The much anticipated Diana Ross LP “Thank You” was finally released last Friday. 15 years after her last album “Blue” came out, she’s back with a songbook of love, as stated in the notes on the album. Notes by the way are the first major disappointment: at a time where vinyl is back in full…
We’re really looking forward to our first live concert after such a long time. Benny Sings will play at Gretchen in Berlin on October 24th. Expect a review on these pages. Meanwhile, our 2020 Album of the Year artist Jarrod Lawson is starting his European tour at the end of the month too. Check out…
Ever since my regular trips to New York City, which started in the mid 90s, almost all visits included walking down to Christopher Street in the West Village and taking the steps down at number 55. The tiny little music bar immediately gave you the feeling of being on stage with the musicians and you…
It looks like this fall will be pretty full of interesting new music, with a lot of album announcements coming in almost on a daily basis. Nightmares On Wax will come up with a new album called “Shout Out! To Freedom…” on October 29th. The album features guest artists like Shabaka Hutchings, Haile Supreme, Wolfgang…
Harpist Brandee Younger releases her first major label album “Somewhere Different” on the Impulse! label. After “Wax & Wane” (2016), “Soul Awakening” (2019), and her work with Dezron Douglas, “Force Majeure” (2020), this is her fourth release overall. It’s out on vinyl too! And even though the harp is not really your prevalent instrument in…
It’s her eleventh album to date and her first since “Homefree” came out back in 2010. Nnenna Freelon sounds as fresh and graceful, jazzy and soulful as ever and in most cases on her beautiful new disc, even better than ever before. Harking back to her “Listen” (1994), “Shaking Free” (1996) or “Soulcall” (2000) days…
Gina spent a couple of weeks in the Netherlands recently. She had a lot of fun chasing mice, birds, and jackrabbits and jumping into creeks and small lakes. She is back in her garden now where she spends the last weeks of summer before moving back into her city apartment. Look out for more reviews…
After preparing for the re-opening of my outdoor business in late May, things have now started to settle in again so I’ll be able to focus more on Gina’s page here. Lots of interesting music has been released in the past six weeks and there will be reviews of new and reissued albums by The…
Legendary keyboardist and pianist and NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis has just announced the second season of his online performance series called “Saturday Salon” on StageIt. The “Saturday Salon”, sponsored by Ariel Investments, will run on the last Saturday of each month and features a 60-minute performance at 1:00pm Central Time. A portion of the…
For this year’s Montreux Jazz Festival, the organisers came up with a competition for the design of the 55th edition. The project named “Restart” has drawn 1.935 artists from 54 countries and there are some pretty unique, quiet interesting and very imaginative designs among the winners. The ten best posters have been selected by a…