Björk: 'You realise you’re in a circle of people who are obsessed by music – you don’t have to translate anything to them or explain or even talk. They get it. It’s relaxing. I sensed a relief: at last, a show about music!' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Mark Cooper, Later's executive producer: 'Foo Fighters have done Jools since [1997 single] Monkey Wrench... There’s a homecoming aspect for them, and we benefit' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
KD Lang: 'What strikes me about Later is the incredible support for musicianship. You’re sitting in a circle, taking turns to do songs – it’s unique, such a flattering and conducive space for a musician. When I did the show a second time [in 1997] Radiohead and Foo Fighters were on: a mind-boggling experience. And it feels like I always end up seeing a friend on the show, Alison Krauss last time, and Dwight Yoakam. The amount of artists they get on every show is a huge feat, like doing Lollapalooza once a week' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Alison Howe, Later's series producer: 'Chris Martin always talks about when he fluffed the first line of Yellow, when they were first on.' Mark Cooper, Later's executive producer: 'He said that what really did his head in was that Gary Brooker was in the studio, and he was one of the people who wrote A Whiter Shade of Pale. And for Chris, the idea that he would have to follow the most played song of all time...' Photograph: Brian Rasic/Rex Features
Tracy Chapman: 'I remember the first time I appeared I was on with Warren Zevon and Angie Stone. You’d never have filed the three of us in the same spot in a record store but it seemed to work. I had some advance knowledge of the set up before I got to the studio – someone had sent a video, I think. I was still a little surprised that it was all so close. All very unusual but social somehow. There’s a lot of camaraderie, and it makes for a very charged environment. I’ve been a fan of Later ever since. I have Tivo all set up to record so that if the show pops up it’ll be there waiting for me' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Norah Jones: 'When I was first on the show everyone else was well known and I wasn’t. I remember having tunnel vision, telling myself: "Just look at your piano, don’t look at Wilco"’ Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Adele: 'It was my first TV appearance, and Björk did The Anchor Song just before me – my favourite song of hers. It winded me' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Mark Cooper, executive producer: 'There's a natural conversation Jools can have with musicians. He can talk music, touring, the whole experience, because they know that's what he still does for a living. He's a TV presenter very much second' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Ben Howard on Bon Iver's performance of Skinny Love: 'One of the most amazing live acoustic performances I’ve ever seen' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Guy Garvey, frontman: 'Doing Jools [is] one of the few things that lives up to your expectations in music. Watching it on TV, you see every inch of the studio and it has a sound, which is to do with the acoustics of the room, all the live microphones they use. Playing on the programme looks like Jools, it sounds like Jools. And as warm and friendly as Jools appears on the programme, he is in real life. He’s a bit of a legend for musicians in this country' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Alison Howe, series producer: 'I will always feel bad about asking the Fleet Foxes to make their TV debut after Al Green doing Let's Stay Together. Because really nobody should have to do that. The room just ignited, as it would, and they had to follow. Tough on them' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Mark Cooper, executive producer: 'When he came on Jay-Z was really bewildered. He wanted to know: "Why can’t I do my songs in a row?" But he’s a music lover, and [the programme's format] was so obvious to him when he stepped on to the studio floor' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Mark Cooper, executive producer: 'Janelle lost her voice halfway through the show. Her voice just disappeared. We had to get one of the other artists to do another song, and keep pushing Janelle down the running order until she recovered' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Lianne La Havas: 'It felt like my birthday. I’d dreamed about being on the show since I was a child, watched it religiously. It was where I first discovered Corinne Bailey Rae, Joanna Newsom, Laura Marling – I became a big fan of all these women, so being on Later was the most exciting thing that could have happened to me. Before the show I was soundchecking and Justin [Vernon, aka Bon Iver] hung around to watch. A few days later, I got a call saying he’d requested that I support him on his north American tour. I might never have met him otherwise. An amazing day' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Heath Fogg, guitarist: 'It reminded me of playing Little League baseball. It’s your turn to go up to the plate, you don’t want to strike out… Cos it’s one thing playing on a bill with your contemporaries and other bands that are kinda on the same level as you, but playing in front of your heroes is another. Afterwards, the first thing I thought was: “I just played in front of Jack White and I didn’t mess up. Best day ever!” I wish we had an equivalent to Later in the US. Watch your heroes, and watch bands you’ve never heard of before. It’s pretty special' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Ben Howard: 'I’d only ever had two ambitions in music: to play Shepherd’s Bush Empire and to play Jools Holland. Did I enjoy it? I’m not sure I even experienced it, to be honest. I was pretty nervous. The calibre of musicianship is just phenomenal on that programme. Jam-packed with music, isn’t it? I remember trying to sneak off for a piss at one point in rehearsals. You have to time it – everyone really does sit there and listen to each other play' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Mark Cooper, executive producer: 'It felt like the right week for her to be on, with Richard Hawley on the show as well. It seemed an interesting mixture of elements – somebody like Richard, a sort of rock classicist, and somebody like Rita, who's brash and fresh and declarative' Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
