Listen to saxophonist Jess Gillam's summer playlist

Saxophonist Jess Gillam has been forging her own adventurous path since she shot to fame becoming the first saxophonist to reach the finals of BBC's Young Musician and the youngest ever soloist to perform at the Last Night of the Proms.

As well as performing around the world, Jess became the youngest ever presenter for BBC Radio 3 with the launch of her own weekly show and podcast This Classical Life, and is the first ever saxophonist to be signed exclusively to Decca Classics. Both of her albums reached No. 1 in the UK Classical Music Charts.

Jess makes her Irish debut at the West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival in Russborough House (18th May) with her trio and at the Tramway Theatre, Blessington (20 May) with her 8-piece Jess Gillam Ensemble.

Below, Jess introduces her summer playlist, and gives us a track-by-track breakdown...

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I can't wait to travel over to beautiful Ireland and perform live in the country for the very first time! We’re playing in Scotland a couple of days before and we’re planning to drive down to Wales and make the journey over on the ferry. It will be a bit of an epic road trip and there will definitely be some tunes keeping us going and (safely!) blaring out of the car stereo! I’ll be playing at West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival with my band - the Jess Gillam Ensemble - and also in a trio with Leif Kaner-Lidström on piano and Sam Becker on bass.

The saxophone is one of those instruments that can sit in just about any style of music. It has such a lyrical and beautiful sound as well as being capable of being the driving energy force in any group. We’ll be playing a massive range of music in these concerts - from CPE Bach to Sakamoto and Barbara Thompson to the folk inspired Rune Sorensen. We might even throw in a little bit of Bjork!

I tend to live by Miles Davis’ idea that 'good music is good music’ and I try to listen far and wide… hopefully these tunes give you a little flavour of what’s in my ears right now!

Clair de Lune, Debussy - arranged for Theremin and Voice by Carolina Eyck

Clair de Lune is one of those pieces that manages to cast a magical spell in any room no matter how many times I listen. In this reimagining, there’s an extra ethereality with the theremin and Carolina Eyck’s voice and it’s 4 minutes of bliss…

Flute Concerto in A Minor, CPE Bach - 1st movement, played by Emmanuel Pahu

Emmanuel Pahud's playing in this is absolutely on fire! He draws out so many colours from the flute and the music is fizzing with energy, drive and excitement one second and then turns back on itself with a beautiful melody the next. There’s a moment about 3 minutes in where you might find your jaw on the floor (or your head banging!).

Love Your Grace, Vega Trails

Leif, the pianist in our trio and also the ensemble, sent this tune to me a while ago. I hear it as a mini ode to the double bass - there's a tranquillity to it but also such a great groove. It almost sounds like someone singing. This will definitely be one for our journey over!

Les Fleurs, Minnie Riperton

With her legendary vocal range, Minnie Riperton has become one of my musical icons! In this tune, she reaches up to the heavens with her voice but the whole track is a burst of sunshine and brightens any day. I also love that she's singing from the perspective of a flower - every time I listen to it, it makes me look at the world from a slightly different perspective!

Lazarus, David Bowie

Get that volume cranked up for this one! David Bowie has been a massive inspiration to me and his last album Blackstar is an absolute masterpiece. The saxophonist on this album is Donny McCaslin and his solos across the album take it to a new level. I don't really have any words for his sound.

Impromptu 5 from 6 Impromptus by Sibelius, played by Leif Ove Andsnes

Sometimes a piece of music can act like a spaceship away to another planet - it gets hold of your ears and heart and lifts you up to another place. This is one of those pieces for me - as soon as I hear the magic of those opening cascades, I can feel myself melting into the beauty of the piece.

Stars, from Nina Simone live at Montreux

I think this is a beautiful example of what music has the potential to do - it can connect us, unify us and sometimes even inspire us to feel things we didn't even know we were feeling. There are some stunning moments of silence in this and for me, the song acts a reminder of the fact we’re all in this together. We’re all on this planet looking for a way through. When Nina Simone sings the line 'Everybody has a story’, we somehow hear the whole universe of emotion captured in one voice.

Swan Lake Suite, Tchaikovsky

It's a classic but there is always a reason why the most famous music becomes so widely loved. The drama and the crashing heights of emotion this piece reaches are all encompassing.

Lest we forget (Blood) - Esperanza Spalding

This is from Esperanza Spalding's album 12 Little Spells, on which she pays homage to different parts of the human body. There’s such a cool beat in this song and I LOVE her voice!

You Don't Own Me, Dusty Springfield

There’s a chance I’ll get this on in my headphones a few hours before the concert to help banish any nerves! The feeling of empowerment and defiance in this track is infectious!

Jess Gillam performs at the West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival on 18th May in Russborough House and on 20th May at the Tramway Theatre - find out more here.

Listen to saxophonist Jess Gillam's summer playlist

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