Pablo Held Investigates

Drummer and composer RJ Miller joins Pablo Held to talk about the creative process behind his albums “Ronald’s Rhythm” and “Free Soul”, finding specific grooves for songs and what he thinks about endings. Other topics include playing in the groups of Jorge Rossy and Aaron Parks, seeing Paul Motian at the Village Vanguard, and lessons learned from Ornette Coleman and Masabumi Kikuchi.

Saxophonist & composer Chris Potter returns to ‘Pablo Held Investigates’ for an in-depth conversation, recorded just before heading out on their European tour together. Zooming in on their repertoire, Chris shares insights into his compositional process. Other topics include Herbie Hancock’s ‘Actual Proof’, what Chris pays attention to when listening to Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, playing on ‘Alegria’ by Wayne Shorter and much more.Catch the Pablo Held Trio & Chris Potter on their ongoing February 2026 European tour: Feb 18 – Munich (DE) // Unterfahrt Feb 19 – Hamburg (DE) // Laeiszhalle Feb 20 – Bonn (DE) // BeethovenhausFeb 21 – Dortmund (DE) // Domicil Feb 23 – Aachen (DE) // Theater Aachen Feb 24 – Engelsholm (DK) // Agerumsladen Feb 25 – Trondheim (NO) // Dokkhuset Feb 26 – Echternach (LUX) // Trifolion https://pabloheld.com

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 H

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 … Continue reading John O’Gallagher

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. … Continue reading Larry Grenadier

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 … Continue reading Patrice Rushen

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 … Continue reading Nicole Glover

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 … Continue reading Chris Weisman 2

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 … Continue reading Unity (audio commentary)

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 … Continue reading Albert Sanz

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’ … Continue reading Eric McPherson

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 … Continue reading Elders (audio commentary)

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 … Continue reading Ashley Kahn

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 … Continue reading Ella Feingold

I’m very thankful to be on the the road with Tineke Postma quite often. She is an amazing saxophonist & composer, I’m learning a lot from her and she’s so much fun to be around. We talk all the time when we’re on tour with the band Re:Calamari and this conversation actually happened between gigs. … Continue reading Tineke Postma

Talking to the legendary Eddie Henderson was a dream come true for me. As I tell Eddie in the beginning of this episode, I’ve been listening to him for all my life: My father played Herbie Hancock’s “Mwandishi” albums for me as a kid and when I was 13 I saw Eddie with Herbie’s “Gershwin’s … Continue reading Eddie Henderson

The day before our interview I had the big pleasure of playing with Kanoa Mendenhall for the first time. After a long time of admiring her from afar, I finally got to know her through making music and hanging out together, which was really special for me. We zoomed in on Kanoa’s creative process, we … Continue reading Kanoa Mendenhall