40 years into his career, singer, percussionist and guitarist Nanny Assis recently released “Rovanio” (which is his real first name) on In+Out Records. The St. Petersburg Orchestra and Randy Brecker on flugelhorn open up the subtly swinging “No Agora”, an excellent introduction to Nanny’s Brazilian-flavored influences. Ron Carter originally wrote the tune (as “Mr. Bow…
Tom Findlay (of Groove Armada) and James Alexander Bright have finally released “Everything Is Slow” on Athens of the North, their debut album after teasing it with several singles in the past months. The ultra sexy “Slow Dance” is featured here as well (it already came out in late 2021). I think this is the…
It was during Samora Pinderhughes‘ set when the thunderstorm hit. You could hear the thunder inside the hall while he was just announcing his next song. Samora played tunes from his formidable album “Grief” and he had the pleasure of working with the North Sea String Quartet which happened to be special guest for several…
It was even hotter on Saturday than the day before and there were a lot of weather warnings on and off stage. But I had a good shot of freshly squeazed juice out of spinach, celery, fennel, lemon, and cucumber which easily got me through the day. Newcomer Jalen Ngonda opened the Congo tent in…
So here we are again. North Sea Jazz in Rotterdam has started on a sweltering day. My first show of the festival was a classic: pianist Kenny Barron, who recently turned 80 and who remembered the days at The Hague and couldn’t really tell when he first started to play at North Sea, played a…
Italian jazz artist, composer, remixer, producer, and DJ Nicola Conte has just released his latest album called “Umoja”. The guy who presented Rosalia De Souza back in 2002 with “Garota Moderna” and who also released an album on Blue Note, the still brilliant “Other Directions” in 2004, has come up with a pretty sophisticated, both…
Berlin-born jazz singer Lisa Bassenge is back with a wonderful trio album called “Wildflowers”. Her choice of material is superb as the repertoire includes music from Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Depeche Mode, or Death Cab For Cutie. She opens the set with an intensely intimate and vulnerable “Till I Get It Right”, the Tammy Wynette…
Producer, composer, and keyboardist John Carroll Kirby, the man who gave us the brilliant “Septet” and other soothing and calming albums such as the piano solo “My Garden” (2020) or “Conflict” (2020) and teamed up with Eddie Chacon for his two wonderful releases “Pleasure, Joy & Happiness” and “Sundown“, will release “Blowout” tomorrow on Stones…
It is really hard to believe that 30 years have gone by since Berlin-born Meshell Ndegeocello‘s debut album “Plantation Lullabies” which quickly became something like a hymn in our circles back in the day. Who couldn’t relate to “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)”. And then five years have also gone by since…
The great folks at BBE Records have unearthed a 1980 gem by Will & James Ragar, a folk/jazz duo from Louisiana who played the Southern circuit playing everything from James Taylor to Jimi Hendrix before they entered the studio for their only album. The original private press LP is currently listed for around 1.000$ on…