Jazz has always been about innovation and collaboration, and saxophonist and composer Sandy Evans has excelled on both counts for nearly four decades. She returns to The Music Show studio to perform live with an eclectic trio—the bass trombone of Adrian Sherriff and Suresh Vaidyanathan's ghatam (Indian clay drum). Sandy reflects on a life filled with musical conversations and why she's re-releasing her old albums for the streaming generation.  How do you make historical speeches something that people will actually want to sit down and listen to? You set them to music. Composer Robert Davidson has teamed up with pianist Sonya Lifschitz to create a series of live musical portraits that weave archival audio from women like Frida Kahlo, Greta Thunberg, Michelle Obama and Patti Smith with piano music and video projections. Both the composer and performer will be on to talk about the inherent musicality of speech and how the work can breathe new life into figures from the past.  So Much Myself: Piano Portraits is on at Brisbane Festival on 21 September. Sandy Evans performs with Adrian Sherriff and Suresh Vaidyanathan at Local Edition on 7 September, Festival of the Winds in Bondi on 8 September and at JazzLab in Melbourne on 15 September. Sandy Evans Trio (with Brett Hirst and Toby Hall) perform at Church St Studios on 30 September and at Inner West Jazz Fest on 20 October.  Music in the program: Title: So Much Myself (Nina Simone) Artist: Sonya Lifschitz Composer: Robert Davidson Live recording courtesy of the composer Title: One Planet Artist: Sandy Evans, Suresh Vaidyanathan, Adrian Sherriff Composer: Sandy Evans Recorded live in The Music Show studio Title: Improvised percussion duet Artist: Adrian Sherriff, Suresh Vaidyanathan Composer: Adrian Sherriff, Suresh Vaidyanathan Recorded live in The Music Show studio Title: Ritual Burning Artist: Sandy Evans Trio (Sandy Evans, Brett Hirst, Toby Hall) Composer: Sandy Evans Album: The Running Tide (due 27 September) Label: Independent Title: To Connect (Michelle Obama) Artist: Sonya Lifschitz Composer: Robert Davidson Live recording courtesy of the composer Title: Sweet Spring (E. E. Cummings) Artist: Sonya Lifschitz Composer: Robert Davidson Album: Stalin's Piano Label: Independent Title: Portrait of Diego (Frida Kahlo) Artist: Sonya Lifschitz Composer: Robert Davidson Live recording courtesy of the composer Title: Susan Sontag Artist: Sonya Lifschitz Composer: Robert Davidson Live recording courtesy of the composer Title: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XII. Galgenlied Composer: Arnold Schoenberg Artist: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Thomas Kaufmann, Reto Bieri, Júlia Gállego, Joonas Ahonen, Meesun Hong Album: Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire Label: ALPHA Classics ALPHA 722 Technical production by Nathan Turnbull, Tegan Nicholls and Beth Stewart The Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country