Whilst stranded in Vancouver having been aggressively denied an ESTA (ok im white and British so not used to being denied access to Western Countries so it was a shock and quite a traumatic expeirence resulting me having to pay for a proper Visa to enter the US, even as a tourist, and being treated like I was a terrible human!) for having travelled to Sudan in 2012 with the British Council, I had to cancel my planned trip to LA to visit friends. I was, however, fortunate to have been invited by Ale Cohen of DubLab Radio LA to talk about my music and the experience of being affected by Trumps bullshit travel ban. So here you go! DubLab is a fantastic and crucial non-profit community radio station and creative platform coming out of LA which hosts an eclectic mix of shows, live sessions, gigs and interviews by local LA based musicians and artists further afield. Enjoy! xx

​Follow this link to listen back to the show.

I feel rather lucky that I got to attend theJazz & Creative Music programme at the Banff Centre in Canada this August, directed by the incredibleVijay Iyer and let by an astonishing faculty of talented musicians. I didn't know what I was getting myself into on the way there but was a changed woman on the way out! Thanks to all the wonderful tutors that I privileged to study and work with, get to know, cry, share, and make music, especially all the strong women! Imani Uzuri, Jen Shyu, Linda Oh, Gretchen Parlato,Okkyung Lee, Tia Fuller, Stephan Crump, Matt Stevens, Robin Eubanks, Gary Bartz, Rich Brown and Tyshawn Sorey as well as many others. Please check out each and everyone of their music and websites!!! 

Here are some recordings of collaborations made during the course and a short solo improvisation I did at one of the sharings. I'm proud of all the music we created together and that I got to explore new creative territory and meet a whole new bunch of incredibly talented musicians which will be friends for life!

Every night Tyshawn Sorey, a 2017 MacArthur Fellow led us in Conduction adapted from Butch Morris's earlier method. For anyone who hasnt experience Conduction - get on it pronto!! We were taken into a whirlwind dream land of improvisation, soundscapes and collaboration. Tyshawn is now is one of the most talented musicians and humans I have ever had the pleasure to meet, hang and study with! Here's a video of our performance from one of the concerts at the Banff Centre... 

After the course I went backcountry camping with my buddy Ethan Cohn, round Cascade mountain and communed with the trees, deer, comets, rivers and bear prints - luckily we saw no bears!