When I read the current New York Times article about Chaka Khan on artistic freedom, her side hustles and Joni Mitchell, I came across this quote which maybe best describes her first new album in 12 years, “Hello Happiness”: “For this album, “no deep thoughts were necessary. It was a lot of fun.”” This mini-album…
One of the most underrated singers and composers around, Dutch artist Benny Sings releases his new album “City Pop” on Stones Throw Records. Ever since his 2005 album “I Love You”, featuring the immortal “Make A Rainbow” which has become one of my alltime favorite pieces, Benny Sings has consistently delivered little album gems over…
Let’s face it: sometimes you can only live through a movie because the main character just has the right charisma and look. Gina has chosen her top three male actors at this year’s festival. In all three cases though, the respective movies were pretty strong, too. In Panorama, the disturbing “Kislota” (“Acid”) by Russian director…
I’m usually sitting at Berlinale Palast or CinemaxX 7 about half an hour before the screening starts. Enough time to watch other people. I realized a strange, funny, awkward, at least interesting thing about men and women looking for a free seat. So I started my own gender studies during the festival: almost 90% of…
The sexual assault accusations in an ultraconservertive Catholic church diocese in Lyon is the topic of Francois Ozon‘s new movie “Grace A Dieu”. It portrays a current criminal conviction that is still being negotiated and where a verdict, at least one of many, will possibly be announced in March of this year. But a pastor…
And so, the 69th Berlinale has started. “The Kindness Of Strangers” by Danish director Lone Scherfig has opened the festival which seemed to have a rather tumultuous start because everyone wanted to comment on the fact that this would be Dieter Kosslick‘s last edition after 18 years. But rather than glorifying the past and bathing…
It was a “long time no see” setting since Holly Cole‘s last visit to Berlin was a pretty long time ago, but it felt like a true homecoming once she started with a sort of condensed introductory version of “Take Me Home”, from her beloved 1995 album “Temptation” with the songs of Tom Waits. There…
The winner of the 2015 Montreux Guitar Competition, Pedro Martins was heavily featured on guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel‘s “Caipi“, the first for his own Heartcore Records label, in 2017. The 25-year old Martins is now releasing his second album, a collection of thirteen Brazilian-flavored pop and rock songs with a heavy jazz input, not only from…
Following Danish Jazz singer Caecilie Norby ever since her 1995 Blue Note debut has always echoed my attitude towards repertoire. I think if you’re not choosing to record your own original material, it is utterly important to come up with the right combination of cover tunes and not simply an amalgamation of songs from the…
Just a few days after the legendary Michel Legrand left this earth, we have lost James Ingram who graced the Quincy Jones album “The Dude”, one of the best albums ever, with the two gorgeous ballads “Just Once” (written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill) and “One Hundred Ways” (written by Kathy Wakefield, Ben Wright…