If you are an avid reader of liner notes like I am, it is always gratifying to see the names of Dennis Collins or Alfa Anderson pop up on the list of background singers like on Valerie Ghent‘s new album “Velours”. Dennis Collins, for example, has recorded with just about everyone from Roberta Flack to…
This album comes close to improvised perfection. The way Duane Eubanks (trumpet), Dezron Douglas (bass), and Eric McPherson (drums) expose themselves on this intimate live trio recording is simply the epitome of what this music is all about. It is also a brisk change from his equally inspiring last album, “Things Of That Particular Nature” (see…
The last time I saw Poppa Lou live in person was at the Northsea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam a few years ago. As usual, he had that special command over the audience after playing just a few notes. And his humor and natural high spirits are always immensely infectious. So if you’re in the New…
As this year’s outdoor and garden season comes to a close, we’ve moved back in to our apartment in Prenzlauer Berg which, I have to admit, also does have its charme (yes, a real kitchen, bathrooms, big TV, even central heating!). Gina though was a bit reluctant at first since she really enjoys being outside…
Scope is a new festival presenting Finnish musicians in various, hip Berlin-Kreuzberg venues. The people responsible for the extremely successful XJazz Festival, now in its fourth year and scheduled for May 3-7, 2017, have chosen a lot of future and some established Finnish musicians to perform. Together with We Jazz Helsinki, an event first held…
The German label Pirouet Records will release two more albums before it will take a break after 13 years. Ralph Bürklin, the label founder and manager, said in a statement that the label started out by releasing great pianists and that he wants to wrap it up with a piano-led album, too. Frank Kimbrough‘s “Solstice”…
Here is a great reissue – an album recorded in 1979 by vibraphonist, pianist, and singer Ted Coleman. The whole sound here is a brilliant mix where Roy Ayers meets Lonnie Liston Smith. And there is a heavy dose of Cal Tjader, too, with a lot of Latin influences throughout. The opening cut “Can You Feel It”…
German singer Synje Norland writes and produces her own music, writes film scores, and directs her own videos. And now comes up with her new album “Who Says I Can’t?”, somehow describing her own situation since she is trying to do most of her artistic work on her own and doesn’t necessarily accepts any outside…
The Soul Togetherness crew has come up with the fourth Philadelphia sound collection and with 17 more cuts that were recorded outside of the famous Philadelphia International Records. The amount of obscure, rare, and hard-to-find cuts on this volume is astonishing. Even if you’ve been an avid collector for over 35 years, a lot of…
In its fourth year now, the JazzKorea Festival edition 2016 will bring four Korean jazz bands to Europe, with the opening concerts scheduled in Berlin on November, 17th. Asian Scholars is a young group of Korean musicians under the leadership of Yechan Kim who is using traditional, Korean instruments like the piri (woodwind) in his…