App Store

Google Play

Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Step into an infinite world of stories

Listen and read

BBC Radio 4


Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe take us on a musical journey of discovery, exploring the web of connections between tracks across the breadth of all musical styles, from pop, rock, reggae and hip-hop to classical, jazz, folk and country.


Add to Playlist

Keyboard player and composer Ben Nobuto and double bass player Lucy Shaw take us from clocks and clouds into space as they join Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, before landing on a John Coltrane classic.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Prisencolinensinainciusol by Adriano Celentano 
Clocks and Clouds by György Ligeti
Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss
Acknowledgement from A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
You Got the Love by Candi Staton 

Other music in this episode:

Animal Magic theme, or Las Vegas, by Group Forty Orchestra, written by Laurie Johnson
Hallelujah Sim by Ben Nobuto
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle
Lontano by György Ligeti
Your Love by Frankie Knuckles
You Got the Love by Candi Staton - DJ Eren's mix
Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton
You've Got the Love by Florence & The Machine

Lucy Shaw and Ben Nobuto take us to space

Bassoonist Amy Harman, cellist Francesca Ter-Berg and baritone and composer Roderick Williams get in the festive spirit as they create a dynamic playlist of five classic seasonal tracks. In this Add to Playlist winter special, Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye are going to take us from a solitary chorister to a massive Christmas singalong banger, so sleigh bells at the ready...

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Once In Royal David’s City by The Choir of King's College, Cambridge 
Drei Dreidel by Moishe Oysher 
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey
The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole

Other music in this episode:

Here Comes Santa Claus by Bob Dylan
Hanukkah Dance by Woody Guthrie
Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter by John Williams
March by Tchaikovsky from The Nutcracker
Trepak - the Russian Dance - by Tchaikovsky from The Nutcracker
Sugar Rum Cherry by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Mendel
Boas Festas by Simone
Sugar Plum Fairy Introlude by Mariah Carey

Festive classics with Amy Harman, Francesca Ter-Berg and Roderick Williams

Kora player and composer Seckou Keita and screen composer Tess Tyler join Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye as they add five more tracks to the playlist, taking us from bootlegs to Africa's biggest-selling single, via an early classic video game. They are joined by the British producer Nick Patrick, the man behind two of the tracks in today's playlist.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Cindy C. by Prince
Donkey Kong Country by David Wise
La Primavera by Ottorini Respighi
Yeke Yeke by Mory Kante
No Volvere by the Gipsy Kings

Other music in this episode:

Sallisaw Blue by John Moreland
You Got The Love by The Source Ft. Candi Staton
Interactive by Prince
Winter Tundra from Lego Worlds soundtrack by Tess Tyler and Rob Westwood
Jungle Groove from Donkey Kong Country by David Wise
Two Tribes by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Yeke Yeke (original version) by Mory Kante

Seckou Keita, Tess Tyler and Nick Patrick, from Prince to Kings

Georgie Ward, composer and keyboard player to the stars, and cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe, head to the Add to Playlist studio to add the final five tracks of the series. Together with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, this episode takes us from a reinterpretation of a Bob Marley classic to a Sinatra father-and-daughter 'novelty' song via a ground-breaking aunt-and-niece double-act from Tanzania. 

Add to Playlist returns for a new series on 27 Feb 2025

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Redemption Song by the Kanneh-Masons 
Cold Light by Ishmael Ensemble 
The Feeling Begins by Peter Gabriel
Mapendo by The Zawose Queens
Somethin’ Stupid by Frank and Nancy Sinatra 

Other music in this episode:

Be the One by Dua Lipa, Live from the Royal Albert Hall
Emmanuele by Abel Selaocoe
No Volvere by The Gypsy Kings
Redemption Song by Bob Marley
Bloom by Holysseus Fly
Somethin' Stupid by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman

Georgie Ward and Abel Selaocoe round off the series

Irish violinist Aoife Ní Bhriain and jazz pianist and composer Julian Joseph are the first guests in the new series with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe. Together they add the first five tracks, taking us from the Mercury Prize-winning jazz group Ezra Collective to a celebrated pair of sisters at the piano, via a 1975 pop classic heavily influenced by Frédéric Chopin.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

God Gave Me Feet For Dancing by Ezra Collective
Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor by Frédéric Chopin
Could it be Magic by Barry Manilow
Kabir by John McLaughlin, Shankar Mahadevan & Zakir Hussain
Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra: Mvt 1 by Philip Glass, performed by Katia & Marielle Labèque

Other music in this episode:

Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac
Dollar Wine by Colin Lucas
Feeling Good by Nina Simone
Prelude in C Minor, Op 28, No 20 by Frédéric Chopin
Could it be Magic by Donna Summer
Could it be Magic by Take That

Julian Joseph and Aoife Ní Bhriain open the new series

Bandleader and jazz saxophonist Emma Rawicz and the writer and composer Neil Brand join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe as they add the next five tracks to the playlist. The journey takes them from Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, across the English Channel in a rickety aeroplane, then right up to the moon with Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

The Bucket’s Got a Hole in it by Kid Ory
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines by Ron Goodwin
Conversation by Joni Mitchell
How High the Moon by Les Paul and Mary Ford
Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns N’ Roses

Other music in this episode:

Tamacún by Rodrigo y Gabriela
Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra: Mvt 1 by Philip Glass, performed by Katia & Marielle Labèque
My Bucket's Got a Hole In It by Hank Williams
Bucket's Got a Hole In It by Louis Armstrong
My Bucket's Got a Hole In It by Van Morrison
633 Squadron: Main Title Theme by Ron Goodwin
Amassakoul by Tinariwen
Some Unholy War by Amy Winehouse
Didn't It Rain by Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Emma Rawicz and Neil Brand reach for the skies

British-Syrian Maya Youssef - virtuoso player of the Middle Eastern stringed instrument the qanun - and conductor Ben Gernon, join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist. Starting by the dock of the bay, they travel to Damascus, Hamburg and land on a 1950s familiar pop classic sung by a 14-year-old.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

(Sitting on) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding
The Waves of the Sea by Lena Shamamyan
Mache dich auf! Werde Licht! (Arise! Let there be light!) by Felix Mendelssohn
Blank Space (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift 
Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

Other music in this episode:

Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore
Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns N’ Roses
Hard to Handle by Otis Redding
Blank Space by Taylor Swift

Maya Youssef and Ben Gernon take us to Syria and Hamburg

Concertina and melodeon player Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and composer and arranger Anne Dudley contribute to the next five tracks on the playlist. Alongside Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe, they take us on a journey from the elegant vocals of Amy Winehouse to a Japanese folk tune about hardworking fishermen.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Love is a Losing Game by Amy Winehouse
Sarabande by Claude Debussy
Lambada by Pinduca 
The Bristol Sailorman/Will the Waggoner by John Kirkpatrick (Cohen) 
Kaigara Bushi by Mitsune

Other music in this episode:

Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
There is no Greater Love by Billie Holiday
(There is) No Greater Love by Amy Winehouse
Love is a Losing Game (Demo) by Amy Winehouse
Gymnopédie by Erik Satie
Lambada by Kaoma

Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and Anne Dudley salute Amy

Pianist Keelan Carew and trombonist Carol Jarvis join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist, as they take us from the great Winifred Atwell to an ambitious prog-rock reimagining of Aaron Copland's Rodeo ballet.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Tickle the Ivories by Winifred Atwell
Pas de Deux: Andante maestoso by Tchaikovsky
Stan by Eminem
Rather Be by Clean Bandit 
Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Other music in this episode:

Radioactive by Carol Jarvis
Kaigara Bushi by Mitsune
Black and White Rag by Winifred Atwell
Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland, dir Leonard Bernstein
Bonaparte's Retreat by William H Stepp

Carol Jarvis and Keelan Carew head for a hoedown

Lyricist Richard Stilgoe and musician and songwriter Natalie Duncan prepare for a square dance as they add five more tracks to the playlist. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from Scottish reels to Mars, via California's Santa Monica Boulevard.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Eightsome Reel by The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra 
Scotch Rhapsody by William Walton & Edith Sitwell
All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
Mars by Gustav Holst

Other music in this episode:

King by Years & Years
Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Boil 'em Cabbage Down, trad, performed by Mark O'Connor
Candy by Cameo

Natalie Duncan and Richard Stilgoe celebrate the Red Planet

Pianist Jamie Cullum and trombonist Mark Frost join Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye in the penultimate episode of the current series as they add the next five tracks to the growing playlist.

What links one of the most famous brass pieces in all opera to an all-star jazz musical ensemble in New York? And how does that get us to Sesame Street? 

The serendipitous musical journey continues.

Presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye
Producer Jerome Weatherald

This week's five tracks added to the playlist:

Sanft Schloss Schlaf dein Aug'! by Richard Wagner
Trombone Joe by Herlin Riley
Sing by The Carpenters/Sesame Street
The Coffee Cola Song by Francis Bebey
Mask Off by Future

Other music in this episode:

Concerto Grosso in C, HWV 318 by Handel
Lose My Breath by Destiny's Child
Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner
A Cenar Teco from Don Giovanni by Mozart
Dies Irae from the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz
Everything Now by Arcade Fire
Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock
Flute Loop by Beastie Boys
Prison Song by Tommy Butler

Jamie Cullum and Mark Frost on a children's classic and the power of brass

Listen and read

Other podcasts you might like ...