So here we are again at this monster festival. This is the 49th edition of North Sea Jazz, with more than 150 acts on 13 stages and around 70.000 annual visitors. I started out with Jamila Woods, a singer, songwriter and poet from Chicago whose album “Water Made Us” (2023) made some noise when it…
The Dutch jazz scene has always been a pretty vibrant one, as documented over the past decades at the North Sea Jazz Festival, which begins next week Friday. So it is only reasonable to also have a festival which exclusively dedicates its programme to jazz artists from the Netherlands. The Orange Jazz Days, staged at…
It’s been four long years since the release of “Private Space”, the brilliant, five-paw rated LP by Durand Jones & The Indications. Singer and drummer Aaron Frazer also released his second solo album during this period, the wonderful “Into The Blue”, in 2024. And so here are the “Flowers”, ten new tracks plus a short…
Concert and Festival season is in full swing. Here is an update of shows where you can say hello to the Gina crew. Check back later for additional dates. aron! – 6/23 @ Universal HQ, BerlinLedisi – 7/09 @ Gretchen, BerlinNorth Sea Jazz Festival – 7/11-13 @ Ahoy, RotterdamJosé James – 7/14 @ Paradiso, AmsterdamDana…
It’s been 35 years since “There’s Nothing Like This”, Omar’s groundbreaking debut which still keeps on spinning in our Barbalala playlist of alltime favorite tracks. And 8 years after “Love In Beats”, his last album for Freestyle Records, Omar returns with his first album for BBE, the double LP “Brighter The Days” with 16 new…
The iconic S.O.S. Band, one of the most important Soul, R&B, electro Funk band of the 80s, will come to Paradiso in Amsterdam on August 6th. I first heard them back in 1982 when their third LP “S.O.S. III” came out. It included two timeless masterpieces which I still spin up to this day: the…
Durand Jones & The Indications, who received a five-paw review from Gina back in 2021 for their still highly resonating album “Private Space” and who topped our list of best live shows for their brilliant stop at Berlin’s Hole44 in September, 2022, are back with a new album called “Flowers”, to be released on June…
lovetempo is the brainchild of Brooklyn-based singer and guitarist Mattie Safer (who has worked with Poolside and The Rapture in the past). His first EP came out a couple of years ago. Band members also include Mel Chambers (vocals, keys), Andre Chez Lewis (keys), Mayteana Morales (dr), and Henry Raker (sax). In late 2023, he…
I had a lot of admiration and good things to say when Macy Gray released her 2016 album “Stripped”. And I still go back to her debut album “On How Life Is”, which came out in 1999. Macy is currently on a big tour celebrating 25 years since her debut. But yesterday, some things went…
There is an immense amount of beauty on “Heartstrings”, the new album by UK duo Snowpoet, Lauren Kinsella and Chris Hyson. The whole album was recorded and written in the studio, with the band improvising in real time. The result is a stunning collection of ten songs, starting off with the ethereal and easily flowing…