In the second of our new series of special Guest Playlists by like-minded music lovers across Edinburgh’s creative community, we go on a meditative spiritual jazz journey with Daniel Fisher of Sweetdram.

Daniel is Co-Founder & Master-Distiller of Sweetdram, an innovative drinks brand and distillery based in Sighthill which creates highly original, flavour-led spirits, such as Escubac, and a series of unique whiskies.

Originally from New York, Daniel is a massive music lover with 1000s of records. Sweetdram is also home to a very cool event space an absolutely monster sound system. (If you’ve not seen the space yet, check out our video of swim school which was shot there…)

If you need some calm in your life and a chance to think, stick Daniel’s playlist on - featuring tracks by the likes of Rebecca Vasmant, Alabaster DePlume, Andrew Wasylyk, Alice Coltrane and Floating Points with Pharoah Sanders, it really is blissfully beautiful.

Listen to the playlist

Here’s what Daniel has to say about his selection of tracks….

Some people stick on an album for background noise, as a means of escape or distraction. Others play music to bring themselves into the present. I’m definitely in the second camp.

This playlist showcases some of the artists who have brought me ‘presence’ during lockdown and pays homage to the friends (new and old) who share and consume music as fanatically as I do. I feel quite fortunate to have those types of people in my life.

I’ve known Jamie Wightman (aka Infinite Sound) for a while through the spirits industry, but since he joined Sweetdram we’ve really bonded, partly due to our mutual love of vinyl. I’ve opened him up to Gang Starr while he has slowly introduced me to spiritual jazz through his extensive record collection. It’s been quite a mind-blowing experience – one that’s underlined just how many phenomenal albums I’ve somehow managed to miss out on over the past 25 years.

I still don’t know how Alice Coltrane’s 1971 “Journey in Satchidananda” slipped by unnoticed, but it’s never too late to get into a record, especially with music that is timeless.

Another of Jamie’s contributions was to introduce me to his friend, the DJ and producer Rebecca Vasmant, who I’ve become very close with through lockdown. She’s someone (like Jamie) who opened my ears up to the vast spectrum of jazz, especially the softer, ambient end through artists like Amanda Whiting, Alabaster dePlume, Greg Foat and Warren Hampshire. And while I might be a bit biased – after all, music is personal, and it’s different when you care for the person who created it – her first album “With Love, From Glasgow” has brought me a huge amount of comfort in the six months since its release.

For the playlist, I’ve selected the opener, “Start of Time”, which isn’t actually my favourite song off the album, but it’s absolutely critical to the listening experience. Like gently being awakened from a deep sleep, it brings you lucidly into the present and grounds you for what follows: a free-moving, sonically-expressive 11-track collaboration featuring a plethora of talented Scottish artists

Find out more about Sweetdram at sweetdram.com or on Instagram @sweetdram

EML Guest Playlist #2 - 'Presence Playlist' by Daniel Fisher