Episode Overview

In this episode of Tank Talks Asia, Manisha Tank sits down with YolanDa Brown, the UK’s premier female saxophonist, during her debut Asia tour. From sold-out performances in Tokyo and Singapore to her deep passion for music education and mental health advocacy, YolanDa shares how music can be a force for change, connection, and joy.

She discusses everything from growing up in a Jamaican-British household and earning an OBE from King Charles, to the global rise of K-Pop — and even how she can solve a Rubik’s Cube in just three minutes.

Featured Voices 

Host: Manisha Tank

Guest: YolanDa Brown OBE

Key takeaways from YolanDa

• YolanDa highlights how musical collaboration can bring cultures together and technology can empower artists everywhere to build audiences beyond borders.
• YolanDa notes the importance of nurturing creativity, confidence, and emotional wellbeing in the next generation, with music offering a safe outlet for emotions and connections.
• From the Commonwealth to K-Pop, YolanDa champions collaboration over division and community over anger.
• She believes in being “unapologetically yourself.”

Chapter heads

0:00 - Welcome to Tank Talks Asia 

Manisha introduces the show and this episode’s featured guest, YolanDa Brown.

1:02 - Jazz, Reggae & Asia

YolanDa discusses performing in Tokyo and Singapore.

2:14 - A Musical Homecoming with Yamaha 

YolanDa talks about working with Yamaha.

3:25 - Roots & Upbringing 

How family, culture, and confidence have helped to shape YolanDa’s outlook.

5:01 - Honored by the King 

YolanDa tells us about receiving her OBE and what it truly means.

7:39 - Reframing the Commonwealth 

A discussion about how history can be used as a platform for change and unity.

9:34 - Championing Children’s Mental Health 

YolanDa talks about her Band Jam TV show and Sesame Street collaborations with Elmo.

13:18 - The Healing Power of Music 

YolanDa shares a personal story about how music can be incredibly emotional.

14:56 - Making Music Joyful 

YolanDa talks about teaching improvisation and how to find the heart in music performances.

16:23 - The Global Language of Jazz 

Manisha and YolanDa chat about how jazz is having a renaissance across cultures.

16:50 - K-Pop, Authenticity & Generational Connection 

They go on to discuss the K-Pop phenomenon.

19:41 - India, Bollywood & Beyond 

YolanDa shares her thoughts on what drives global music success.

22:05 - Breaking Barriers in the Industry 

She also talks about the power of collaboration, independent artists and the importance of “finding your tribe”.

25:02 - Dreaming Big in Asia 

YolanDa discusses future tour plans and potential collaborations.

26:44 - Fun & Quirky Facts 

YolanDa shares some light-hearted facts with Manisha.

28:29 - Closing Thoughts 

Manisha and YolanDa talk about amplifying Asia’s creative voice.

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Tank Talks Asia is an AsiaWorks production

YolanDa Brown is a force of nature. She's an award-winning saxophonist, bringing the magic of jazz and reggae to Asia on her first tour of the region. We caught up with her in Singapore to find out how music can change lives for the better and what it's like getting an OBE from the King. We also quizzed her on how Asia's music can go further and faster.

YolanDa.

YOLANDA: Hello.

MANISHA: So good to see you.

YOLANDA: It's lovely to see you too. This is beautiful.

Tell us about it.

YOLANDA: Yes. So we started off in Japan, ticking it off my bucket list to play Blue Note, Tokyo.

MANISHA: Very famous.

YOLANDA: Oh it was a fantastic time. Two shows, sold out audiences, really, really brilliant. And then we came over to Singapore, where we played a fantastic show at the Annex Studio, Esplanade Annex Studio, and also doing some workshops in schools. I love to sort of, you'll learn this about me, I love to give back to the community, to the next generation. Bring music, education, and fun. So we've had some great workshops in schools here as well, and I cannot wait to come back. I'm now hooked. I'm hooked.

MANISHA: I, I, well, who doesn't get hooked when they come to this region? So what are the things that are hooking you in?

MANISHA: Okay, so let's talk about Japan 'cause that was the first leg of the tour. And as I understand it, you are a Yamaha official artist.

YOLANDA: I am.

MANISHA: What does that mean?

And the great thing about Yamaha, yes, they manufacture instruments, but they had a really great, and have a really great, education program as well. So I'd go in and do some, some workshops with them as well. So I really loved the idea that it wasn't just about that I play saxophones, Yamaha saxophones. It was about working with the business as well and so I really loved that.

But then this is the first time that I got to go to Japan. My saxophone would be made in Japan. It was like finally coming home.

MANISHA: I can imagine that that would've been thrilling. Alright. Let's get into a bit of who's YolanDa.

So as I understand it, born to Jamaican parents, but you grew up in the UK, right?

MANISHA: You are so…you are brimming with energy. Would you say that a lot of that comes from your upbringing, from this family dynamic? Does that feed your soul?

YOLANDA: It does. And that's the slogan for my restaurant. So's that's lovely. I love that you said that.

MANISHA: We are on the same wavelength. What can I say?

And that's how I love to, to be. I think it's an easier place to start from than starting from the negative.

MANISHA: I hear you. I hear you. So you mentioned, Buckingham Palace.

YOLANDA: Yes.

MANISHA: Of course you have an OBE. This is an order of the British Empire.

YOLANDA: Yeah.

MANISHA: So what is that about? Because there's a lot of people in this region who've heard that acronym but don't really know what that means.

YOLANDA: So in the UK, the Prime Minister, but also the King or the monarch at the time, will award honors to somebody that has done something that they're proud of.

MANISHA: So look, I'm not, I'm not flexing I promise, but, my mom has an MBE.

YOLANDA: There you go.

MANISHA: For services to education.

YOLANDA: There you go.

YOLANDA: Yeah. So when the invitation comes and they say, will you accept? And you're allowed, I think two tickets, and I was a little bit cheeky and I said, I'd love my mom and dad to be there. Of course, I want my husband to be there, but my daughter is sort of seven years old. This would be amazing for her to see, and there was no hesitation. Buckingham Palace said yes. Here's the tickets, bring her. And, you know, I'm an ambassador of the, it's now called the King's Trust, but the Prince's Trust. I have met King Charles before. The day before I was performing at Westminster Abbey. It was in Central London.

YOLANDA: 2023. So the Commonwealth Day service, he had asked me to play. So I almost felt like I was following him that week. I had done the lineup and met him that day, and then the next day he said, oh, you made it back again then, you know. So it was a really lovely, intimate moment.

MANISHA: So people are always intrigued. Like, what, what do you actually talk about when you meet the King?

YOLANDA: Well, 'cause I was being cheeky the day before, you see, that we had a reception at Buckingham Palace after the performance. And I said, oh, your Majesty, are you, are you working tomorrow? And he said, yes why? And I said, well, I'm back in the morning for my investiture, for my OBE. He said, I'll see you in the morning. And so when they announced me into the throne room, that's the first thing he said. He said, oh, you made it back again then.

And then we were talking about the experience of that Commonwealth Day service. He's so passionate about the Commonwealth, about the next generation, about the planet. And he was just saying, you know, how proud he was that all of these countries are represented. We spoke a bit about music education 'cause we're both very passionate about that. And yeah, it was just a really lovely day and he asked about my family as well.

MANISHA: So let's extend on this subject of the Commonwealth.

YOLANDA: Yeah.

MANISHA: Because obviously a lot of countries in the Asia Pacific are former colonies.

YOLANDA: That's right.

MANISHA: And you know, the perception is a little patchy about what it means to be a member of the Commonwealth 'cause you cannot ignore history.

YOLANDA: You cannot ignore history. Absolutely.

MANISHA: But your take on all of this is, like I said before, very positive. What would you say to those who sort of bristle at the idea of the Commonwealth?

YOLANDA: I understand how hard history has been, you know. Anywhere I go, I can think about slavery. I can think about 400 years ago and what my ancestors would've been through, and it is heavy. It is so, so heavy.

I'm also looking to the future. I have children. I'm seeing the next generation all the time. What can it mean going forwards? And I think it's the same, even when you think about King Charles, he would've grown up in a time where there were changes happening. He's now in a position of power where he can make those changes and bring people closer, take away sort of the stain that was there. I mean, some people do turn down their OBEs and their MBEs for the very reason that there's empire in the name.

MANISHA: Yeah.

MANISHA: Yeah.

YOLANDA: What if we used it for good? What if we brought people together? If we lean into community, we lean into change, we will see. And if we empower the next generation, we will see how they can use it for good. So, I understand the history, but I also want to use it for change.

MANISHA: Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you a hundred percent. And you know, I think anger just keeps us stuck, right?

YOLANDA: Yeah, it does. It does.

MANISHA: There's no upside.

YOLANDA: It does.

YOLANDA: Yes.

MANISHA: So you have an incredibly, you're a presenter, YolanDa's Band Jam. Which is on CBeebies. CBeebies, believe me, my kids watched a lot of CBeebies when they were growing up and it is this really high energy, sort of, reaching out to the kids with music. I think you've also done a collab with Elmo.

YOLANDA: Yes.

MANISHA: Sesame Street, which was about mindfulness. What, so what sort of took you in that direction?

YOLANDA: Again, it's about the next generation. If we wanna see change, we've got a sort of a lot of anger and hurt within our current generation, and I think through music and through bringing people into that sort of mode of let's just reflect, but also look forwards. Music can do that.

You know, this should be something that is natural, so that you're taking in different cultures, you're taking in different histories. You're learning about why artists want to use these instruments.

And we were exchanging jokes and, you know, realizing that actually for mental wellbeing, we need to laugh. We need to have joy.

YOLANDA: Nice.

YOLANDA: Yeah.

MANISHA: Which is really sad. And that went all the way from elementary school right up to senior school. And then in India there are headlines that describe statistics on student suicides as alarming. That's a pretty strong word. Here in Singapore, suicide has been the leading cause of death amongst the youth. And again, very worrying statistics, which a lot of local governments wanna get onto.

What would be, from your experience in the UK 'cause I know you do a lot of work in this field, what would be your advice to those kids, but also to the policy makers about getting on top of this?

Equally, you've got social media, all of these pressures that come in. And I think we need to find these safe spaces where we can connect more with that younger generation. Sometimes it's music, sometimes it's just being able to feel that you can express yourself through lyrics or through improvisation and through just jamming together.

You know, the only experience that I can attribute it to was, I didn't study the saxophone, but I had a year of lessons. I started at age 13 and I was given the saxophone in the December and start my lessons in the January.

So I remember very vividly it was Stormy Weather, jazz standard. So you play the head of the song and then the backing track continues and you can then play. So then I was playing along with this thing. It's just me and the teacher in a classic music room, and by the end of the song, I just started crying.

MANISHA: Crying.

YOLANDA: I started crying.

MANISHA: Like it connected to something within you.

YOLANDA: Right. So there was something happening. I didn't know what, I'm 13. I have no idea. I just started crying. She went into safeguard mode of is everything okay at home? Has anybody hurt you? What's happening? Is all your friends okay? Which actually is the question that we need to ask these young people.

MANISHA: Yeah.

YOLANDA: And I said there’s nothing, I don't know why I'm crying. And she said, you know, this is the power of music.

MANISHA: Hmm.

YOLANDA: So now I think, what about all those students that didn't have that outlet, didn't have an outlet of sports or music or literacy or whatever it was.

MANISHA: And didn't know that it could be.

YOLANDA: And didn't know that it could be. So I know the power of having that space for wellness, that space to share. And if we can offer that to the next generation, I think we should. We definitely should.

YOLANDA: Well, this is my crusade now 'cause I meet so many amazing musicians who have been taught the technique. And it becomes a drill exercise. You’ll practice right now and you’ll play this right now, and actually they're not enjoying the music.

MANISHA: Yeah. How do we find the heart? We [00:25:00] listen to YolanDa Brown playing the saxophone because as you say, you know, jazz is this amazing energy. It kind of moves through you when you allow it to. And you know, I was listening to some comments from Indian Maestro, Zakir Hussain. So he was doing a collab with some jazz artists in the United States, and he was sort of saying, this is one of the best exports of the United States to the world is jazz music. In what ways do you think jazz has been revolutionary?

MANISHA: So here's my question. Can you mix Jazz, soul, reggae and K-Pop.

I mean, it was hilarious when we were watching it at home. We got it on the TV and Vanilla Ice is on and I learnt that rap word for, I can still do it now, word for word. So I'm there dancing away. She's dancing because her K-Pop idols are on the screen and it just brings generations together. I mean, what K-Pop is doing is phenomenal. You know, it's hard work and you know, it's an industry still. We need to make sure that we're safeguarding everybody that works in the industry, but it is just opening up a culture, a style and different genres of music to the next generation, which is fantastic.

YOLANDA: That's right.

MANISHA: As a musician, what do you think it was that appealed to literally everyone?

MANISHA: Mmm.

YOLANDA: So with K-Pop, they're not pretending to be anybody else. Yes, they're influenced by different styles of music. And you can hear hip hop, you can hear rap, you can hear different styles of music within the music. Music within the music. However, it's still sung in Korean. But there's some English in it.

MANISHA: See, that's what I love about it.

YOLANDA: They don't. It's like, oh, I'm touring in the UK, I'm just gonna do all the songs in English. No, my daughter sings in Korean. She doesn't know. She doesn't know everything that she's saying, but she sings and phonetically sings back this Korean language. So much so that she now is learning Korean. So that she can be closer.

MANISHA: That is very cool.

YOLANDA: You know? So don't, when you are exporting something, don't sugarcoat it. Don't try and sort of make it right for that region. And if anything, it's really empowering.

MANISHA: Another genre that has quite wide appeal, but as a genre it in itself is very mixed up, is music out of India. So whether it's Bollywood or Tollywood, all the other different backgrounds. And then there's a huge independent music scene in India as well. As a generator of music, it's just colossal.

YOLANDA: Yeah, absolutely.

YOLANDA: That's what I was gonna say.

MANISHA: As someone who was kind of a self-made artist. Yes. What works, what doesn't work, and how important that whole machinery is behind music these days.

YOLANDA: Yeah. I think the difference, the major difference because the industry itself, I mean Bollywood is a multi-billion, you know, dollar industry, from the films to the music, to the dancing, to the costumes, I don't think they marketed it in the same way.

K-Pop has done it very differently where, I mean, how did they find my daughter of 11 years old? You know, that they really spoke to that younger generation and sort of brought that commonality.

We need to really sing from the rooftops about our culture, about our industries, and actually other industries are doing the same. So we're seeing collaborations between artists. We're talking about Ed Sheeran now collaborating with Indian artists. You're seeing Afrobeat spread around the world.

MANISHA: But that, I mean, so let's pick up on Ed Sheeran, 'cause that was a long time in the making. I remember interviewing him about 15 years ago for CNN and he had just come from Mumbai. He had just got introduced to Bollywood as far back as then.

YOLANDA: Isn't that interesting?

But it's taken time, I think though now with technology, do you see that those sorts of collaborations happening faster? Are you gonna collaborate with Asian artists?

YOLANDA: Absolutely. And actually it's easier to do. So a time where it's like, I'm in Singapore for six days, let's get her in the studio. That would be the only way that we used to do it. Now you can do it down the line. You know, even my last album, Love Politics War, I was able to collaborate with Casey Benjamin, who was in New York at the time, work with John Clary, who was in New Orleans. And so now that these connections have been made, it's so much easier to jump on a video call. Talk, get to know each other, either send over some stems from the studio, you can even be live in the studio together and record together. So technology has helped us close that gap in a big way. So we've broken down these barriers and I think we're gonna see it a lot more. And yes, I would love to collaborate with Singapore artists.

But it has surprised me that we haven't seen more coming out of this part of the world. Any perceptions on that?

YOLANDA: You know, I'm getting to know the industry a bit better being here. You know as the BPI, we represent record labels and we've got the major labels, you know, the three, Sony, Universal, Warner. We've got over 500 members of the BPI that are independent labels. It's a whole industry in itself of how you can release music on an independent scale, and I would always say don't always focus on the big break because you don’t know when it's gonna come, with social media now, with YouTube, you don't actually need that massive machine as much anymore.

So I would say to any artist that's sort of building their brand and growing, is find, find your tribe. Find the people that love what you're about. Love your message, love your music, and they will stay loyal and then you can grow it from there. And I think that's been really important.

So anything that government or industry can do to help support that, be it studios, be it live music venues, places where you can cultivate audiences and artists, then you'll start to see the projection grow.

MANISHA: Awesome.

YOLANDA: Yeah.

YOLANDA: I would love to come back. Yeah. We made lots of connections, so I can't wait to come back.

MANISHA: Where would you like to go next do you think? Any inkling?

YOLANDA: I mean, I would love to go to Korea. I think it'd just be really, really interesting. I still think that there, I'd love to play different regions within Southeast Asia. So come back to Singapore, but play in different places around here. Back in Japan. I can't wait to go back again. And I'm open to all suggestions. I think the great thing about music is that, and especially the type of music we play, yes, we can play a jazz venue, we can play festivals, we can play in schools, we can play anywhere. And so I just love the idea of sharing, sharing the music.

MANISHA: Well, I think, like we said before, you know, jazz has this global language. And in a region we, I mean, there's so many language. Hundreds of languages spoken across this region, and it's wonderful to have a sort of a genre of music that speaks to all of them.

YOLANDA: Well, it is, it absolutely is. And you know, even thinking about business, you know, I own a live music venue and restaurant in London and, you know, it's 120 capacity. It's kind of, it's really filtering in the grassroots and it looks like a jazz venue. But for me it's really important that all styles of music are welcome there.

And I think that's the thing that I'm intrigued by and you know, even with a business hat and I'm thinking, can Soul Mama work in Singapore? Is that something that we can, we could make work, just have a space, great food, the music, the combination together. So yeah, my mind is whirring.

MANISHA: Good food always works. It always works. Always. This is what we're known for.

YOLANDA: Exactly that.

YOLANDA: I have been known to, not every single gig, but I have been known. There's something about being in heels that helps. I feel like it helps my posture.

MANISHA: Oh my god, I have to sit up straight.

YOLANDA: You know, and it allows me to move around the stage. I love to, I love movement, so it allows me to move around the stage in a certain way. And so people are always commenting about, how do you play in these heels? I don't think about it. It just feels natural to me. And there was at one point such an obsession with them that a lady said, I love your heels. Can I have them when you're done? I was like. Okay, you have them.

And then it became a thing where it was like, you're not gonna give away some heels. Okay, here we go. So it became a bit of a thing.

MANISHA: The other thing I read about you is, you can solve a Rubik's Cube pretty fast.

YOLANDA: Yes.

MANISHA: Well, yeah?

MANISHA: You're accomplished enough. Can you just stop with pushing the boundaries?

YOLANDA: It was one of life's conundrums I had to get underneath.

MANISHA: So look Yolanda, hopefully we've got audiences across Asia, but also outside Asia. One of the reasons we wanted to curate this series was 'cause we felt that there isn't enough info out there for our global audience about the myriad of wonderful things that are happening in this part of the world.

On that note, what would you want to say to our audience about your trip in this region?

YOLANDA: I would like to say I love it. Keep doing what you're doing and amplify it. You know, I think, you know, in all things and all industries, it's really important to have community to come together to collaborate.

MANISHA: Well, we hope to see you back on the show at some point when you revisit.

YOLANDA: I will do indeed.

MANISHA: And you know, perhaps, you know, you get to add a bit of K-pop and a bit of South Korea action to your plan.

YOLANDA: Love that.

MANISHA: I know we're only two episodes in, but I like to call it a tradition already. And that is that we ask all of our guests to leave us with a memento because our shelves are a little bit bare.

YOLANDA: I like it. Yeah.

MANISHA: So, I believe that you have something for us.

YOLANDA: I do. But I thought this would be something that you'll have on your shelf.

MANISHA: A Rubik's cube.

YOLANDA: You'll have on your shelf that you can remember me. In fact, we are gonna solve it and I'll sign it. So then it will be right there on the shelf. So that is for you.

MANISHA: Oh, well thank you so much. Thank you so much.

YOLANDA: You'll never forget me now.

YOLANDA: I would definitely sign it. That would be lovely.

MANISHA: That would be a really good thing to do. Alright, thank you. Thank you.

And that's it for this episode. I hope that you enjoyed our little chat with the award-winning musician, YolanDa Brown. I'm Manisha Tank, from me and the rest of the team, thanks so much for joining us and remember, if you subscribe, you can support our mission to bring the real story of Asia to the rest of the world.And of course, you'll never miss an episode.

That's it for now. Tank Talks Asia is an AsiaWorks production.