Steve joins Rob Cope from Birmingham Conservatoire to discuss his career to date as well as his new album, Emboldened, for jazz orchestra and choir.

The new album was being recorded at the time of the interview and so we're blessed to be joined by Jonathan Silk and then Josephine Davies during the episode.

Click the link to find out more about the project as well as for information on how to support the project.

https://www.steve-banks.co.uk/jazz-orchestra-choir

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Vivienne Aerts talks to Tara Minton about her upcoming album recordedon a sailboat, 'Current'.

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Rob Cope joins Tara Minton to chat about his new album, Phoenix Vol. 1, which comes out Friday 12th June on Adhyâropa Records. They also chat about Rob's launch gig, happening the night before, Thursday 11th at Crazy Coqs in Soho.

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Born in Brazil, Matheus Prado began his musical journey at nine, starting with piano before discovering the electric and double bass in Spain. He first studied with Fernando Lamadrid and later completed a Master’s degree in Jazz at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, refining his composition and improvisation skills under Yuri Goloubev, Steve Waterman, and Paula Gardiner. He then further developed his classical technique with Thomas Martin, creating a unique blend of jazz and classical influences.

Today Rob Cope chats about his new album, Brasilidade: A Jazz Portrait Of Brazil and the influences behind it.

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Martin Kohlstedt talks with Tara Minton about his forthcoming album, Kluft

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Olivia Murphy has quickly established herself as an innovative, creative and colourful artist working in large ensemble composition and has developed her own distinct and personal voice. Her music fuses contemporary composition and song-writing with elements of free improvisation, while always keeping story-telling at its core, hailed as “some of the most exciting large ensemble jazz emerging from the London scene today” (UK Jazz News).Since being awarded the prestigious Peter Whittingham Jazz Development Awardin 2021, Murphy has established and performed with her Jazz Orchestra across the UK, from Birmingham Symphony Hall, to Vortex Jazz Club to Cheltenham Jazz Festival. The Orchestra’s upcoming debut studio album was recorded with support from the Help Musicians’ Next Level Awardin 2024, featuring Murphy’s 4-piece Sister Suiteand her Eddie Harvey Award-winning arrangement of You Are There. In 2025, Olivia composed two large ensemble suites, Open World Suite, performed to a sold-out Pizza Express Jazz Club (Soho) in March, andSiren Cycle, commissioned by Tony Dudley-Evans for Cheltenham Jazz Festival in May. Siren Cycleis a sixty-minute, ten-movement suite, inspired by folklore and Greek myth, described as “an undoubted triumph” (The Jazz Mann). Murphy has since been funded by PRSF Women Make Music Awardto create a studio recording of the work.Murphy is a regularly commissioned composer; recently writing for Sonorite Saxophone Quartet, The University of Birmingham, and Merton Music Foundation, and she has been published by the ABRSM. 2026 collaborations include performances with Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra, Trinity Laban Jazz Ensemble and Birmingham Jazz Orchestra. Also a keen educator, Murphy became a Resident Musical Director for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2025, following a successful period as composer-in-residence in 2020-22. As resident MD, she leads weekly rehearsals, mentors young musicians and directs national performances.

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Acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Judith Owen returns with her captivating new album, Suit Yourself, released today, April 24th, 2026 via Twanky Records.

Recorded at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans, Suit Yourself showcases Owen’s continued evolution into jazz, blues, and big band, blending the vibrant energy of her previous releases with her signature storytelling and rich musical arrangements. Our feature track today, “To Your Door” stands out as a heartfelt and playful original, inspired by the spirit of Django Reinhardt, while offering a refreshing twist on the classic “musician on the road” narrative.

Written and produced by Owen, the track serves as a personal love letter to her husband, actor and comedian Harry Shearer. Flipping the traditional perspective, Owen delivers a confident and empowering message from a woman’s point of view:

“The more you give me the freedom, the more I want to come home,” she explains, highlighting themes of trust, independence, and enduring love.

Adding an international flair, the release also features a French-language version, “TE CHERCHER (To Your Door French Touch Version),” with text adapted by Yasmine Mohammedi-Kyd.

Today we chat all things Judith and take a deep dive into the new album.

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A graduate of the New England Conservatory and The Juilliard School, Adewumi became the first jazz trumpeter to receive the prestigious Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship in 2017. He went on to win 1st place at the 2019 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition, the 2024 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award and Gregory Morris Composing Fellowship, and in 2025 received the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship. Adewumi has been voted a “Rising Star” in the DownBeat Critics Poll.

The Flame Beneath The Silence is Adewumi's debut as a leader, after work with Moran, Halvorson, Dave Douglas, Frank Carlberg and others. It finds the trumpeter, born in New Hampshire to Nigerian immigrants, with three of the most important voices in modern jazz: vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Marcus Gilmore. The album was recorded live at Brooklyn's Ornithology, an intimate and engaging showcase for Adewumi's skills as a composer, collaborator and conceptualist.

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