The folks at Real Side Records did it again. Number 3 was reviewed on these pages in early March and here comes Volume 4. The 20-piece collection once again focuses on rare and obscure cuts mainly from the 70s, but also some late 60s gems and a couple of newer tracks. The one song that…
Independent soul singer and songwriter Trish Andrews from Charlotte, North Carolina, has come up with her second album after her 2008 debut “These Five Words”. Her new one “Love Story” continues her sexy melange of Jazz, Soul, and R&B, wrapped in silky smooth, sometimes stunning performances. The solid 11-track collection starts off with the catchy “Feed…
Kashif, responsible for dozens of timeless soul songs of the 80s (Evelyn “Champagne” King, Melba Moore, Dionne Warwick, George Benson, Howard Johnson, Meli’sa Morgan, Whitney Houston) releases an expanded version of his “Who Loves You” CD which originally came out in 1998. The new disc comes with five bonus tracks, three of which had been…
Philadelphia-based singer M’Balia Singley opens her debut album “Halfway There” with a witty, at times sarcastic story about financial struggles, backed by the sometimes bluesy, sometimes free-flowing piano by producer Orrin Evans. You wouldn’t guess that the song turns out like this after hearing the opening, pretty free improvisational moments. M’Balia’s thick, strong voice with…
Even though she was clearly beyond her peak at nearly 57, when Peggy Lee recorded her album “Peggy” in 1977, there are some moments that were intensely accurate and convincing, as author James Gavin also states in his biography “Is That All There Is? The Strange Life Of Peggy Lee” when he says: “Lee sounded appropriately heavy…
She is an expert of brutally slowing down well-known songs and standards which can be a drag, but never in her case. Solveig Slettahjell‘s voice has simply too much to offer, like the sympathetic crack in her voice on “Borrowed Time”, the opening track of her new album “Trail Of Souls”, recorded with the trio…
Jean-Claude Thompson is one half of famed duo The Amalgamation Of Soundz and has now come up with a nine-track exotic jazz compilation which includes some obscure, yet pretty accessible stuff. Well, not in all cases. The album opens with the Jazz percussion ensemble M’Boom and a track from their 1984 LP “Collage”. M’Boom was…
Polish guitarist Maciek Pysz started to write the material for his sophomore album in Italy and imagined the music “more as a soundtrack for a journey…”. He teamed up with bandoneon player Daniele di Bonaventura and the mix of classical guitar and the bandoneon is indeed magical. As can be heard on the beautiful opening track…
Pianist Lucas Heidepriem opens his new trio album “Silence In Motion” with a dreamy solo intro before Johannes Schaedlich on bass and drummer Peter Erskine join in. “Falesia” is a truly fascinating trio piece with almost sacred qualities and some intensive repetitive patterns. And his very lyrical playing continues on “Second Steps” with its chamber music-like…
Both pianist Sebastian Sternal and flugelhornist Frederik Köster belong to the acclaimed and accomplished German jazz musicians who have received several awards in the past. They’ve been playing together in various groups since about 10 years. For their latest duo album, they went to Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. And so, their compositions seem to reflect…