We missed a lot of shows in Berlin this week fighting a cold. First, there was saxophonist Donny McCaslin whose latest album, “Beyond Now”, will be reviewed here as soon as possible. Michael Kiwanuka also presented his new album “Love + Hate” (how appropriate a title at this time) and Terrace Martin & The Polly…
The first artists for next January’s Winter Jazzfest in New York have been announced and tickets went on sale for one of the most progessive, versatile, and innovative festivals the world over. And more so than ever, there is a heavy dose of socio-politics involved with several of the groups performing. We get Nicole Mitchell’s…
That’s this year’s slogan, according to musical director Richard Williams. And the art of conversation was perfectly executed by inviting Kulturstaatssekretärin (state secretary of culture) Monika Grütters to deliver the opening speech (more later). Music-wise, the first act at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele was Germany’s own Julia Hülsmann. The pianist and ECM recording artist…
The last time I saw Poppa Lou live in person was at the Northsea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam a few years ago. As usual, he had that special command over the audience after playing just a few notes. And his humor and natural high spirits are always immensely infectious. So if you’re in the New…
As this year’s outdoor and garden season comes to a close, we’ve moved back in to our apartment in Prenzlauer Berg which, I have to admit, also does have its charme (yes, a real kitchen, bathrooms, big TV, even central heating!). Gina though was a bit reluctant at first since she really enjoys being outside…
Scope is a new festival presenting Finnish musicians in various, hip Berlin-Kreuzberg venues. The people responsible for the extremely successful XJazz Festival, now in its fourth year and scheduled for May 3-7, 2017, have chosen a lot of future and some established Finnish musicians to perform. Together with We Jazz Helsinki, an event first held…
The German label Pirouet Records will release two more albums before it will take a break after 13 years. Ralph Bürklin, the label founder and manager, said in a statement that the label started out by releasing great pianists and that he wants to wrap it up with a piano-led album, too. Frank Kimbrough‘s “Solstice”…
In its fourth year now, the JazzKorea Festival edition 2016 will bring four Korean jazz bands to Europe, with the opening concerts scheduled in Berlin on November, 17th. Asian Scholars is a young group of Korean musicians under the leadership of Yechan Kim who is using traditional, Korean instruments like the piri (woodwind) in his…
When Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were ready to record the epochal “Thriller” LP, Quincy called the best of the best, among them, songwriter Rod Temperton. In his autobiography “Q”, Quincy says that Rod was “one of the best songwriters who ever lived, with the melodic and contrapuntal gifts and instincts of a classical composer…He…
I still can’t believe the sudden passing of legendary producer, writer, musician, and author Kashif on September 25th. I have grown up with his solo records and all the great songs and albums he wrote and produced for other artists. I wanted to share this article from December 21st which was published on this site…