The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast
Podcast Description
Geoff Gascoyne chats to big-name (and upcoming) jazz soloists as they pick and play their favourite jazz standards and talk about their jazz lives. A mix of candid discussion, technical insights and spontaneous improvisation, this weekly podcast is a must-listen for everyone that loves jazz. Geoff is a renowned jazz bass player and prolific composer and producer with credits on over 100 albums and a book of contacts to die for! He is also executive producer of the best-selling Quartet jazz standards play-along app series for iOS.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores various themes within the jazz genre, focusing on artists' personal journeys, improvisation techniques, and the realities of a jazz career. Episodes include discussions on vocal improvisation techniques with Emma Smith, melodic paraphrasing with Alan Barnes, and the transformative musical experiences of Chris Standring, highlighting topics such as artistic perseverance and the significance of collaboration.
Geoff Gascoyne chats to big-name (and upcoming) jazz soloists as they pick and play their favourite jazz standards and talk about their jazz lives.
A mix of candid discussion, technical insights and spontaneous improvisation, this weekly podcast is a must-listen for everyone that loves jazz.
Geoff is a renowned jazz bass player and prolific composer and producer with credits on over 100 albums and a book of contacts to die for! He is also executive producer of the best-selling Quartet jazz standards play-along app series for iOS.
Geoff travels to Brixton in South London to catch up with the fabulous saxophonist, band leader and composer Dave O’Higgins.
This is an intimate conversation about Dave’s remarkable journey from progressive rock drummer to acclaimed jazz musician. With disarming honesty, he traces his unlikely path through music, describing how transcribing Charlie Parker solos by hand and slowing down vinyl records until they wore out shaped his approach to improvisation.
Dave's current project ‘Monkin' Around’ – a chordless trio playing Thelonious Monk compositions – becomes a springboard for fascinating insights into harmony and improvisation. He explains the liberating experience of playing without piano, forcing musicians to imply rather than state harmonic structures. We witness this approach firsthand as Dave gives an impromptu performance of the 1940’s Van Heusen/Burke standard ”It Could Happen To You,” demonstrating how jazz standards share common harmonic patterns that improvisers navigate through practiced vocabulary and in-the-moment listening.
The conversation takes an unexpectedly vulnerable turn when Dave admits to experiencing significant performance anxiety throughout his career – particularly after lockdown – despite recording nearly 30 albums as a band leader. His stories of high pressure performances (including a memorable live radio broadcast and playing with the London Symphony Orchestra when his music disappeared) reveal the resilience required by professional musicians. These candid admissions from such an accomplished player remind us that self-doubt never fully disappears, even at the highest levels of mastery.
Whether you're a jazz aficionado, a working musician, or simply curious about the creative process, this episode offers rare insights into the mind of a master improviser. Subscribe to the Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast and download the Quartet app for iOS to take your jazz play-along experience to another level.
Presenter: Geoff Gascoyne
Series Producer: Paul Sissons
Production Manager: Martin Sissons
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast is a UK Music Apps production.
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