Fiona talks to Jazz power couple Charlotte Keeffe and Lara De Belder. Musician, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Charlotte Keeffe wears her love for freely improvising, free jazz and abstract music-making on her (brightly coloured) sleeve. Whether performing regularly as a soloist (Sound Brush), or leading a variety of different ensembles, including her RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW Quartet, with Ashley John Long on double bass, Ben Handysides on drums and Moss Freed on guitar, she meticulously carves out spaces for the free movement of ideas and individual expression. Inspired by abstract painters, Keeffe refers to her instruments as ‘Sound Brushes’. Her music has been significantly featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6 and Jazz FM, where she's been described as a 'prolific', 'dynamic' and 'excellent improviser!', by the likes of Corey Mwamba, Stuart Maconie and Jez Nelson. She is a Serious Artist and part of the Take Five 2022 cohort. Harnessing the power of art for social change is a crucial part of Keeffe’s musical identity: she has served as Assistant Musical Director of the London Gay Big Band, champions gender and diversity equality, as part of the Parliamentary award-winning Women in Jazz Media team, and played in Marin Alsop's Taki Concordia Orchestra at the World Economic Forum 2019, in front of world leaders and celebrities including Sir David Attenborough. From stepping on Glastonbury and Wilderness stages alongside Charlotte Church, Laura Mvula and Kate Nash, to broadcasting to an international audience live from her bathroom during the global pandemic, Keeffe understands that embracing individuality and letting go of inhibitions is the surest way to grasp the transformative power of music. Actor, Singer & Writer Lara de Belder studied Music at the University of Leeds before training in Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music in London. With a musical background spanning choral and classical music, musical theatre, jazz, blues and pop music, Lara has worked as a performer and creator in theatre, film, TV and concert and is the co-writer and creator of new British comedy musical, Bird Brigade, alongside Luka Antony Bjelis, directed by Grace Taylor (SIX) and long-listed for the Stiles and Drewe Mentorship Award 2021. Lara's passion for an eclectic range of musical genres has influenced her as a solo artist and writer of original music fusing pop with flavours of jazz, blues, funk, soul, RnB, hip hop, folk and electronic dance styles, first launching in May 2021 with her debut Single, Turn It Over. Describing her music as 'jazzpop', Lara takes inspiration from artists such as Celeste, Jacob Collier, Melody Gardot, Jamie Cullum, Ella Fitzgerald, Erykah Badu, Lizzo, Amy Winehouse, Robyn and Jessie Ware. Her music has been featured on BBC Introducing on BBC Radio Tees with Rianne Thompson and Rachel Teate as well as other radio programmes and podcasts. This November 2023, she will be performing her first headline show as part of the London Jazz Festival in partnership with Women In Jazz Media. Charlotte website Lara website Tickets for Nov 14th and 16th gigs here

Fiona talks to Mexico Woman of the year and drummer Migdalia Van Der Hoven. Mexico’s Woman of the Year for arts and culture, Migdalia van der Hoven is an International Award winning Mexican drummer currently touring with SIX the Musical across the UK and Internationally. She is also a Vater Drumsticks, Bosphorus Cymbals and RTOM Corporation artist. A Berklee College of Music graduate (where she studied and performed with Jackie Santos, Terri Lynn Carrington, Victor Mendoza and Mark Walker), she is known for her groove, sensitivity and versatility across multiple genres such as funk, jazz, fusion, latin jazz, pop and world music. Migdalia Van Der Hoven website

Fiona talks to the melodic maverick, saxophonist, composer and educator Hannah Horton! Award winning, official Henri Selmer Artist, Melodic Maverick, Hannah Horton is a visionary jazz saxophonist, composer, bandleader and journalist. Hannah’s music is rooted in jazz, folk and funk and her established individual and sophisticated sound is edging through boundaries and creating waves worldwide. An official Henri Selmer Artist, alumni of the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity Laban, and member of award winning Women In Jazz Media, Hannah works the jazz world in her own authentic way. Her most recent album ‘Inside Out’ has received critical acclaim worldwide and she continues to wow audiences with her creative, compelling, emotive and alluring playing, alongside her warm and charming personality on stage. Today Hannah provides inspiration of her own by running ‘J Steps’ – a new band initiative designed to nurture the talent of musicians who identify as female or non-binary with it’s main aim being to balance a historic lack of representation of women in jazz. “Hannah makes the big beast baritone sax sound like an angel” Ian Shaw Hannah Horton website

Fiona talks to Magdalene Adenaike about her incredible work with the Music Relief Foundation. Magdalene Adenaike FRSA, Charity Founder & CEO of Music Relief Foundation. The charity was inspired by Magdalene's first-hand experiences of the hardships, isolation, and challenges faced by becoming a teenage parent. During this period, she discovered the transformative power of music and the importance of bringing other teenage mothers together to share their experiences. With these two revelations, the idea for Music Relief Foundation was born. ‘Passionate about making changes in people's lives by influencing government, businesses and educators on empowering youth and grassroots communities. My role includes vision, strategy, innovation and partnership development. I'm also our primary spokesperson, which provides briefings with the media and comments on social media. I don't see this as a job, but as a mother hen seeing her baby growing.’ Music Relief Foundation website

Fiona talks to the truly inspirational Dr Tammy L Kernodle. Tammy L. Kernodle is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Music, who specializes in African American music and gender studies in music. She is also an affiliate of the American Studies Program, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Program, and the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program.  Her scholarship explores the intersection of the politics that surround gender and racial identity, performance practice and genre. Her work has appeared in major peer-reviewed journals including American Studies, Musical Quarterly, Black Music Research Journal, The Journal of the Society of American Music (JSAM), American Music Research Journal, The U.S Catholic Historian, and the Journal of the American Musicological Society (JAMS). She also was a contributor to The African American Lectionary Project, the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip Hop and Rap and the Carnegie Hall Digital Timeline of African American Music. Her scholarship also appears in numerous anthologies and reference works including Women’s Voices Across Musical Worlds, John Coltrane and Black America’s Quest for Freedom: Spirituality and the Music, and The Cambridge Companion to Women in Music Since 1900. Tammy is the author of biography Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams, served as Associate Editor of the three volume Encyclopedia of African American Music and was also one of the Editors for the revision of the New Grove Encyclopedia of American Music. Tammy also served as the Scholar in Residence for the Women in Jazz Initiative at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City from 1999 until 2001. She has worked closely with a number of educational programs including the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival, Jazz@Lincoln Center, NPR, Canadian Public Radio, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and BBC. Kernodle is currently serving as scholarly consultant with New World Symphony’s Harlem Renaissance initiative, which seeks to elevate the music and voices of black artisans.  From 2012-2016, Tammy served as a scholarly consultant for the exhibits entitled “Musical Crossroads” at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She appears in a number of award-winning documentaries including Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band and Girls in the Band, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, and How It Feels to Be Free. In 2014, she received the Effective Educator Award from the Miami University Alumni Association and in 2018 was awarded the Benjamin Harrison Medallion. The Harrison Award is the highest award given to a Miami University faculty member in recognition of their research, teaching and service. In 2021 she was promoted to the rank of University Distinguished Professor. She is the Past President of the Society for American Music.

In this very special not to be missed episode, Fiona talks to legendary Maxine Gordon live in Paris, in her first ever podcast! Maxine Gordon is an independent scholar with a lifetime career working with jazz musicians. She is an oral historian and archivist in the fields of jazz and African American cultural history whose award-winning book  Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon  fulfilled the promise she made to her late husband, the jazz saxophonist and Academy Award–nominated actor Dexter Gordon, to complete his biography. Maxine also earned an MA in African diaspora history from New York University, where she received a Henry M. MacCracken Fellowship. Maxine is currently working on her much-anticipated next book, “Quartette: Four Women in Jazz, Stories from the Lives of Maxine Sullivan, Velma Middleton, Melba Liston, and Shirley Scott.” The book will be presented in a context that is described as “jazz geography,” using a close look at the element of place as a factor in the artists’ lives. We cannot wait! Click here for Maxine Gordon website

Very happy that this podcast series is now at number 8 in the 'Top 60 UK Music Podcasts' for Feedspot! In this episode Fiona Ross talks to Tony Barnes, Producer and lead software engineer. Tony is currently a bedroom music producer experimenting with a unique style of music - blending various types of genres and sounds. Although a fan of almost all genres, Tony has a particular love for the 80s era, A.KA “retro”, synthwave, synth pop. Coupled with jazz, disco and funk, Tony is inspired by anything and everything. Tony loves to help others and with a hope that it creates a butterfly effect. He is a huge supporter of Women in Jazz Media and musicians in general - he has attended almost every Women in Jazz Media event and dreams that one day, every week will be a jazz festival. As an engineer, consultant and mentor, Tony has built software and led teams for over 12 years in many different industries - ensuring that clean and scalable solutions are delivered. At Women in Jazz Media, he builds and manages the website -Incrementally adding new features, improving the design and user experience. Tony is an advocate for making the web accessible for all and this is certainly a core principle of the Women in Jazz Media website - “Anyone should be able to access information on the web and consume it”. Self-described as a creative engineer, Tony really enjoys building software for the music industry as it’s a “mix of my favourite things”. Tony is also a huge advocate for knowledge sharing and mentoring others. He also supports women in technology - a recent survey shows that in the UK alone, women make up only 16.4% of an IT workforce. Tony actively offers learning sessions, guidance, general support and opportunities for anyone who wants to learn how to code.

Heralded by the Ivor Novello Academy and Apple Music as one of the next rising stars of songwriting, Fiona Ross talks to Ashaine White. Just when you thought every genre mash-up had been done, Ivor Novello Rising Star Nominee Ashaine White arrives with a brand new hybrid: grunge-soul. Inspired by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Lianne La Havas, D'Angelo, Radiohead and Nirvana, Ashaine’s moody, spellbinding approach to jazz harmony and melodies, wrapped with a brash garage-band sensibility and storytelling at the focus of her songwriting form a unique and exciting soundscape. Putting you right in the middle of her world. Ashaine White Insta

Fiona talks to bassist Derek Daley! Derek Daley is an accomplished musician, known for his exceptional skills on both electric and double bass. With a Bachelor's degree in music composition and arrangement as well as musical performance. Derek has been practicing music for over a decade. He has recorded on a number of studio albums, showcasing his versatility and musical range. Derek has also been on world tours, playing in major cities across the globe. In addition to his music career, Derek is a trustee for the National Jazz Archives in the UK, where he is committed to preserving and promoting the rich history of jazz music. With his impressive background and experience, Derek is a sought-after collaborator in the music industry and continues to inspire others with his passion for music. Derek Daley links

For this episode Fiona Ross chats to the composer, keyboardist, synth player, pianist and vocalist Jemma Freese.   Jemma Freese is a full-time musician and composer who plays keyboards/synth/piano and vocals. She is a graduate of Leeds Conservatoire where she studied Pop Composition and Jazz vocals and graduated with First BA Honours and received The Directors Prize. Jemma is involved in; J Frisco (punk jazz electronic); Maximo Park (indie/art-pop); j2oh (synthjazz duo) and her own solo projects (trap rap jazz electronica and contemporary jazz math). She has received places on the following schemes; Manchester Jazz Festival Hothouse; Jazz North Introduces; Jazz North northernline; Music:Leeds Launchpad; arts council DYCP; Serious Take Five and Brighter Sounds. Jemma Freese Instagram