The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast

Tokyo is the backdrop for a relaxed but deep jazz guitar conversation between host Geoff and Los Angeles-based, world-renowned guitarist and educator Larry Koonse, hours before they play at the Blue Note.
We talk about how a life in jazz actually gets built: early listening at home, finding the music through friends, and learning from mentors who shape your sound for decades. Larry explains why jazz standards sit at the centre of his development, not as museum pieces but as the shared language that lets two musicians meet and connect instantly. He also shares a practical approach to building vocabulary by “owning” small two-bar or four-bar phrases, plus a clear way to escape shape-based guitar playing by making simple melodic decisions your ear can grasp.
Larry traces his earliest influences to a home filled with Bill Evans, Count Basie and Stan Getz, plus the lived example of his guitarist father touring with George Shearing. Like many players, he truly commits to jazz as a teenager, not through a single “lightbulb” moment but through peers, hanging out, and learning the street-language side of music that doesn’t always fit neatly into formal education.
The conversation also maps a working musician’s path: saying yes early, playing banjo in a Dixieland band, ukulele for Hawaiian gigs, restaurant work, and top 40 jobs that build range and resilience. Larry shares formative touring years with Cleo Lane and John Dankworth, including the regret of not reaching out sooner before it was too late, a sobering note about gratitude in a musician’s life. He describes playing with Warne Marsh and occasional gigs with Lee Konitz, where planning is minimal and the lesson is recovery when things go amiss.
The episode then lands on an improvisation of Benny Golson’s 1950s standard ‘Whisper Not’ (accompanied by the Quartet app), chosen for its strong bass motion and baroque feel, plus the workout of minor ii-V-I movement. Add talk about his treasured Roger Borys archtop guitar, the play-along realism of the Quartet app, comping space with pianists, and even favourite chords, and you get a grounded guide to jazz guitar, jazz improvisation, and standards that travel well anywhere.
If you care about jazz guitar, improvisation, ear training, and learning standards in a way that travels, hit play, then subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review.
Presenter: Geoff Gascoyne
Series Producer: Paul Sissons
Production Manager: Martin Sissons
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast is a UK Music Apps production.

In this episode, Geoff catches up with the super-talented saxophonist, guitarist, composer and arranger Harry Greene - a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music who is already making a big name for himself on the London jazz scene.
We are in a back room at The Stables Theatre in Milton Keynes and it is abundantly clear that Harry has a serious work ethic and a wide-angle taste. He takes us right back to the moment Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ hooked him, not just for the groove, but for the fact it featured both sax and guitar, and he decided he wanted to learn both! From there we explore the real building blocks of a career in in jazz: teachers who unlock vocabulary, the early thrill of hearing Charlie Parker language, and the kind of listening that turns curiosity into fluency.
We also get practical about what life looks like after training. Harry talks about living outside London in Suffolk, and why the commute pushes him towards arranging, composing, and music production work alongside gigging. You’ll hear how he balances playing sax and guitar across different bands and genres, including dates with Incognito and the excitement of travel. We zoom in on improvisation with an impromptu performance of  the Leiber/Stoller/Miller 50s standard ‘Bernie’s Tune’ (accompanied by the Quartet app no less), and unpacking the choices, colours, and pathways he reaches for, plus the saxophone voices that shaped him, from Hank Mobley to Dexter Gordon.
If you’ve ever argued about charts versus learning by ear, we go there too. Harry shares why reading and clear charts can save hours, how under-preparation is the fastest route to nerves, and what it took to prep off-book horn parts for a recent pop tour with Olly Murs.
We finish with a quick-fire run of favourites, a love letter to Ronnie Scott’s, and even a favourite chord. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share it with a musician friend, and leave a review with the one track that changed your musical life.
Presenter: Geoff Gascoyne
Series Producer: Paul Sissons
Production Manager: Martin Sissons
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast is a UK Music Apps production.

Geoff sits down with American Grammy-winning pianist, composer, arranger and former Jazz Messenger Geoffrey Keezer who is in London for a series of concerts.
He begins by describing playing jazz clubs as a teenager, playing piano for Art Blakey at age 18 and touring alongside Benny Golson and Ray Brown while still in his 20s.He shares how he came up through Aebersold play-alongs, the early Real Book, and constant record collecting, sharpening his language through relentless transcription.
Transcribing sits at the centre of his method, starting with advice he received as a teenager: “Transcribe, transcribe, transcribe”, beginning with Thelonious Monk. He describes writing on the grand staff so the left hand is not ignored, even when the right hand dominates, because the harmony and rhythm in the accompaniment explain the language. The value is not completing twelve choruses for bragging rights; it is extracting usable information: how a master navigates a ii–V–I, how a line breathes, and how the time sits. Then comes the real practice: transpose ideas into all keys, reshape them, and place them into your own lines so they do not sound like isolated licks. That approach builds jazz vocabulary while protecting originality.
The conversation also digs into repertoire choices for recordings and gigs, including the balance between jazz standards and new compositions. His duet work with jazz singer Gillian Margot leans on standards because audiences connect instantly, and because the songwriting is often extraordinary, harmonically and lyrically. He also makes a strong case for covering pop songs when the connection is genuine, pointing to projects that include artists like Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morissette. A useful practice tip emerges here: lyrics matter even for instrumentalists. Knowing what a song is about changes tempo, articulation, and emotional intent, and it can stop you from playing a tragic lyric like a cheerful jam!
Geoffrey’s stories are just as rich: Ray Brown stopping a tune to demand “pocket”, Herbie Hancock giving him a private harmony lesson on stage at the Blue Note, and Wayne Shorter walking over to the piano and saying “zero gravity”.
He also treats us to a stunning improvisation of the 1950s Benny Golson/Jon Hendricks standard ‘Along Came Betty’ (alongside the Quartet app).
Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a musician friend, and leave a review if it helps your playing.
Presenter: Geoff Gascoyne
Series Producer: Paul Sissons
Production Manager: Martin Sissons
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast is a UK Music Apps production.

Geoff has travelled to Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London’s Soho district to meet with the legendary Brazilian jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo.
In a candid interview between his run of shows with Dianne Reeves, Romero contemplates what changes when there’s no band behind you: you become the time, the bass, the harmony, the dynamics, and the safety net, all while keeping the song clear and the singer supported.
We dig into the craft of playing slowly through the lens of Antônio Carlos Jobim, where silence becomes part of the arrangement and every note has consequences. Romero shares how his Brazilian upbringing shaped his ears, how teenage dance gigs forced him to learn many styles fast, and how classical guitar technique helped him refine hand position and tone. If you’re into jazz guitar, bossa nova, chord melody, comping, and building a beautiful sound, you’ll find plenty to steal for your own practice.
Romero also talks about learning jazz standards from recordings, transcribing Wes Montgomery, avoiding “boxy” scale habits, and what it means to develop a personal musical identity in an age of endless online information. He treats us to an impromptu improvisation of the 1930s standard ‘Alone Together’…accompanied by the Quartet app of course. 
Along the way we hear stories of playing with legends like Jobim, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and the American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the mindset shift he got from producer George Duke: you’re hired to be yourself.
If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe for more, share it with a musician friend, and leave a review so more jazz players can find the show.
Presenter: Geoff Gascoyne
Series Producer: Paul Sissons
Production Manager: Martin Sissons
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast is a UK Music Apps production.

Geoff is in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire to meet with the renowned British jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader Tim Garland for a wide-ranging conversation on how a real musical voice is built over decades…not weeks.
We start with the spark: ECM Records vinyl, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and the late Ralph Towner, plus the pull of funk and rhythm that hits you in the chest. Tim breaks down how he learned jazz improvisation by writing small fragments, moving them through keys, and then consciously letting that material go so it doesn’t become imitation. We also dig into composition, jazz harmony, and contemporary classical influences, including how time feel, note length, and cut-offs can change everything you think you know about swing and groove.
 
 Tim tells the near-impossible story of how his music reached Chick, what “Chick boot camp” felt like on stage, and why conversational playing matters more than licks.
Tim treats us to an improvisation of Cole Porter’s 50s standard “All Of You” (accompanied by the Quartet app of course), and discusses Jamey Aebersold play-alongs, favourite records, career highs, nerves, and the harmonic rabbit holes behind a favourite chord. Plus, a nod to his latest project featuring the rare mezzo saxophone with the American jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer.
If you enjoy jazz standards, saxophone craft, and honest stories from the bandstand, subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review so more listeners can find the show.
Presenter: Geoff Gascoyne
Series Producer: Paul Sissons
Production Manager: Martin Sissons
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast is a UK Music Apps production.