Minor Swing

Growing up Willem had to listen to his mother practise the music of jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli – ad infinitum. A jazz violinist herself with her own band Hot Club du Nord, there was one tune she practised endlessly – Minor Swing. As a young child, Willem felt Grappelli’s gypsy jazz was a rival for his mother’s attention during those hours of practice. He felt frustrated and ignored and never enjoyed going to his mum’s gigs.

Now at 22, Willem appreciates the importance of Grappelli’s music in his mother’s life and wants to learn more about the legendary gypsy jazz violinist. We follow his journey of discovery through conversations with his mum and multi-media director and radio presenter Paul Balmer, as he uncovers the story of Grappelli's life and the joie de vivre of his music.

This series of New Storytellers is presenting the winners of the Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature 2026. This award-winning feature was produced by Willem Fisk-Nicholson, a Media Production student at the University of Sunderland. According to the judges this was “a really clever feature idea about hating the constant intrusion of music being practiced in the family home”. It was “one of those ‘room to breathe’ pieces that got me thinking about how much we take for granted as children and how it pays to re-evaluate things from time to time”. “With a great, lively narration, it was all in all a lovely, informative listen.”

Producer: Willem Fisk-Nicholson
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4 (1245)