrusion into the way of life going back decades, where people have lived communally and a little off-grid  it’s somewhere you would either love to live or a place of insecurity and anarchy. I think I’d enjoy it for a while, but would gradually crave my creature comforts. The second visit of the day was to Church of Our Saviour, which has a stunning tower, but also a rema...

A pleasant first day in the city of Copenhagen, so we started with a bus trip to experience the city as a whole and get our bearings. Thereafter, we wandered the streets - there’s so much to see. First stop: the Little Mermaid Close to the Little Mermaid statue that is one of the most iconic sights in a Copenhagen lies the Churchill Park, with the beautiful little Anglican Church dedicated to St Alban. Across the corner of the park sits the newly-renovated Danish Resistance Museum, which I cannot recommend highly enough. Focusing on a few Danes and their stories during the German invasion, the museum is a brilliant taste of life at this most difficult time. Not always easy to read or hear about, there is an extensive collection of exhibits that bring the period to life and makes visitors wonder what they would have done in that situation. With a couple of stops along the way, most of the afternoon was spent in the extraordinary David Collection. There are two floors of representations ...

Not the most exciting day. A six hour journey on a ‘proper’ long distance train. No cafe but great Wi-Fi. Huge windows that gave an excellent view, albeit in the rain. The hotel in Copenhagen is a typical city centre base, but just off the beaten track, clean and comfortable. I’s always an unknown, when you’re searching the internet for hotel deals and don’t know the city very well (I’ve only visited once, and that was five years ago) but the Wide Hotel is definitely a winner,

I, like most people my age, grew up knowing little about Copenhagen apart from what Danny Kaye showed in the 1952 film Hans Christian Andersen. This weekend has been an education.     Four days in Denmark’s capital has been a joy, not least because of the wall to wall sunshine. Apparently, it’s been raining in the UK.     I’ve toured museums and art galleries, eaten in local restaurants and met some lovely people. I chose a more expensive hotel, so I could be right in the heart of the city, and it was worth every penny. Coming and going through the day was made a pleasure, with the Skt Petri’s staff and facilities always providing whatever I needed.     While the UK continues to shamble towards the disaster that is Brexit (in case you weren’t clear where I stand on that whole issue), the Danes seem mildly amused by our chaos.     If anything, this weekend reinforced my view that we’re better as part of Europe. We always will be, in my humbl...