Ever since her first album “Plantation Lullabies”, which featured Geri Allen, Joshua Redman, and Wah Wah Watson and included my own little credo at that time, “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)”, I have followed singer and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello‘s career with all the ups and downs. One of the downs for example…
Curtis Mayfield left The Impressions in 1970 to pursue a solo career. It was Leroy Hutson who replaced him for the “Times Have Changed” LP in 1972, the only Curtom Records album which featured Leroy (he already left the group again in 1973). All of the songs (almost) were written by Curtis Mayfield and he…
Seven years after her last solo record, Tracey Thorn is back with her new record called “Record”. That’s a record-breaking use of the word record here isn’t it? Anyway, I have always been a fan of her sympathetically quirky voice, ever since the days of Everything But The Girl and their landmark 1984 LP “Eden”….
One of the most satisfying soul albums of the last year is now available with four additional tracks. Ever since Avery Sunshine‘s debut album in 2010, which included the most beautiful ballad “Like This”, she’s been on my radar. And recently she even opened for Gregory Porter. Her last album “Twenty Sixty Four” is now…
Yes, the overall retro feel of the album is charming. The musicianship throughout is fascinating, with a big horn section, strings and various star guests such as Sullivan Fortner on piano and Rhodes, Matt Wilson on drums, Scott Colley on bass, Aaron Goldberg on piano and Rhodes, Gil Goldstein on keys and accordion (he also…
Drummer and vocalist Jamison Ross, winner of the 2012 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, has released his sophomore album after his Grammy-nominated “Jamison” debut in 2015. The dozen tracks span the range from jazz to gospel, from r&b to soul and back. “All For One” starts with the feel-good New Orleans groove of Allen Toussaint‘s…
The Berlinale has ended, but just in time for the Berlin Film Festival this new album by Norma Winstone had been released. I always had mixed feelings listening to the Norma Winstone discography. Her excursions into avantgarde or experimental music never really resonated with me, but she recorded some excellent albums, too, like her first…
As the backing vocalists for Jarrod Lawson, I’ve seen both Tahirah Memory and Molly Tentarelli on various stages in Berlin, Paris, Rotterdam, and New York. And maybe because Jarrod is still busy with the production of his own next album, it was the perfect timing to come out with her debut. Molly Tentarelli‘s family was…
Tokunbo was the lead singer of the group TokTokTok which won five German Jazz Awards and recorded a total of 13 albums. After her 2014 solo debut, she is now back with “The Swan”, a wonderful collection of 11 songs and stories, wrapped up in silky soul and satin, sometimes going the folk route, sometimes…
I’ve been listening to a lot of records lately where I thought that there is always something missing. Like an album of 12 songs where only about 3 or 4 of them were actually pretty good and the rest mediocre, to put it mildly. Others had great production, arranging, and craftsmanship but the lead singer…