Seb Coe’s extraordinary life has been sound-tracked by the music he loves… As a schoolboy he would borrow jazz records from Sheffield Public Library, before he saved enough to buy his first, treasured Brubeck LP. Aged 12, he sat in a smoky West London pub and marvelled at the showmanship of George Melly. Minutes before his legendary 1500 metres win at the Moscow Olympics he was listening to jazz on his headphones. He was in a Chicago jazz club until the early hours of the morning before, a day later, heading to Los Angeles for the start of the 1984 Olympic Games where he would defend his title. And the day of the crucial presentation in Singapore which won the 2012 Olympics for London, he lay on his hotel bed listening to Jimmy Rowles.

For this show, Seb has dug deep into his remarkable jazz record collection. Every album he pulls from the shelf comes with a story attached. He loves the music, but also the artwork, the sleeve notes, the smell and the sound of the vinyl. From a choice of thousands he picks his favourites from Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Erroll Garner, Billie Holiday and many more as he tells his remarkable story alongside this beautiful score. And yes, that Brubeck album is still on his shelves and will be brought out for the show!

Seb says: "Jazz music has been one of the great loves of my life for as long as I can remember, and I'm really delighted at this chance to share that passion with the Radio 2 audience. When I walked out to the start of the 1500 metres in Moscow, “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” began playing on my Walkman. The only problem will be choosing a dozen or so tracks from the thousands in my collection.” Show less