One of the most pivotal moments last Monday at Amsterdam’s Paradiso happened during a guitar solo medley by guitarist Jubu Smith: among the three tracks he played was “Sweet Thing” by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. And the whole crowd sang the lyrics out loud. No offense here but this is something that would never ever…
Singer Jane Monheit‘s latest, self-titled album came out last November. She concluded her European tour on Saturday at Hamburg’s new jazz club called Nica, which opened its doors in early November of last year. Jane included a handful of songs from her new album, and also threw in several tracks from her vast recorded repertoire,…
This year’s North Sea Jazz Festival will run from July 11th to the 13th. Yesterday, the festival organizers announced 50 additional acts to this year’s line-up. More artists will be announced at a later date, but here is the programme so far. We can’t wait to come back to Rotterdam: Friday, July 11th:ANOHNI & the…
Gina reviewed two previous ECM albums by Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick: “Midwest” from 2015 and “When We Leave” from 2021. For his latest album “Lullaby”, Mathias has worked with fellow ECM musicians Kristjan Randalu from Estonia on piano and Ole Morten Vågan on bass, with new drummer Hans Hulbækmo. And this is another one of…
Chicago-based singer Elaine Dame‘s cover of Donna Summer’s disco classic “Last Dance” is worth the trip alone here. The way she phrases the first words is simply stunning. And she keeps the vulnerability and the strength and the longing of the song for a total of six and a half minutes. She tackles the disco…
We have lost three major major voices of soul music in the last several days. This morning, the iconic Roberta Flack passed away en route to a hospital. The cause was cardiac arrest. Just a couple of weeks ago, she celebrated her 85th birthday. Just last Friday, Gwen McCrae passed on at age 81. She…
We’re still playing his amazing tracks from last year’s “1978” LP when singer José James just announced his next album “1978: Revenge Of The Dragon”, slated for release on his own Rainbow Blonde Records on May 9th. The first single, a tribute to Erykah Badu, whom he calls “one of the greatest living artists of…
Latvian saxophonist and composer Toms Rudzinskis received the annual Latvian Music Records Award for Best Jazz Album of 2024 for “Interception”. The album on Jersika Records, run by Mareks Ameriks, who also produces most of the label’s albums, came out last October and is now finally available on vinyl too. There is this special dynamic…
Trumpeter Brandon Woody is set to release his Blue Note debut “For The Love Of It All” on May 9th. The Baltimore-based artist’s six original tracks will be available on colored vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and all digital platforms. The first single off the album, “Real Love, Pt.1”, out since yesterday, sounds exceptionally promising. Brandon…
Tunisian oud player and composer Anouar Brahem, with his brilliant mix of Arab classical music, Jazz, and Folk, will play three exclusive concerts in Germany as part of the successful JazzNights series, organised by Karsten Jahnke and now running for 25 years. Anouar has released his first album on the legendary German-based ECM label back…