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,…
The Rhodes on Stevie Wonder’s “Superwoman” at the beginning of pianist/keyboardist Theo Hill‘s interpretation of the Wonder classic is worth the trip alone. He also makes use of the piano and some synth touches, echoing the original, somewhat mystical composition. “Reality Check” is the third release for Theo on the LA-based Posi-Tone label and features…
There is this special beauty, the Scandinavian mythic touch on “Kristallen”, the new duo disc by Swedish trombonist and singer Nils Landgren and pianist Jan Lundgren, also from Sweden. “It’s very much a matter of leaving notes out, of making space”, Nils told me recently during an interview at his label’s offices. ACT Music is…
Happy New Year from Gina and her crew. Gina has spent the holidays way out west in the middle of nowhere on the Dutch countryside with almost no silly, stupid fireworks. Just in time to cure the cold grey Berlin January, here comes the ninth edition of this epic Modern Soul meets Northern Soul series…
German singer Max Mutzke has come up with a pretty ambitious project: On his latest album “Colors”, he covers hip-hop tunes and turns them all into veritable soul stompers. And it works for most of the tracks. Take for example the Grandmaster Flash classic “White Lines (Don’t Do It)”, with its irresistible 60s soul approach…
Now that it’s getting colder, we often think about last summer which seemed to be endless with Gina being outside all day and living a happy dog’s life. One of the albums I completely overlooked during the busy summer months is the latest by singer Karrin Allyson, “Some Of That Sunshine”, with the title track…
She has worked with Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, P.Diddy, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Michael Jackson, Cher, and many others and released the album “Sunny One Day” in 2007. Now she comes up with “Life”, an album of standards old and new plus original compositions – just about the perfect repertoire for an admirable album. The…
What a relief. And a joy. Dee Bell starts off her new album “Lins, Lennox & Life” with the wonderful Ivan Lins composition “By Chance (Acaso)”, a hopeful, soothing tune which is perfectly sung by the unobtrusive and calming voice of the Indiana-born singer. She easily won me over by the way she phrases the…
It’s the time of year when the light changes. And the temperature. October is also Soul Togetherness month. This fine compilation series, put together by Richard Searling and Ralph Tee, is always a welcome light during the fall and winter months. I find myself regularly going back to the earlier releases and as far back…
29-year old pianist Christian Sands was part of one of bassist Christian McBride‘s groups, has played on Gregory Porter’s Nat King Cole tribute album recently, and also has recorded a couple of EP albums for the Mack Avenue label, where his new CD has now been released. All of the nine tracks except one Beatles…