Norma Winstone

Norma Winstone is one of the most influential singers of our time. She certainly influenced me and my music in a big way. Her record “Somewhere Called Home” is one of my most favorite albums of all time. Furthermore Azimuth, all of her work with my late teacher John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler and so much more has been a deep source of inspiration for me throughout the years and I go back to those records regularly. Even before I started this interview series I had a strong desire to talk to her about her music. My friend Kit Downes kindly put us together and we went from there. Just days after this conversation Norma came to my trio gig at King’s Place in London and checked out our music. I was really touched by that gesture and I think it speaks volumes about what kind of person Norma is. I’m thrilled I got to talk to her. Hope you enjoy!

Pedro Martins

Pedro Martins’ album “Vox” was one of my absolute favorite releases from 2019. I listened to it countless times and I’m still mesmerized by its unique beauty, deep compositions and great playing by everyone involved. Pedro has a real gift for writing timeless melodies!!

The first time I noticed him was a couple of years ago when I watched this video of him playing Milton Nascimento’s song “Travessia” which really touched me. I kept his name in mind and eagerly awaited his first release.

After this conversation I was so inspired that I immediately wrote a song for him. His pure love for music is contageous. I hope you enjoy our talk as much as I did.

ASCENT (audio commentary)

I’m happy to present a special episode of this podcast: This is an audio commentary to my new album “Ascent” which was just released on Edition Records.

I often enjoy checking out the audio commentaries that directors include in the bonus features of their movies. Listening to them talk about their methods and inspirations while you’re watching the movie has always fascinated me and I kept thinking about how great it would be to have something similar in the music field. I know a few examples of that, but I’d love to have one of those for all my favorite albums — imagine having and Audio Commentary to “Bitches Brew”, “A Love Supreme” or “Word of Mouth” … how great would that be?

Anyways… here’s my attempt at that. Before I went into the studio to record this I checked out the audio commentaries to “The Machinist”and “Goodfellas” which was a nice way to prepare. I had a great time doing this and I’m already thinking about doing these for each one of my albums. Hope you enjoy this and get some useful background info on how this music came to life.

Listen to the audio commentary on your favorite podcast platform, on YouTube or right here:

This episode was supported by NICA artist development, a program funded by
Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia