Following Danish Jazz singer Caecilie Norby ever since her 1995 Blue Note debut has always echoed my attitude towards repertoire. I think if you’re not choosing to record your own original material, it is utterly important to come up with the right combination of cover tunes and not simply an amalgamation of songs from the…
Just a few days after the legendary Michel Legrand left this earth, we have lost James Ingram who graced the Quincy Jones album “The Dude”, one of the best albums ever, with the two gorgeous ballads “Just Once” (written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill) and “One Hundred Ways” (written by Kathy Wakefield, Ben Wright…
Earlier today, the first 35 acts for this year’s North Sea Jazz Festival have been announced. We’re planning on visiting Rotterdam again for the weekend of July 12th to 14th. Confirmed are superstars such as Diana Krall, Bobby McFerrin, Jamie Cullum, and Burt Bacharach. Also on the agenda, man of the moment Kamasi Washington, Joshua…
The full programme has been announced earlier today after festival director Dieter Kosslick’s last programme press conference before Carlo Chatrian takes over in 2020. 17 movies will compete in this year’s main section and jury president Juliette Binoche and her team will present their prizes on February 16th. I already had the chance to see…
There simply can not be enough live music in town so here comes a very welcome new little festival at a location which is one of the nicest and charming in the city. Diversity and equality is the name of the game for Berlin Jazz Experiment, to be held May 31st to June 2nd at…
And here’s another great indie soul compilation which we’re also looking out for at the beginning of each year: Luxury Soul 2019 is another 3-CD box with 35 indie and modern soul tracks, with 21 tracks released last year or this year and the remainder going as far back as 1981 with a can’t-do-wrong classy…
Gina knows exactly where she gets her treats in the neighborhood. On a recent walk through Prenzlauer Berg, we stopped at our favorite cheese dealer. Gina ordered a piece of 16-month old Chällerhocker from Switzerland, but of course graciously handed it over to me because she knew that she’s not allowed to eat cheese. We’ve…
It is funny but there is this prejudice or rumor that traveling to the US is like a nightmare with hours and hours waiting in line at the airport to enter the country. Once again on Wednesday, I was out of terminal 8, cleared immigration and customs only 45 minutes after the plane touched down…
MPS Records, the now legendary German label based in the Black Forest region, has been put back to life a couple of years ago with reissues and new artists on the updated roster. Now, Gilles Peterson, the British DJ and label head (Talkin’ Loud Records, Brownswood Recordings) has taken on the task of putting together…
Are you listening to the same old Christmas songs again? Even though I have to admit that I return to the tried and tested Xmas records year after year (Herb Alpert, Bert Kaempfert, Erin Bode, Rosemary Clooney, June Christy, Peggy Lee, George Shearing, etc), it is always refreshing and highly appreciated to receive original songs which have…