In a special edition of Mastertapes to celebrate National Album Day, Elvis Costello, the consummate album artist talks to John Wilson and plays his way back through a career that has spanned five decades, premiers exclusive tracks from his new album and takes questions from the audience.
From his critically acclaimed debut album, My Aim Is True, released in 1977 to his newly released Look Now, his first new album in five years, Elvis Costello has been widely recognised as one of Britain's best songwriters.
From early classics like Watching The Detectives, Accidents Will Happen, and Almost Blue, all the way through to Jimmie Standing In The Rain, Unwanted Number and Under Lime his talent for wordplay has remained undimmed. He remains a composer who works across a range of styles, always mining a deep, rich seam of melodic and harmonic treasures - all of which is on display in these programmes recorded in the iconic BBC studios at Maida Vale. Accompanying him is his career-long collaborator, pianist Steve Nieve.