Gregory Porter is becoming a harder and harder singer to pigeonhole. His voice is at home in gospel, blues, soul, and R&B, but the foundation of it all, he tells Andrew Ford, is jazz. Gregory and his band are returning to Australia soon and he joins The Music Show (from vacation in Mexico!) to talk about bringing strings and a choir into his music, maintaining optimism, and his tribute album to musical hero Nat King Cole.
Andy finds a moment at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music to speak with British clarinettist Michael Collins. After reaching the finals of the inaugural BBC Young Musician at the age of 16 he's had a formidable career on the concert platform. He's staying in Australia a little longer as he prepares to premiere Graeme Koehne's double clarinet concerto with Omega Ensemble in Melbourne.