2-5-1

2-5-1

Nick Tomalin snd Simon Whiteside host a variety of podcasts about jazz .From the short vignettes of two pianist, five minutes, one podcast through to the Two pianist, Five Podcasts, One subject an in depth look at the life work and piano stylings of single pianists. So far Sonny Clark and Kenny Drew have been covered.

Episodes

September 1, 2026 6 mins

Welcome to 2-5-1, the podcast where two pianists, Nick Tomlin and Simon Whiteside, dive into a new jazz-related topic every episode. Today, they're reviewing the documentary film "Ronnies", which tells the story of the iconic London jazz club Ronnie Scott's.

Key Topics Covered

  • The history of Ronnie Scott's, from its founding in 1959 to its 60th anniversary in 2019
  • The documentary's focus on Ronnie Scott himself, ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Mid Season Break Announcement

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
July 1, 2026 5 mins

Whiplash is a 2014 American independent psychological drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle, and starring Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, and Paul Reiser. It focuses on an ambitious music student and aspiring jazz drummer (Teller), who is pushed to his limit by his abusive instructor (Simmons)

Chazelle completed the script in 2013, drawing upon his experiences in a "very competitive" jazz band in high school. Soon after, R...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

A long time ago we did an episode on humour in jazz.  you can hear it here 

This is a longer investigation into it.

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

in another one of our tunes we love Nick and Simon discus But Beautiful 

But Beautiful" is a popular song with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in 1947.

One of five songs written by Burke and Van Heusen featured in the Paramount Pictures movie Road to Rio (1947)

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

one of our under the radar pianists episodes John Williams there Jazz pianist . Yes the Star Wars guy!

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Following on from our last episode this is a special longer examination of what makes a jazz singer 

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

We ask is Laufey a jazz singer. what do you think?

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

One of our jazz book reviews podcasts about the  Novel The Horn by John Clellon Holmes-born 12th March 1926

Studied at various places Columbia 1943 and post-draft at the New School 1949 where he met Jack Kerouac and remained a life long friend

First novel published as Go a fictional book based on real characters and considered the first beat novel

The Horn was his second novel and again contains many barely disguised real-life ch...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

we discuss the issue of notating jazz in traditional western music notation in this episode

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 1, 2026 5 mins

We discusss  "Stella by Starlight"  a popular jazz standard with music by Victor Young that was drawn from thematic material composed for the main title and soundtrack of the 1944 Paramount Pictures film The Uninvited. Appearing in the film's underscore as well as in source music as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946.

At one point in the film...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
March 15, 2026 5 mins

in this episode we discus the pianist and vibraphonist Eddie Costa

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

in this episode we discuss the winners of the jazz categories of the grammy awards 2026

  1. Large ensemble-christian McBride
  2. Best Jazz Vocal Album-Portriat Samara Joy
  3. Best Jazz instrumental album -Soouthern Nights Sullivan Fortner
  4. Best Alternative Jazz Album-LIVE-ACTION-Nate Smith
  5. Best Latin Jazz -A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Yainer Horta & Joey Calveiro
  6. best Live album Windows – Live &nd...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
March 1, 2026 5 mins

In this episode we discuss the writer and dramatist Alan Plater and his connection to jazz.

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

We are starting a new strand to the ever expanding tapestry of 2-5-1 : Tunes we love and why. The first of these is on the song Softly as in a Morning Sunrise by Sigmund Romberg a 32 bar  AABA format tune, often in C minor, that has become a favourite amongst musicians.

Here is an Apple Music play list which is only the tip of the iceberg [or should that be Romburg?]

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
February 1, 2026 5 mins

Nick leads the discussion on the TV jazz show Jazz Casual. Most episodes are available on YouTube 

Wikipedia describes it thus

"Jazz Casual was an occasional series on jazz music on National Educational Television (NET), the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The show was produced by Richard Moore and KQED of San Francisco, California. Episodes ran for 30 minutes. It ran from 1961 to 1968 and was hosted by jaz...

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

What is Mainstream Jazz? Is the term still relevant? Who coined the phrase?

find out in this episode

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
January 2, 2026 68 mins
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
January 2, 2026 5 mins

In this episode we delve into the dark world of jazz and the detective. 

Jazz has become associated with the gumshoe detective e.g. Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe and the whole world of film noir including seedy nightclubs and femme fatales.  We decided to investigate further "so I drew my Smith and Wesson 9mm and Nick was soon singing like a canary"

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

We have done Christmas specials before which are about Christmas jazz albums or specific Christmas jazz songs. This year we are offering suggestions for gifts for jazz lovers including among other things "the smell of jazz"

Amazon UK List Here

Previous Christmas episodes

2020 2021 2022  2024

This is our Instagram

This is our Facebook group

Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Betrayal Weekly

    Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

    Love Trapped

    Former Bachelor Clayton Echard’s casual one-night fling turned into a paternity nightmare. When the news broke about the scandal, no one believed Clayton at first. He was a reality TV star, and an unpopular one at that. Clayton found himself trying to prove the truth, while trapped in a web of lies, manipulation, and threats. He would soon discover he was not the only one. At its core, this is a story about who you believe and why. It’s an epic battle that would take a group of strangers, citizen sleuths from across the world, to crack the case and finally hold someone accountable. New episodes of Love Trapped are released every Thursday, starting February 26th, 2026. If you would like to reach out to the Love Trapped team, email us at lovetrappedpod@gmail.com and follow along on Instagram @glasspodcasts.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices