The Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II standard “All The Things You Are” frames the new album by pianist Orrin Evans. The trio prelude version with Christian McBride on bass and Karriem Riggins on drums is a bubbly interpretation and so much different from the Springtime Feathers version which has Orrin and his wife on layered vocals…
Pianist Kevin Hays, who has worked with Joshua Redman, Benny Golson, and Joe Henderson in the past and who recorded for Blue Note in the 90s, switches to Fender Rhodes, the omnipresent Wurlitzer, and vocals on his latest album “New Day”. After the very free-flowing opening Rhodes track, “Run To The Sun”, which also heavily…
I still remember buying Janet Jackson‘s first LP. It was actually on February 8th, 1983. The album had been released a few months prior to that. I instantly fell in love with the lush production of Rene Moore and Angela Winbush on “Say You Do”, “You’ll Never Find (A Love Like Mine)”, and “Young Love”….
Singer ESKA‘s family moved from Zimbabwe to South London when she was a small girl. Her father played a lot of records at home, like Bob James, the Crusaders, or Quincy Jones. When she started her singing career, she never had to look for a job; people always came to her. She sang with Grace…
When Jazz meets Folk meets World Music meets Country meets Zappa meets Schlager meets Sun Ra meets Blues. Add to that a good portion of bright humor and you enter the hilarious world of Stein Urheim and Mari Kvien Brunvoll. The Norwegian duo has created a bizarre mix of space-age bachelor pad turns extraterrestrial music…
Producer Larry Klein, who has shaped albums for Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Walter Becker, Shawn Colvin, or Curtis Stigers and the new one by his wife Luciana Souza, is also responsible for the airy and open sound on singer Lisa Bassenge‘s new album “Canyon Songs”. That canyon of course refers to…
Latest output from 34-year old Israeli pianist Yaron Herman is, above all, a duo album with his longtime musical partner, Ziv Ravitz on drums and percussions. Yaron, who lives in France, manages to let the thirteen songs on his album sound like it is at least a full trio, though. Listen to “Points Of You”…
The 28-year old Norwegian bassist and singer Ellen Andrea Wang is currently on tour with her new album “Diving”. It reminds me a lot of the genre-crossing Becca Stevens in her compositions which can be at times jazzy, then again more rock-oriented, singer/songwriter-like or on the folky side. Ellen recently joined drummer Manu Katché‘s band…
Portuguese fado singer Mariza releases her new album “Mundo” this week and will showcase her new material on a tour through the US, Canada, and Europe. I had the pleasure of meeting her in Berlin last August and we talked about her new album and the brilliant work of her producer Javier Limón. The new…
German singer and guitarist Torsten Goods who studied at the New School in New York, has come up with a strong new album that focuses on soul songs and spirituals and puts him clearly in the George Benson category, most evident on the Oscar Brown Jr. tune “Brother, Where Are You” where he amazingly sounds…