Multifaceted bassist Marcus Miller writes in the liner notes to his new album “Afrodeezia”, that he “was recently named the spokesperson for UNESCO’s “Slave Route Project”, a project aimed at raising awareness of the story of slavery…” and that “this music is a celebration of people’s ability to endure and overcome oppression, finding hope, meaning…
The Finnish trumpeter, son of famous bassist Pekka Pohjola, has come up with his new album “Bullhorn” on Edition Records. The ten self composed songs on the new album show the very lyrical side of Verneri and the undiluted way of improvising. He has ample help from his trio consisting of Aki Rissanen on piano…
The 28 year old singer from Liverpool entered the X Factor castings in 2010 and ended up second-best. She released her first album “Heaven” in 2011 and the sophomore album “Freedom” two years later. Now she’s back again with her third opus, this time around a tribute to the great Billie Holiday, of which there…
Here comes a singer who defies categorization, who doesn’t want to sing the usual standards because “everything has been said”. That’s what she told me during our meeting on a late Sunday afternoon in a Kreuzberg café. But she does include one or the other better known song in her repertoire, albeit not really what…
International stars and members of the young German Jazz scene are among the artists programmed for the first ever Jazz Festival in Esslingen, near Stuttgart. On two full weekends there will be concerts, workshops, or a Jazz & Dining special. The Festival will run June 19th-21st and from June 26th to the 28th. The first…
Gina is getting ready here for her stroll through the Prenzlauer Berg Green Market where she usually collects her groceries, fish and meat for the week. She recently changed her diet to fresh meat and additional carrots, salad, cucumber, or parsnip with a dose of oatmeal and a little cotton cheese thrown into the mix….
There were many moments during singer Rumer‘s show on Thursday night at Neukölln’s Heimathafen where I was wondering if this voice was really coming from a human being. She sings like an angel, crystal-clear, with perfect pitch and flawless intonation and she writes songs in timeless and majestic Burt Bacharach style. Rumer is currently on…
Happy Birthday to the one and only Al Jarreau who is turning 75 today! The singer from Milwaukee whose latest CD is a dedication to his old friend and producer George Duke (“My Old Friend – Celebrating George Duke”, 2014), is still touring and I wanted to let you know where to catch him in…
For her third album, UK saxophonist and composer Trish Clowes was able to record three of her compositions together with the BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of André de Ridder. The album is supposed to be about journeys and the adventure begins with “Radiation” which is, in fact, a pretty bright and luminous number…
The one-hour showcase concert was announced on a very short notice so that’s why this trio from Israel was playing before a half-empty room at A-Trane yesterday. Singer Irit Dekel, accordionist and pianist Eldad Zitrin and drummer and percussionist Elat Cohen Bonen are interpreting well-known standards in a quiet unusual way, not only because of…