It was exactly 32 years ago today when I bought my first Matt Bianco album “Whose Side Are You On”. At the time, it was something totally new and fresh, with the signature vocals of Mark Reilly and Basia Trzetrzelewska and the keyboards of Danny White and hits like “More Than I Can Bear”, “Half…
I can’t help comparing singer, songwriter, actress, and producer Rhonda Ross to her mother, the great Diana Ross. After all, their voices are surprisingly similar. But this is where the similarities end. Thankfully, Rhonda refrains from simply copying her mother’s work so this isn’t another Motown record or a Supremes best-of kind-of collection. No, Rhonda…
There has been a big void ever since Mark Murphy‘s death in late October of last year. There is really no other male singer around with his skills, talent, style, and character. His ability to put words to well-known tunes from the jazz canon, his love for Brazilian music, his vast amount of unpredictability when…
Backed by a Chic groove reminiscent of “Chic Cheer”, Chanté Moore opened her set at B.B. King’s last night with a medley of a couple of songs from her early 90s records when she started her recording career, most notably with “Love’s Taken Over”. It was a perfect start for a pretty groove-oriented show which…
With his new album “I Thought About You”, released in September, Alexander Stewart from Manchester is now on a short tour through Germany. I know that comparisons with Michael Bublé are often made, but with Michael’s focus on more pop-oriented fare on his latest “Nobody But Me”, the swinging and crooning is now left to…
What’s coming out of Detroit these days is certainly something to check out. It is surely worth digging deeper into the local scene which is about to step out globally with the release of this excellent new single by jazz singer Kathy Kosins and singer, producer, bassist, and composer Paul Randolph. From the golden Motown…
They did it again. Another brilliant collection of modern soul meets house meets funk meets groove from Reel People Records. Gospel queen Kim Burrell opens this superb compilation with a housey track from her 2015 album “A Different Place” to be followed by one of my personal highlights of the set: “Something”, a relaxing, fantastically…
DePhazz are back with an album that features five different vocalists, with Pat Appleton, longtime lead singer for the group, contributing five pieces, the cool and relaxed opening track “Used” among them. Other vocalists on the album are Barbara Lahr (also a longtime contributor), Angel J., Jutta Glaser, and Cherry Sanders. Barbara’s distorted vocal on…
If you are an avid reader of liner notes like I am, it is always gratifying to see the names of Dennis Collins or Alfa Anderson pop up on the list of background singers like on Valerie Ghent‘s new album “Velours”. Dennis Collins, for example, has recorded with just about everyone from Roberta Flack to…
This album comes close to improvised perfection. The way Duane Eubanks (trumpet), Dezron Douglas (bass), and Eric McPherson (drums) expose themselves on this intimate live trio recording is simply the epitome of what this music is all about. It is also a brisk change from his equally inspiring last album, “Things Of That Particular Nature” (see…