“I get up to Aretha, get down to James Brown, looking up to Quincy, inspired by Marvin Gaye”. Those are the words of Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick, founder and mastermind of the immensely popular and successful Incognito on “Life Between The Notes”, the title track of his new solo album and follow-up to “Leap Of Faith”…
Marcus Miller is wrapping up his first part of his European tour in Amsterdam tonight. He’ll be back over here for the festival season at the end of June with performances at Northsea Jazz or Jazz Open in Stuttgart. Yesterday, he played Berlin’s Postbahnhof. Earlier that day, I had the chance to talk to him…
On Saturday, I was invited to come on board De Liefde (“The Love”), a sailing ship which was the stage for several showcases for the New York-based Dot Time Records. I was in for a few surprises there: pianist and singer Theo Jackson opened the evening with tracks from his new album “Shoeless And The…
Singer Kellylee Evans rocked the Schlachthof last night during the jazzahead! overseas night in Bremen showcasing tracks from a forthcoming album. She’s a very energetic performer with a lively stage presence and sometimes reminded me of Janelle Monáe, not genre-wise, but in her overall stage persona. Otherwise, the Canadian singer offers a very distinctive mix…
I finally arrived in Bremen on Thursday after I had to cancel my train ticket. Turned out that the guy I contacted via blablacar was a bassist from Poland who drove us to Bremen on a smooth ride. Participants were getting ready setting up their booths, there were a lot of familiar people and friends…
Michelle Lordi, a singer from Philadelphia has come up with a beautiful new record which was produced by pianist Orrin Evans. Here’s a singer with some very elegant and sophisticated phrasing who is not showing off everything she can. The opening song, Jay Gorney‘s “You’re My Thrill” from 1933 with lyrics by Sidney Clare, is…
I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of friends and making lots of new ones of course at this year’s jazzahead! trade fair in Bremen. I have registered as a participant for the full four days arriving in town on Thursday and have lined up a lot meetings and talks. France is the partner country…
singer Silje Nergaard has released her album “Chain Of Days” last month (see also review on these pages) and is currently on tour through Germany. She stops by Kulturkaufhaus Dussmann at 7pm tonight to play a few songs from the new album. I’ll also have the pleasure of interviewing her live on stage to talk…
The programme for the 49th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival has been announced this week. From July 3-18, the charming city at Lac Léman will host a diverse array of artists on the three main stages together with the popular train and boat events. Opening the festival on July 3rd at the Auditorium Stravinski…
Singer Indra Rios-Moore presented her new Impulse album “Heartland” in Berlin on Thursday night. Produced by Larry Klein, it features eleven songs in a well-chosen repertoire which includes Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Duke Ellington, and two traditionals. I had the chance to talk to her a couple of hours before her gig at the A-Trane:…