In September 2021, Israeli trumpeter Avishai Cohen went into the studio at La Buissonne in France to record his fifth album for the Munich-based ECM Records, after “Into The Silence” (2016), “Cross My Palm With Silver” (2017), “Playing The Room”, a duo album with pianist Yonathan Avishai (2019), and “Big Vicious” (2020). This fifth one…
Alternative soul/jazz trio Moonchild from Los Angeles just released their fifth album, and fourth for the UK-based independent Tru Thoughts Records. The double-LP comes in a gatefold cover with all credits and lyrics and more or less is a continuation of their now established sound. There is still the breathy, overdubbed vocal style of singer…
Another much sought-after Brazilian soul release from the late 70s has seen the light of day again, thanks to the beautiful people of Mad About Records in Portugal. A track from this gem was featured on the “Too Slow To Disco Brazil” compilation, put together by Ed Motta. Don Beto, originally from Uruguay, was only…
Brian Jackson is back. The keyboardist, flautist, singer, composer, and producer, probably best known for his collaborative work with the immortal Gil Scott-Heron, will release a new album in May. In the 70s, they both worked on their unique melange of jazz, soul, and blues with lyrical content reflecting the social and political problems of…
Back in 2010, Bahamian soul/jazz singer Brettina (Brettina Lorena Robinson) released her debut album which includes the still thrilling “Bahamian Girl”. She’s back now after so many years with a version of her track “Simple Pleasures”, produced by Bluey of Incognito. The song comes to life (again) with this match made in heaven. The pairing…
Pianist and keyboardist Kenny Cox founded the Strata label in Detroit in 1969. He also had a recording studio and adjacent concert gallery. Strata released several albums until it folded in 1975. Two years after Kenny, Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell created Strata-East in New York, which lasted longer and which happens to be in…
This came out already last September, but somehow got lost in the shuffle. But I always came back to Shedrick’s latest album because it has so many different aspects to offer. In the past, Shedrick has performed and recorded with Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Maxwell, Roberta Flack, Dianne Reeves, Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett,…
After two years of cancelling due to the Corona pandemic, the North Sea Jazz Festival announced its first batch of artists earlier today. We can’t wait to be back in Rotterdam after the great 2019 edition and here’s an overview of some of the confirmed artists for this year. There will be more names to…
The Berlin Jazz scene is constantly looking for new ways to get the music across and to spur interest in this expanding music niche that seems to be growing with each day. Here is a new festival with a pretty interesting theme: four musicians, which have chosen Berlin as their main driving force and which…
Jan Kincaid and Dawn Joseph met during their work with The Brand New Heavies. Jan, founder of TBNH, also their producer, singer, drummer, and songwriter, met Dawn when she started to work with the group in 2013. They both clicked from the start and wrote so many songs that they finally left the group and…