It’s Carmen’s 65th birthday today. Happy birthday! I still remember her wonderful concert in Vienna a few years ago where she appeared with Patrice Rushen. I was lucky enough to meet her for a lengthy interview the day after the show. Carmen has released her latest work “Modern Ancestors” last week and it starts out…
Saxophonist Kirk Whalum has used his international connections to good effect on his new album “Humanité”. The album was recorded in the UK, Tokyo, Jakarta, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Paris, and Memphis with various international guest artists like Liane Carroll, Keiko Matsui, Marcus Miller, or Afgan. The album includes two cover versions of famous soul hits of…
The Zurich Festival is now in its 21st year and starts tomorrow with another impressive line-up. Charles Lloyd opens proceedings with his group Kindred Spirits which features longtime Cassandra Wilson guitarist Marvin Sewell, Gerald Clayton on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass, and Eric Harland on drums. The first day of the festival (October 30th) also…
In 2016, Gigwise featured the group Building Instrument on their list of “16 amazing artists from Norway that you need in your life” and described the music as “a wonderfully weird whirlpool of ethereal folk hidden in a haze of dizzying, warped, ambient post-rock. This is music to get lost to.” Their latest album, “Mangelen…
“For my first time writing and singing my own lyrics, I didn’t want to be messing around with make believe and fantasy. This record is real life”, says Taylor McFerrin about his brilliant new album “Love’s Last Chance”, his first after his 2014 debut “Early Riser”. “I called this album Love’s Last Chance because in life, you…
In August, Gregory Porter‘s podcast started with the first of ten interviews he did with various colleagues from different genres. The first in line was pianist and actor Jeff Goldblum. More artists in this series are Annie Lennox, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gilles Peterson, Don Was, Jamie Cullum, and Kamasi Washington. In other Porter news, the popular…
It was back in 1985 when I first heard the music of pianist Erroll Garner on an album called “That’s My Kick”, recorded in 1966. It was somehow a new sound for him, which I found out later of course, since he had recorded primarily in trio format up until that time and was now…
Finally, it’s Soul Togetherness time again. The 20th edition features yet again an amazing mix of modern, neo and jazzy soul tunes, put together by Ralph Tee and Richard Searling. And what a monster mix it is this time, with a lot of new discoveries, like the incredibly soulful “Need Somebody To Love” by T.L….
South London-born pianist, composer, and producer Ashley Henry is another great add to the current wave of British jazz artists which have spawned new interest in that particular scene over the last couple of years or so. His debut on Sony, “Beautiful Vinyl Hunter” (what a great title) offers a pretty diverse picture of his…
I have always wondered why there is such a big gap between the quality of music of so-called smooth jazz or contemporary jazz artists on record and on stage. Probably old-school, almost dead radio issues are the answer. But it’s still there: I have witnessed a lot of those artists in concert, usually pretty amazing…