There is this special scene in Philippe Falardeau‘s “My Salinger Year”, which opened the 70th Berlinale last night, where literary agent Margaret (played by the hilariously witty Sigourney Weaver) shows her level-headed, almost tender side instead of her otherwise cold and rigorous manner. It’s where she tells aspiring writer Joanna (Margaret Qualley in her next…
It would have been Nancy Wilson‘s 83rd birthday today and I thought I’d use the opportunity and feature another album in our new category of albums that you won’t find on Spotify. “Take My Love” was released in 1980 and Nancy’s commercial success had been on the low side after her incredible streak in the…
Happy 80th birthday to the one and only Smokey Robinson. We’re digging deep into our vinyl collection and here are our current Smokey favorites, album by album: “Smokey” (1973): “Holly”“Pure Smokey” (1974): “I Am I Am”“A Quiet Storm” (1975): “Quiet Storm”“Smokey’s Family Robinson” (1976): “Castles Made Of Sand”“Deep In My Soul” (1977): “It’s Been A…
The Atlanta-based artist with a voice of a young Nina Simone is coming to Europe for a short, 8-city tour. Her debut album “To Myself” was released last August on the indie Human Re Sources label and is also available on limited edition vinyl. The power and the beauty of tracks like the album’s opener…
It would have been Leon’s 80th birthday today. He was working on an album before his health deteriorated and “Rainbow Deux”, only available on double-vinyl, with Leon’s own watercolor art on the cover, came out in September of last year. Six of the songs, recorded in 2012 and 2013, were already issued on a Japanese-only…
I recently came across the name of Luca Manning through a tweet by UK vocalist Ian Shaw. I thought if Ian recommends someone, he or she must be worth checking out. So I contacted Luca and received his debut album which came out late last year. And guess what? It is full of surprises. The…
There is something majestic about piano trios, even more so when the leader is an expert on restraint and finesse. I’ve seen Aaron Diehl a lot of times with singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, refining and reinterpreting the Great American Songbook and Salvant originals and this, “The Vagabond”, has seven of his own compositions, one by…
After one solo album in 1983, Ben Watt joined Tracey Thorn to go on a successful career with her under the name Everything But The Girl. After their split, he started to create some of the most fantastic deep house cuts as a DJ and producer with his Lazy Dog series, both a club night…
He was part of the Pat Metheny Group for 27 years, not only playing all kinds of synths and keyboards, but also co-composing with Pat, orchestrating and arranging, like the unforgettable, timeless “James”, “Au Lait”, and “Are You Going With Me?” from the group’s 1982 “Offramp” LP. His 1988 album “Street Dreams” on Geffen Records,…
So here she is at 83, Roberta Flack, winning a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Grammy Awards which has become something of a farce in recent years. Some of the Merit awards winners were announced in a pre-recorded video. None was shown in the telecast. Showbiz411 writes, “Roberta Flack, who is using a wheelchair,…