Alto saxophonist Phil Woods died on Tuesday in Pennsylvania from emphysema. He was 83. The winner of the 1956 Downbeat International new star division, the Springfield, Massachusetts born Woods spent many years in Paris where he played at the Cameleon club in April, 1968 with George Gruntz, Henri Texier, and Daniel Humair: Phil Woods and…
The third Soulfood Festival Bremerhaven will bring some of the big stars of the 80s soul scene to town: On November 7th, Bremerhaven’s Stadthalle will host the SOS Band and James “D-Train” Williams as the two headlining acts. The SOS Band had several hits in the 80s like “Take Your Time (Do It Right)”, High…
Berlin’s newest jazz club, the Zig Zag Club in Schöneberg, opened in 2012 and had a major renovation last year. The club draws people from all age groups and all kinds of backgrounds and features the vast Berlin jazz landscape with all of its forms: Be Bop, Free, Latin, African, Balkan, Soul, Funk, Blues etc…
Hot on the heels of the release of her latest album “Perfect Animal”, Becca Stevens and her band are on a short tour in Germany and stopped by Berlin’s Privatclub yesterday. To describe her latest offering as a singer/songwriter album with some folk elements would be an understatement. Becca is at home and at ease…
Gina is heartily enjoying the warm, late-summer period here in Berlin. She had a lot to celebrate in recent weeks and now prepares for the next garden party which will take place on Sunday in beautiful Rosenthal in Northern Berlin. She also slowly but surely changes her fur these days and helps reaping all remaining…
Leon Bridges, the classic soul singer from Texas who is bridging the gap between 50s and 60s style soul à la Sam Cooke and Gospel, is currently on a European tour supporting his “Coming Home” album which came out in June. Leon performed a showcase concert in Berlin in May and I had the pleasure…
The concert series for contemporary jazz in Berlin is in its sixth season and has started yesterday with concerts from Michael Moore & Achim Kaufmann, Michael Abramovich, and Filter Bubble. The series continues on September 24th with three more concerts: the Sugar Quartet consists of Grégoire Simon on viola, Paul Valikoski on violin, Boram Lie…
Savoy Jazz will release a 10-LP set of Charlie Parker recordings in November. “The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948” was nominated for a Grammy and produced by Orrin Keepnews. The 180g vinyl set not only showcases the legendary saxophonist during his career beginnings, but also includes performances from artists like Miles Davis, Erroll…
The SFJAZZ Collective, the famous octet which has released a great body of work since their debut in 2004, has announced a new member: trumpeter Sean Jones joins the group and replaces trumpeter Avishai Cohen. Also on the horizon: a new album which will be the first with Sean and which will explore the music…
I had a lunch meeting yesterday with a good friend and colleague and we were talking music, of course. When we talked about the upcoming fall concert season, I mentioned to him that Michel Legrand would come to town. Since he wasn’t aware of that concert highlight, I thought I publish Michel’s tour dates here…