So here we are again in Rotterdam for North Sea Jazz, 2024 edition. I started out with a beer of course and then went on to see Emily King, the singer who wrote and sang on two beautiful tracks on the 2012 José James album “No Beginning No End”: “Heaven On The Ground” and “Come…
It’s been a while since her last visit to Berlin and last night’s Gretchen stop was actually the first in the city with her own band. The crowd was eagerly awaiting her performance and there was a huge roar when she finally came on stage last night at around 8:45. Her 7-piece band, including trumpet,…
British jazz-funk-fusion and Rhodes-heavy group Resolution 88 just released their fourth album “Vortex” on the Synthethesia label. Clearly their best effort yet, it opens with a Marcus Miller-style funk jam called “The Boss From Boston”. Bassist Tiago Coimbra and saxophonist Alex Hitchcock really bring in the mid 70s Herbie Hancock/Head Hunters style, but not simply…
British singer and songwriter Jo Harrop is back with her fourth album for London-based Lateralize Records. And this is clearly her best one so far because it mostly features her original compositions, because her voice has become even more refined and because the album was produced by Larry Klein who also produced Herbie Hancock, Joni…
Five years after her wonderful debut “Cage & Aviary”, singer, songwriter and musician Bryony Jarman-Pinto is back with “Below Dawn”, released last Friday. The album is available on limited vinyl too and features a bonus instrumental track. The London-based singer opens this majestic opus with the very Angela Bofill GRP-ish “Water Come”, a beautiful, healing,…
One of the most highly anticipated records is finally out. Jordan Rakei had already released four singles off “The Loop”, clearly his best album to date. “Flowers” and “Friend Or Foe” had the stakes high and we’re still raving about “Learning” and “Freedom”. We finally have all 13 tracks now on double vinyl by the…
So the four guys from Amsterdam-based RADIOHOP just released their debut album “All We Do”. Coming from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the biggest and most diverse conservatory in the Netherlands, the group has this great mixture of jazz, hiphop, soul, and fusion and is pretty beat-oriented which makes them one of the hottest new groups…
Based in Edinburgh, the duo Edy Forey debuted with “Culture Today” earlier this month. Their very sultry version of “Nature Boy” was included in Gina’s weekly playlist on 02/02. Vocalist Edy Szewy, born in Poland, and keyboardist Guilhem Forey, born in France, met while Edy was fronting her own neo-soul band. And they clicked, as…
So we already announced the new album by Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and singer Lucas Arruda in early February. And here it is. “Ominira”, his fourth LP (yes, it’s out on vinyl too), has just been released by Favorite Recordings, the French label specializing in soul, jazz and funk from the 60s, 70s and 80s and also…
Paris-based Roche Musique is around since 2012 and was founded by Jean Janin. Early on, they signed such unique artsts as FKJ and Darius and Wayne Snow and in 2014, added Dabeull to its roster. After numerous singles, he released a 12-song compilation album in 2017 called “Indastudio” which was followed by a five-track EP…