Meet World of Jazz Host Bob Osborne

I currently live in:

Eccles, Salford, Greater Manchester UK.

I joined All About Jazz in:

2018

Why did you decide to contribute to All About Jazz?

Having done a weekly radio show on various stations since 2010 I welcomed the invitation and opportunity to share, with a wider audience, the music I enjoy listening to and playing.

How do you contribute to All About Jazz?

I create a weekly two hour playlist of mostly new releases which is part of the Radio & Podcast section of the site. This is supplemented by a parallel article on Substack which provides more background to what is on the playlist.

What is your musical background?

I have played/written music since I was in my teens and released a range of non-jazz music albums under various guises—mostly recently as two duos—Auster Boys and The Parasite. Since 2014, I have co-owned a small specialist record label that releases music, again not jazz, by mostly local artists in Greater Manchester and the north of the UK.

What was the first record you bought that you would still listen to today?

Miles Davis: In A Silent Way.

Aside from jazz, what styles of music do you enjoy?

Post-Punk, Post-Rock, Dub Reggae, Ambient Electronica, Progressive Rock, Modern Composition, and an obscure form of folk music called Eddodi.

What are you listening to right now?

With around fifteen new releases arriving a week, I guess the honest answer is a lot! However, ones that stand out are new releases from Ivo Perelman, Art Hirahara, Toby Wren, and Kevin Brunkhorst. I am also slowly working my way through the massive re-release of the Strata-East catalogue.

Which five recent releases would you recommend to readers who share your musical taste?

Ivo Perelman: A Modicum Of The Blues; Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts Ava Mendoza, Gabby Fluke-Mogul, Carolina Pérez: Mamma Killa; James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Abstraction Is Deliverance; Song Yi Jeon Nonet: The Earthy Suites.

What inspired you to write about jazz?

I felt that certain artists and labels and aspects of the music were underrepresented in the music press. I also had a genuine desire to share music that others might not be aware of.

What do you like to do in your free time? Any hobbies?

I enjoy watching Football (Soccer), Cricket, and Rugby Union. I like reading. I am currently trying to catalogue my music collection, which is mostly digital these days.

What role does jazz music play in your life?

Given I spend most of my waking hours listening to music it is a significant part of what I do. Jazz has always been something that continues to excite me.

How does writing about jazz contribute to the music itself?

In an entertainment business that seems ever expanding and more pervasive, I think it is vital that there is both a news/current affairs vehicle but also a means of cataloguing the history and impact of jazz so it maintains its rightful place as one of the most important movements in music.

What do you like most about All About Jazz?

Unlike other jazz outlets, it takes a broader view of music and covers all aspects of the genre.

What positives have come from your association with All About Jazz?

The most exciting aspect for me has been discovering a number of smaller record labels, like 577 Records, 4000 Records and Ramble Records, that are releasing great music and bringing exciting artists to the fore. I am a strong believer in supporting grassroots artists who are ignored by the mainstream media. A lot of jazz writing tends to be conservative, whereas AAJ has a more inclusive approach.

Vinyl, CD or Streaming?

None of the above, sort of—let me explain. I've never understood the popular renaissance of vinyl. I struggled with it for many years—because of the space it took up, having to get up to turn the album over after 20 minutes and the disappointment of buying a bad press with skips and crackles. I was overjoyed when the CD and cassette tape formats arrived—small, portable and more music! To me, vinyl is overpriced and overhyped. CDs to me were a superior way of listening to music. I've never enjoyed streaming as a concept and financially for musicians, it has been a disaster—with the exception of Bandcamp which I believe is a model that works. Having said that the ability to access music, which years ago I would have struggled to access, is wonderful. With a lot of music coming my way weekly my collection of CDs was becoming ridiculously large and I opted to move to keeping everything digital—so most of my collection is now on an external hard drive or, for current working, on my laptop. This is connected by Bluetooth to a Pure CD/Radio player where I can get a sound superior to the laptop speakers. I still have an abiding love for my CD collection but most listening these days is done digitally but on my terms and not the dictates of the streamers. I've no doubt new concepts will develop, which will make the current ways of listening to music redundant.

Which show from your archive is the most memorable and why?

With over 350 shows since I started at AAJ, that's a little like asking which is your favourite Miles Davis or John Coltrane album—impossible to choose. I guess the honest answer is that they are all memorable in their own way in that they both bring new musicians to the fore as well as honour the history and legacy of the music.

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