My musical ear has always travelled wide and deep.
From an early age, I found it difficult to stay within one style, one period or one recognised category. I could be drawn towards something familiar and established, then suddenly find myself absorbed by music coming from a completely different direction.
That has never felt unusual to me. It is simply how I listen.
Jazz remains at the heart of Jazz Matters, but it is not the only music that catches my attention. Sometimes a rhythm, an atmosphere, an unfamiliar voice or an unexpected combination of sounds will stop me in my tracks. The music may have little connection to jazz, but something within it still demands to be heard.
That is why NuDirections is returning.
NuDirections gives me the freedom to follow where my musical ear leads and to share the discoveries I make along the way. It is now part of the Jazz Matters family, but it has its own purpose and its own character.
It is not intended to be defined by a list of genres.
The moment I begin trying to describe it through a fixed collection of musical labels, I risk placing restrictions around the very thing that makes it interesting. NuDirections is not about deciding in advance where the journey should go. It is about listening openly and allowing the music to set the direction.
Sometimes that journey may take me towards vintage recordings or familiar standards. At other times, it may lead towards something contemporary, atmospheric or driven by rhythm. Some selections may feel warm and immediately accessible, while others may be more unusual, adventurous or challenging.
That unpredictability is part of its identity.
I do not want NuDirections to become a random collection of music with no connection between one piece and the next. The connection will always be my own musical curiosity — what has caught my ear, held my attention and made me want to hear more.
It may be a sound I have known for years and suddenly heard differently. It may be an artist I have only just discovered. It may be a recording that does not sit comfortably within any obvious category. The important thing is that it has made an impression on me and feels worth sharing.
NuDirections also reflects an important part of my own musical history. My listening and broadcasting have never been built around rigid divisions. I have always been interested in where styles meet, where influences cross and where music begins to move beyond the labels placed around it.
Jazz Matters gives contemporary jazz, nu-jazz and connected sounds a clear home. NuDirections allows me to step beyond that central focus without weakening it or pretending that every piece of music needs to have a jazz connection.
The two can sit comfortably together.
Jazz Matters has its musical centre. NuDirections gives me the freedom to travel outwards from it.
I hope it will also encourage listeners to approach the music with the same sense of openness. Not every selection will appeal to everyone, and I would not expect it to. Part of discovering music is being surprised, occasionally challenged and sometimes taken somewhere you did not expect to go.
That is what I want NuDirections to represent.
It is a musical journey shaped by curiosity rather than boundaries. A place where I can follow an instinct, explore a sound and share whatever has caught my ear at that particular moment.
You may not always know where it is heading — and neither will I.