Advertise on podcast: Pablo Held Investigates

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Becca Stevens joins Pablo Held to talk about her new album “Maple To Paper” and the compositional process behind the title track. Other topics include learning standards, the power of lyrics and their inner rhythm, balancing creativity and parenting, and studying songs like “The Rainbow Connection,” Ornette Coleman’s “What Reason Could I Give,” and Charles Mingus’ “Portrait”.

Chris Weisman joins Pablo Held for a special episode about their unique long-distance collaboration in which they made albums for each other. They talk about exchanging songs on paper, giving up control over arrangement, production and instrumentation, and releasing records on which neither of them plays a single note of their own music. Moving beyond process, the conversation dives into questions of authorship, musical identity, and trust, as they reflect track-by-track on both albums and on the emotional experience of hearing one’s music transformed through another artist’s imagination—and how this project reshaped their understanding of what the term “my music” really means. Album links:Chris Weisman – Pablo Held Plays My Musichttps://chrisweisman.bandcamp.com/album/pablo-held-plays-my-musicPablo Held – Chris Weisman Plays My Musichttps://pabloheld.bandcamp.com/album/chris-weisman-plays-my-music 00:00:00 The origin story of this project01:33:20 How Chris made Pablo’s album03:14:27 How Pablo made Chris’ album

Pianist, composer & recording engineer Pete Rende joins Pablo Held to talk about strong melodies, finding your own voice and playing what you hear. Other topics include Pete’s whispering exercise, composing, working with jazz legends Paul Motian and Ron Carter, and his return to playing after a long break.

Saxophonist & composer John O’Gallagher joins Pablo Held to talk about sound and projection on the alto saxophone, his PhD research on late-period Coltrane, and how pitch-class set theory shapes his music. Other topics include stories behind the making of his new album ‘Ancestral’, playing together at Pablo’s ‘Alice Coltrane Tribute’ concert in Cologne, recording on Joe Henderson’s big band album, memories of Andrew Hill, and much more.

Larry Grenadier joins Pablo Held to talk about composing, comping, and working on clarity and technique on the bass. Other topics include memorizing songs, playing in different keys, and his experiences with Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, John Scofield, Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings, Paul Motian, Masabumi Kikuchi, Billy Higgins, Guillermo Klein, Steve Swallow and Jack DeJohnette. They also reflect on Blossom Dearie, Paul Chambers, Jaco Pastorius’ ‘Word of Mouth’, Bill Stewart’s ‘Telepathy’, studying with Ron Carter, routines, self-doubt, and so much more.

Patrice Rushen joins Pablo Held to talk about composing for orchestras, films, and small groups; important orchestration lessons; and recording the ‘Joy Ryder’ album with Wayne Shorter. They also discuss witnessing a Weather Report recording session for ’Tale Spinnin’, a memorable meeting with Miles Davis, sight reading, her technique and touch on the piano, the Fender Rhodes, memories of seeing Herbie Hancock’s ‘Mwandishi’ band live, performing & rehearsing with Prince, singing and much more.

Drummer Kush Abadey joins Pablo Held to talk about mental practice, time feel, drum tuning, lessons learned from playing with Wallace Roney, Tomasz Stanko & Buster Williams, recording Melissa Aldana’s new album with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the art of playing brushes, clarity, Miles Davis’ ‘Complete Concert 1964’ album and much more.

Saxophonist Nicole Glover joins Pablo Held to talk about her creative process, the stories behind her compositions, recording albums at the legendary Van Gelder Studio, working with Renee Rosnes & ARTEMIS, Christian McBride, Al Foster and studying with Mulgrew Miller. Other topics include practicing like a drummer, embracing mistakes, exploring the whole-tone scale and the unique form of Miles Davis’ “Circle.”

To celebrate the 7th anniversary of the podcast, Pablo sits down with singer/songwriter Chris Weisman for an epic and nerdy conversation. This episode marks Chris’s 3rd appearance on the podcast. They dive deep into his current process and the recording and compositional processes for his recent albums. They also discuss their shared love for the music of Wayne Shorter, the Beatles, Alice Coltrane, and the song ‘Rainbow Connection’, among other topics. Furthermore, Chris and Pablo look back at seven years of ‘Pablo Held Investigates’ and relive memorable moments from selected episodes. • Support ‘Pablo Held Investigates’ on Patreon and gain access to exclusive educational videos, lead sheets, music recommendations, and behind-the-scenes goodies from the podcast. • Pablo’s music — including vinyl, CDs, digital releases, and merch — is available on Bandcamp. • Subscribe to his monthly newsletter and receive an exclusive track straight to your inbox. • For more about Pablo Held’s musical world, visit pabloheld.com.

Pablo Held shares memories from the recording session of his latest album “Unity”, which features longstanding Pablo Held Trio mates Robert Landfermann & Jonas Burgwinkel,  guitarist Nelson Veras and Pablo on piano, mellotron, celesta & synths. ‘Unity’ is Held’s 19th album as a leader and the 7th on his own label ‘Hopalit Records’.Check out the album here:https://pabloheld.bandcamp.com/album/unity

Pianist and composer Albert Sanz sits down with Pablo Held for an in-depth piano hang. They talk about Albert’s compositional process, the art of comping for singers, memories from working with Billy Hart, Lee Konitz and Perico Sambeat, the importance of leaving space, Albert’s new Jobim album with Sara Dowling, their shared heroes Gil Evans & Federico Mompou and much more.

Master drummer Eric McPherson sits down with Pablo Held to discuss his idea of flow on the drums, lessons learned from jazz legends Jackie McLean, Andrew Hill & Pharoah Sanders, his relationship to bassists Ben Street & John Hebert and memorable moments in the studio / on the road. ___ • Support ‘Pablo Held Investigates’ on Patreon and gain access to exclusive educational videos, lead sheets, music recommendations, and behind-the-scenes goodies from the podcast. • Pablo’s music — including vinyl, CDs, digital releases, and merch — is available on Bandcamp. • Subscribe to his monthly newsletter and receive an exclusive track straight to your inbox. • For more about Pablo Held’s musical world, visit pabloheld.com.

Sharing memories from the recording session of my album “Elders”, which is dedicated to my parents. “Elders” came out on Pirouet Records in 2013 and features my trio mates Robert Landfermann – bass, Jonas Burgwinkel – drums and three guests: Jason Seizer – tenor saxophone, Domenic Landolf – alto flute & Ronny Graupe – acoustic guitar + me on piano.Check out the album here:https://pabloheld.bandcamp.com/album/elders

Talking to writer/jazz historian Ashley Kahn was an honor. We first met in 2024 when Ashley interviewed me as part of the Bologna Jazz Festival. We had such a good time on and off stage together, that we decided to continue our conversation on my podcast. In the weeks leading up to this I revisited many of the great liner notes Ashley wrote for many of my favorite albums. I also re-read all the books of him I had known before (his wonderful books on “Kind Of Blue”, and “A Love Supreme“) and read his fantastic book „The House That Trane Built“ for the first time. Immersing myself in this wonderful works inspired me deeply. I’m very thankful for Ashley’s contribution to the music of our time.

It was a great pleasure to talk to the amazing guitarist, orchestrator & educator Ella Feingold on the podcast. She contacted me a couple of years ago after I released the Blake Mills/Chris Weisman episodes and said she’d love to talk. I started checking out her amazing work and became an instant fan. I’ve learned a lot from watching her videos and even more from this wonderful conversation, which I’m delighted to be able to share with you all.