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Vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Grace finally had won me over while singing “I can see it in your eyes” from “The Thrill Is Gone”, the famous Ray Henderson/Lew Brown classic which has become a standard. Her heartfelt, very subtle and vulnerable performance, backed only by pianist Larry Goldings, is one of the highlights of her…
Jazzfest Bonn, founded in 2009 by saxophonist and artistic director Peter Materna, started on May 1st and continues with a lot more concerts in various locations throughout the city until May 24th. With several thousand expected visitors, the festival is now an established gathering and attracts an international crowd. Here is the remaining schedule, which…
Even in these dire times, we can still find many things to be thankful for. Gina is thankful for having fresh raw meat every day, for going out for long (and sometimes short, depending on the weather) walks, for playing ball (she now has about a dozen), and for constantly listening to music when she’s…
There are soul singers, soul preachers, soul crooners, and then there is Al Green. The wonder that is “Let’s Stay Together”, his number 1 hit from 1971, is still intoxicating and enthralling over 40 years later. Pieces like “”I’m Still In Love With You” (1972) or “Here I Am” (1973), “L-O-V-E” (1975) or “Keep Me Cryin’”…
He belongs to the Kenny Barron school of piano playing, cites Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Kelly, and Oscar Peterson, but also Miles Davis and John Coltrane as influences and celebrates his 70th birthday today. Happy birthday George Cables. He has worked with only the greatest in Jazz, like Bobby Hutcherson, Art Blakey, Art Pepper,…
It is one of the better documentaries about a celebrated figure with a more than difficult life. Nina Simone, who started out wanting to be the first black female classical pianist to play at New York’s Carnegie Hall and who became one of the leading forces of the civil rights movement, is the topic of…