Jumoké Fashola is a jazz vocalist and award-winning radio and television broadcaster.
She records The Ronnie Scott's Radio Show (Fridays at 10pm) from Ronnie Scott’s own studio based at the club. Jumoké, whose radio credits include BBC London’s Late Show, says; 'I am absolutely delighted to be presenting The Ronnie Scott's Radio Show on Jazz FM. It's a dream come true as a broadcaster to get a chance to combine my passion for radio and jazz. I have spent some of the best nights of my life at Ronnie's, listening to my jazz heroes. Now I have a bona fide excuse to barge into the dressing rooms and meet them!'
Interview With Jumoké Fashola
What’s your favourite Jazz FM programme and why?
Dinner Jazz, Helen Mayhew is a legend!
What’s the most embarrassing song on your iPod/in your collection?
'My Boy Lollipop' by Millie Small.
In your opinion, what’s the greatest album of all time and why?
That’s tricky, so many to choose from! It’s a toss up between Miles Davis’ 'Kind of Blue' or Coltrane’s 'Giant Steps', both from 1959 which was a seminal year in jazz.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
That’s a tough one but I think it's Herbie Hancock a couple of years ago at the Royal Festival Hall.
What’s your favourite live music venue and why?
Ronnie Scott’s, of course! It’s such an intimate, legendary venue.
Jazz Is...
The soundtrack of my life.
In your opinion, who’s the most inspirational radio presenter of all time and why?
Alistair Cooke, who presented ‘Letter from America’, which was the longest-running speech radio show in the world. His broadcasts captured the zeitgeist of America for 58 years.
What’s been your most embarrassing moment in radio?
Interviewing a politician and asking a weird question about elections that weren’t due to happen for another nine months. In my defence, it was a live broadcast from the Notting Hill Carnival... I think the fiery jerk chicken had turned my brain to mush!
What’s your favourite film and why?
'Cinema Paradiso'. Directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore, music by Enrico Morricone. It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1989. It’s a story of lost innocence, the events that shaped a life and the courage to find your dreams.
Who would you invite to your fantasy dinner party?
I am going to be indulgent as I love cooking and I have given dinner parties for 12 people at home. So it would be - Duke Ellington, Alberta Hunter, Mark Murphy, Kwame Nkrumah, Cecelia Bartoli; Herbie Hancock, A.C Grayling, Maya Angelou, Dianne Reeves, Madeline Albright, Cicely Tyson and Ian Shaw.
