She just finished her European tour. I was lucky to catch up with her in Vienna. I’m still going back to her 1985 LP “Good Morning Kiss”. Her new one, “Soul To Soul”, is her best so far and one of the best recordings of 2014. Happy Birthday Carmen and many more to come!
Manu Dibango, saxophonist from Cameroon, best known for his 1972 worldwide hit “Soul Makossa”, has died from complications of Covid-19, aged 86. After forming his own band in Cameroon in 1963, he moved to Paris a couple of years later before he finally made his breakthrough. Manu released his first album “Saxy-Party” in 1969. Three…
Singer Indra Rios-Moore presented her new Impulse album “Heartland” in Berlin on Thursday night. Produced by Larry Klein, it features eleven songs in a well-chosen repertoire which includes Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Duke Ellington, and two traditionals. I had the chance to talk to her a couple of hours before her gig at the A-Trane:…
I’ve waited a bit with this review because there was something in the air after the first listen. And one of the wonderful things about this solo piano album is that there is so much more to explore with each new listen. There is this profound aura of beauty surrounding the 18-track album by pianist…
One of my favorite singers has finally come up with an album of Latin America’s most beautiful love songs. Jackie Ryan‘s mother was Mexican and so the singer had always included at least one Spanish song in her previous records, like “La Puerta” on “Listen Here”(2012), “Solamente Una Vez” on “Doozy” (2009), or “Historia De…
The first names for the 41st North Sea Jazz Festival have been announced this morning. Among the artists for Friday, July 8th, are The Roots, Snarky Puppy, Diana Krall, Antonio Sanchez and Migration, and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah presents Stretch Music. On Saturday, July 9th, we’ll get Steps Ahead Reunion, Level 42, Branford Marsalis featuring Kurt Elling…
Trumpeter, bandleader and composer Matthew Halsall will release “An Ever Changing View” on September 8th on Gondwana Records. Composed in Wales and in Bridlington, he wanted to create a feeling of “openness and escapism”. If you check out his new single “Calder Shapes”, an homage to American sculptor Alexander Calder and one of the greatest…