Eliza Marshall on Eternal Birth: Flute Without Borders
Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman
01/10/26
•80m
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Eliza Marshall is a British flute player acclaimed for her expressive multi-style playing and in this episode we’re celebrating her new album “Eternal Birth” in which this award-winning flautist and composer channels over two decades of international collaboration into a bold, genre-defying album, with a rich cinematic soundscape, blending classical, folk and world traditions, with haunting flutes, whistles, bansuris, spoken word, percussion and electronics. Recorded in both the UK and Senegal, the album features an extraordinary line-up of world-class andGrammy Award-Winning musicians: Ady Thioune, Ansumana Suso, Drew Morgan , Dónal Rogers, and Lena Jonsson .
Eliza shared her rich musical life: her studies with Michael Cox, her varied career including performing on the long-running West-End show The Lion King in London, touring with Peter Gabriel, and the joys and challenges of using a loop pedal. She shared insights about the importance of the folk band Ranagri in her life, her multi-disciplinary project Freedom to Roam, her love of the Hebrides Islands, the importance of re-wilding, and finding the courage to push boundaries and take risks.This episode is being released a few days before the release of Eternal Birth; you’ll find the pre-order link on Eliza’s website. I was really inspired to exchange ideas with Eliza about living a life rich with connection and creativity.
Show notes take you to linked episodes you'll love, the video, transcript, podcast Newsletter to get access for exclusive information about upcoming guests, and support link for this independent project for which I do all the many jobs! (also podcast merch)
Photo: Jason Sheldon
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(03:04) album “Eternal Birth”, Lena Jonsson, with clip of They Listen
(06:29) layering textures, interest and research into music of Africa, percussionist Ady Thioune
(09:13) youth Steiner Education, trip to Buea,Cameroon
(11:13) about Roots Entwined, with clip of track 2
(13:28) many different flutes, collaborating with Joby Talbot
(17:40) about track 3, Our Times Reborn with clip
(19:56) joy in composing, Reich influence, Sarah Jeffery
(21:45) Michael Cox, learning different flutes and styles
(26:25) Freedom to Roam project
(31:32) Dónal Rogers, Ranagri, staying with projects long-term
(36:08) linked episodes and buying me a coffee to keep this podcast going
(37:08) Leah improv and podcast, Hebrides Islands, re-wilding
(43:03) loop pedal, Linsey Pollak, getting outside your comfort zone, The Lion King job
(53:45) Ansumana Suso on kora, safeguarding the fertility of the Earth, with clip of track 6 On and On
(56:49) Ady Thioune, trips to Senegal
(01:02:48) Rebeca Omordia, Omo Bello, my podcast
(01:05:55) playing with Peter Gabriel
(01:08:30) mortality with clip track 7 Dust to Dust
(01:12:14) Stevie Wonder, studio work, love of film music, album cover meaning
(01:16:56) Embracing our interconnectedness, with clip of track 8 Interconnected, self-care
Previous Episode
I’m honoured to bring to you this in-depth conversation with the brilliant musician, writer, composer and storyteller Gabriel Kahane as my first episode of Season 6 of this podcast. You’ll be hearing many short clips from several of his albums including his piano concerto Heirloom, written for his father Jeffrey Kahane. This is a wide-ranging interview and you’ll hear about Gabriel’s upcoming book project, the impact of his early theatre training, how learning to conduct is helping him as a composer, and reflections from his hiatus from the internet and social media. Fans who love Book of Travelers and Magnificent Bird will hear clips and insights from those projects and we also got into his work as an artist-citizen in his large-scale work “emergency shelter intake form” commissioned by the Oregon Symphony about homelessness and the housing crisis. The track and album names are specified in the timestamps and everything is linked in the show notes, including other suggested episodes and ways to support this independent podcast: Complete Show Notes
00:00) Intro
(02:25) Book of Travelers, train trip, American Guide Series, Baedeker with clip from Book of Travelers
(08:19) Book of Travelers, Pattern of the Rail, November with clip
(10:45) Book of Travelers, arranging songs for ensembles, clip of Model Trains
(16:24) train trip, more stories
(19:20) piano concerto Heirloom, decimated press landscape, clip of beginning of first movement “Guitars in the Attic”, Heirloom piano concerto
(22:58) Jeffrey Kahane, Heirloom bringing vernacular music into the concert hall with clip of first movement “Guitars in the Attic”, Heirloom piano concerto which uses Where Are the Arms
(29:24) orchestration of Where Are the Arms and how it relates to the concerto with clip (from Heirloom album, the final track)
(35:14) about the 2nd movement “My Grandmother Knew Alban Berg” and 3rd movement “VERA’S CHICKEN-POWERED TRANSIT MACHINE”, Heirloom piano concerto, with clips of both
(38:52) pandemic move to Portland, living without the internet for a year, Magnificent Bird album
(47:27) To Be American with clip from Magnificent Bird
(50:27) other linked episodes and ways to follow and support this podcast!
(51:15) story of Gabriel’s grandmother’s late life romance, clip of Sit Shiva from Magnificent Bird
(55:24) Gabriel’s writing and upcoming book project, the importance of creativity
(01:08:06) duo with Pekka Kuusisto “Council”
(01:09:52) conducting orchestras
(01:21:23) creative process, storytelling, challenges of internet distraction
(01:28:21) “emergency shelter intake form” with clip XI. A Brief History of The Subprime Mortgage Loan Crisis and housing crisis, clip III. Where Did You Stay Last Night
(01:35:11) Craigslistlieder
Photo: Jason Quigley
Next Episode
Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) is an internationally acclaimed Native American jazz vocalist, actor, activist, and educator currently based in New York City. You’ll hear how her Indigenous Big Band project started, the history behind jazz in Native American communities and inspiration from Delbert Anderson to Jim Pepper. A special influence in her life has been Mildred Bailey and you’ll be hearing some clips from Julia’s Mildred Bailey Project album throughout this podcast; the track names are in the timestamps. Mildred was a very important figure in jazz and Julia is also working on a film about her life and career. Julia spoke about some of the sexual harassment she has experienced and how she was affected by the experience of sexual assault by a professor when she was in graduate school. She opened up about how she got through that time with the support of her vocal teacher Jo Lawry . In the shadow of this challenging time, Julia shared some fascinating specifics into how her voice teachers Jo, Theo Bleckmann and also Kate McGarry helped push her artistic and expressive boundaries, and later what a transformative experience it was to be mentored by Esperanza Spalding.
Julia’s identity as an Indigenous jazz musician shapes her creative life in so many affirming and inspirational ways; I’m so happy to share this meaningful conversation with you.
In the show notes: links to other suggested episodes, newsletter, buy me a coffee, podcast merch, link to Indigenous Big Band video, transcript and of course Julia Keefe's music!
photo: Don Hamilton
(00:00) Intro
(02:38) Indigenous Big Band, Delbert Anderson
(10:21) clip of Jim Pepper’s “Water”, video linked in show notes
(12:24) Mildred Bailey Project
(14:19) clip of “Thanks for Memory" track 8
(15:08) Mildred Bailey Project album release
(18:10) Mildred Bailey with clip of Rockin’ Chair opener track 1
(25:28) clip of track 9 Rockin’ Chair, Mildred Bailey film project with Lily Gladstone, Gary Farmer
(39:23) clip of track 2 “Lover, Come Back to Me” Sterlin Harjo film “Love and Fury”
(41:51) linked episodes and ways to support this podcast
(42:56) Jim Pepper
(49:06) Julia’s childhood, Kamia, learning Nimipuutimt
(55:00) residential schools bands history
(01:00:24) Master’s at Manhattan, Kate McGarry, Jo Lawry, Theo Bleckmann
(01:05:35) personal challenges including sexual assault, support of Jo Lawry
(01:19:11) Esperanza Spalding mentorship
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