Hamburg’s brilliant ELBJAZZ Festival has just completed its programme for this year. It’s been a while since my last visit back in 2015! The festival will take place on June 7th and 8th at the impressive Hamburg harbor, with additional shows at Elbphilharmonie. There will also be a workshop for families with kids aged 6…
Based in Edinburgh, the duo Edy Forey debuted with “Culture Today” earlier this month. Their very sultry version of “Nature Boy” was included in Gina’s weekly playlist on 02/02. Vocalist Edy Szewy, born in Poland, and keyboardist Guilhem Forey, born in France, met while Edy was fronting her own neo-soul band. And they clicked, as…
So we already announced the new album by Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and singer Lucas Arruda in early February. And here it is. “Ominira”, his fourth LP (yes, it’s out on vinyl too), has just been released by Favorite Recordings, the French label specializing in soul, jazz and funk from the 60s, 70s and 80s and also…
Paris-based Roche Musique is around since 2012 and was founded by Jean Janin. Early on, they signed such unique artsts as FKJ and Darius and Wayne Snow and in 2014, added Dabeull to its roster. After numerous singles, he released a 12-song compilation album in 2017 called “Indastudio” which was followed by a five-track EP…
One of the finest jazz festivals in Europe, Berlin’s XJazz! Festival, returns in early May. From May 6th to 12th, well-established and lesser-known acts will grace the stages in Kreuzberg, with all venues within walking distance. Starting on May 6th, Nala Sinephro and her meditative fusion of jazz, folk and field recordings get things moving…
London-born saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings declared earlier this year that he would take a hiatus from performing the instrument with his bands Sons Of Kemet, Shabaka and The Ancestors, and The Comet Is Coming. Instead, he changed to the flute for his solo album “Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace” which came out on Impulse! Records…
“In The Realm Of Affections” is the translation for “No Reino Dos Afetos”, the title of Brazilian singer and poet Bruno Berle‘s debut album which came out in 2022 on Far Out Recordings. Several tracks from that album, like “Até Meu Violão” or “Quero Dizer”, are still in heavy rotation on the playlist in Gina’s…
We’ve just put together our latest weekly 60-minute playlist of new music. It features a second track from Madeleine Peyroux‘s upcoming album “Let’s Walk”, which will come out on June 28th. She turns to her bluesier side for “Showman Dan”. She celebrated her 50th birthday last Friday. There is also another piece from Kenny Barron‘s…
On Thursday, the German Jazz Price ceremony was staged in Cologne. Since 2021, Jazz in Germany has been getting much more attention, and deservedly so. The hosts of the evening, Hadnet Tesfai and Götz Bühler, did a nonchalant and cool job, helping to make this a pretty entertaining night. Each nominee took home 4.000€, with…
After many years, I was finally back at jazzahead! in Bremen, the largest jazz network meeting in the world. And right from the start, it was clear that this was going to be a special one. After the press conference, I headed over to the fair and immediately bumped into old and new colleagues, friends,…