The last time Pat Metheny recorded with an orchestra was in 1993. Jeremy Lubbock’s arrangement were part of still amazing compositions like “Finding And Believing” (with Gil Goldstein on accordion), the outstanding “The Longest Summer”, or “Always And Forever”. Many albums and tours have gone by since then (and his own “Orchestrion” project of 2010)…
The years from 1978 up until 1983 are the most exciting years in soul and R&B I think. Not only because those were the years I started to seriously listen to and collect records, but it was such a rich and substantial period, with many legendary producers in their prime years, like Leon Sylvers, Nick…
Telling her Berlin audience that being in love is still the greatest feeling, put a smile on some of the faces of a relatively small crowd last night at Berlin’s Kantine am Berghain. Whether it was the current hysteria because of the corona virus or not, doesn’t really matter in the end. Those who were…
What a blessing and a relaxation this album is. Trumpet meister Jeremy Pelt, one of the most prolific artists on his instrument, has come up with a collection of ballads that is food for the soul. The modern jazz and bop intonation on his almost dozen albums on the HighNote and Savant labels makes way…
Norwegian-Bazilian singer Charlotte Dos Santos is going to release her new 5-track EP “Harvest Time” on March 13th. After her 2017 album “Cleo”, Charlotte, who has attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music for a Performance and Arranging Major, sounds a lot more self-contained and unique on her new songs. She is currently touring with…
“Some cats swing and some cats groove” – those are the words by Marcellus “Bassman” Shepard on vibraphonist Warren Wolf‘s new album on Mack Avenue, “Reincarnation”. The wonderful warm Rhodes sounds of Brett Williams on the “Smooth Intro” and “Smooth Outro” pieces are honey for the soul. It’s pretty obvious that Warren and his cohorts…
Electronic ambient sounds were part of the influence of Portuguese pianist and composer Rodrigo Leão for his new album “O Método”, which was released late last month. As was the music of Nils Frahm whose work ethos and moods sometimes pop up here as well. But this is no copy, no cheap cover of anything,…
It could be the pop songs of the day, a veritable jazz standard, or a classy soul tune, whatever Nancy Wilson touched, became angelic. After almost 60 years in the business and dozens and dozens of timeless recordings, she left this world yesterday at age 81 after a long illness. She died at her home…
Not a lot of really interesting new records out lately, so I’m filling the gaps in my vinyl collection with the help of the brilliant Discogs online marketplace. I recently found two Lani Hall LPs there after reading James Gavin’s profile of the singer in the December JazzTimes magazine: the 1975 “Hello It’s Me” and…
Entertainment Cruise Productions has organized various music cruises since 2001, such as The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise, or The Playboy Jazz Cruise. The next Jazz Cruise starts on January 26th in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a 7-day trip with stops in Nassau, The Bahamas, Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, and Key West…