There is much more to the accordion than a classical, folk, or Tango approach. I have written here several times about the magic accordion playing by French master Vincent Peirani who just released his latest album “Living Being”. Now, in the very successful Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic series curated by ACT Music chief Siggi Loch,…
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…
After exploring Giuseppe Verdis “Otello” and Richard Wagners “Parsifal”, bassist Dieter Ilg is now turning to Ludwig van Beethoven for his latest ACT Music release. This is not one of those typical Jazz Classic cross-over projects, though, but rather an album of simply adventurous, beautiful, and innovative interpretations on 13 of Beethoven’s pieces. The bassist,…
Bassist Stephan Crump opens the new CD by guitarist Rez Abbasi, the #1 Rising Star Guitarist in the 2013 International Critics Poll by Downbeat Magazine. He introduces the Weather Report classic “Black Market” which soon unfolds into the familiar 70s fusion piece written by Joe Zawinul. And also marks the starting point to a fresh,…
So Sam Smith is the big winner at this year’s Grammy Awards. Congratulations go out to all the winners, especially those who were not seen in the big telecast. I have collected the more important categories here. And didn’t Gloria Gaynor look amazing? The Jazz announcements were preceded by a top performance of Joe Lovano,…
The 65th Berlin Film Festival is in full gear and offers over 400 movies over a period of 11 days. One of the movies which runs in the Panorama documentary section, is a recapture of Nina Simone‘s life called “What Happened, Miss Simone?” The film, directed by Liz Garbus, will have its Berlin premiere tonight….
Stevie Wonder is a big fan of Tony’s. He especially likes his version of “Golden Lady”. No wonder that it was one of the real showstoppers last night during Tony’s two brilliant sets at Berlin’s A-Trane. He also squeezed in a little bit of “Isn’t She Lovely”. Tony Momrelle is the lead singer of British…
It’s Natalie Cole‘s birthday today. The nine-time Grammy Award winner was also nominated three times for her current CD, “Natalie Cole En Espanol”. Natalie has several performances coming up and she also has an exclusive gig in Germany in April which seems to be her only appearance in Europe so far this year. Natalie plays…
It is always a pleasure at the beginning of each year to receive the consistently brilliant independent Luxury Soul compilations. I have checked in my files and found all discs going back to 2004 with great music by Leon Ware, Frank McComb, Keni Burke, Sandra St. Victor, or Ronnie McNeir. The latest 3 CD Box…
To grow up with an aunt who owned a luncheonette in Harlem right behind the Apollo Theater and see all the stars coming in and hear them talk, must have a big influence on a future musician. Singer Allan Harris (who also plays guitar and writes songs) saw them all: from Marvin Gaye to Louis…