Detroit-based Jazz and Soul singer and songwriter Kathy Kosins will release her new single “Magic Island” next week Tuesday. It is already out in the UK and making waves over there, with the track currently at No.2 on the Soul Breakers Chart. The song is an elegant, smoothly swaying ballad which reminds me of some…
Some interesting and highly anticipated albums will drop in the next few weeks and months. Here is a short list of albums which are on our radar. We will update this list on a regular basis. Almost all of the albums listed below will come out on vinyl too. Leo Middea – Notícias de Puglia…
Happy new year everybody. We’re back after our holiday hiatus and just learned that several interesting projects are slated for release in the next few weeks. Blue Note recording artist, vibraphonist Joel Ross, returns on January 16th with “Gospel Music”, his fifth record for the label which also includes Josh Johnson on alto sax, Maria…
It was a Gondwana Records night on Tuesday at Hackney Church, the East London live venue which has hosted a lot of great artists in the past and which is one of the hosts of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival. Gondwana Records, an independent label based in Manchester and founded by Matthew Halsall in…
As you probably know, Gina has left us on April 30th. Six months later, we thought it was time for a new doggie and here she is: two year old Gustel, originally from Turkey, was looking for a new home and she has finally settled in now, after about five days. She is a cuddle…
The seventh Rockit Festival last Saturday was a blast, once again. It was my third time in Groningen and the lineup was as promising as ever. I started out with a pretty intense performance by Immanuel Wilkins who was just nominated for a Grammy so this was, as he said from the stage, their Grammy…
There was this certain air of deep reverence when 91 year old Abdullah Ibrahim, one of the most influential and respected pianists today, took to the stage last night at Pfalzbau in Ludwigshafen, where he performed during this year’s Enjoy Jazz Festival. The South African pianist, who lives in Germany, was accompanied to the piano…
After a couple of weeks with a bout of flu-like symptoms or whatever you want to call it, we’re looking forward to visiting the Enjoy Jazz Festival for the very first time this year. Coming up this week in Ludwigshafen, Mannheim, and Heidelberg: ganavya, Makaya McCraven, the mighty Abdullah Ibrahim, and Jazz is Dead with…
I have never done this before on these pages, but I’d like to re-post this tribute to the late great Rod Temperton who would have turned 76 today. The article was published on October 6th, 2016, about 10 days after he succumbed to cancer (September 25th). When Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were ready to record the epochal “Thriller”…
Harpist and composer Brandee Younger, who released her most personal and vulnerable album “Gadabout Season” this past June, is about to start her European tour. The album was recorded on Alice Coltrane’s harp and “reflects the journey — the search for meaning and beauty amid life’s most complex moments, ultimately emerging with a deeper sense…