Hindi Zarah‘s second album “Homeland” is a celebration of the percussion. She asked Rhani Krija for help with all kinds of percussion instruments and decided to start all of her songs with the rhythm: “When I went to Morocco I started to think about which rhythm I wanted to work on. First decision: I’m gonna…
Two of the best indie soul compilations each year are the Luxury Soul and the Soul Togetherness collections. Now, the team around Ralph Tee has come up with a new one: Soul Life compiles 16 quality soul tracks starting with the Tom Browne classic “Brighter Tomorrow”, recorded here in a brand new version by the…
Billie Holiday would have been 100 years old this month (April 7th), so it is only natural that we get several tributes this year. Young British singer Rebecca Ferguson and José James both have contributed already and here comes Cassandra Wilson with her new album. Produced by longtime Nick Cave mastermind Nick Launay, the album…
David Sanborn’s latest 9-song collection was produced by Marcus Miller and features two of the alto saxophonist’s own compositions: With “Drift”, he wanted to show respect for the work of D’Angelo whose output he admires. The result is a lush, soulful number with great 70s keyboard sounds by Roy Assaf and the lyrical wailing of…
Her new album was actually recorded in Sao Paulo and is the first one she recorded in her home country ever since she came to the US in 1981. But does it make any difference? The album was, again, produced by her, her husband Marc Johnson who also plays bass on the record, and Steve…
“As I’ve gotten older, I’m more interested in the overall feeling of the record.” That’s how guitarist Russell Malone sums up the essence of his new HighNote Records album “Love Looks Good On You”. He once met fellow guitarist Mundell Lowe who explained to him: “Kid, it’s just living. After you’ve lived for a while,…
One of the songs José James performed last night during his brief showcase concert at Berlin’s Apple store on Kurfürstendamm was the moving ballad “Tenderly”. It is one of nine tracks from the fine and fitting tribute to the singer he discovered at a very early age in life. Earlier that day, we talked about…
Both guitarists play acoustic and electric guitar on their new album plus bass, piano, and keys. And they wrote four of the songs together, like the opening track “Morning Sun” which actually hints vaguely at “Here Comes The Sun” in some harmony parts. A nice opener. Kevin continues with a solo on Gershwin’s “Summertime” playing…
Copacabana and Greenwich Village are supposed to be feted in this 11-song collection of Brazilian music called “Copa Village” by singer Carol Saboya, harmonica player and vibraphonist Hendrik Meurkens, and pianist Antonio Adolfo. They even manage to come up with an interesting arrangement on the too worn-out “The Girl From Ipanema/Garota de Ipanema” with a…
Chicago-based house producer Vick Lavender has come up with a gorgeous new album called “Architect”. It’s an infectious deep house/vocal house album mixed with some incredible instrumentals. Singer RJ Green delivers a soulful vocal on the cut “Magic” which is a brilliantly produced opener to the album. Green continues with another sexy house swayer, “It’s…