Gina took a couple of days off and visited her friend Baldur, an Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. She is now back in Berlin and ready for the next adventures. Coming up here on these pages: reviews of new records by Ben Williams, Julia Hülsmann, Celia Berk, Shelby Lynne, Victor Fields, Perry Beekman, Bugge Wesseltoft, Timo Lassy, and lots more.
He would have been 89 years old today. Jimmy Smith, one of the most important and influential organists ever, was all over the annual Downbeat Readers Poll in December 1962. Here’s what Ira Gitler wrote in the liner notes of this classic recording from April 25, 1960, the same session that also gave us Kenny…
The famous clarinetist died on Wednesday in Florida at the age of 91. DeFranco was the most popular bebop clarinetist who joined Gene Krupa‘s band in 1941 and later those of Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller. After those big band and swing years, he was one of the very few who took the…
French funky Afropean duo DjeuhDjoah and Lieutenant Nicholson are back with their third album “2+”. This is a monstrous boogie-filled 15-tracker released just in time for the gray and cold season, bringing a lot of warmth and sun to your home studio or wherever you prefer to listen to your music. We get a fantastically…
Over 72 million records sold, 28 albums making the Billboard charts, co-founder with Jerry Moss of A&M Records, nine Grammy Awards, a new album last fall (“In The Mood”), and a recent 12-day run at New York’s Café Carlyle – Herb Alpert celebrates his 80th birthday today. The last time I saw him perform live…
Gina is spending a few days at her cottage in the Netherlands. We toured the city of Lemmer earlier today and she was not amused when I told her to pose for a photo. José James will play Amsterdam tomorrow and Rotterdam on Wednesday and so we’re really looking forward to his show playing music…
James Gavin, author of the praised “Is That All There Is? The Strange Life Of Peggy Lee” biography, hosted a highly entertaining evening on Thursday night during Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series (they had Vanessa Williams opening this year’s season the night before, see review on these pages). Highly entertaining regarding to James’ lively and…