Since 2010, the Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival in Birmingham has presented ground-breaking and innovative UK artists and international headliners in a stunning woodland glade surrounding just 2 miles away from the city centre. Each year, the festival brings together some of the most in-demand artists along with workshops, arts, crafts, and a selection…
Australian soul singer Kylie Auldist will release her sixth album “Hybrid” this Friday. It’s her first release since the 2020 LP “This Is What Happiness Looks Like” and it finds her, once again, in funky, soulful boogie mode with lots of 80s-sounding synths, like on the lengthy opener “One Time Offer” which also has some…
Chilean jazz saxophonist and songwriter Melissa Aldana releases her third album for Blue Note Records this Friday. After “12 Stars” (2022), which featured Lage Lund on guitar, Sulllivan Fortner on piano and keys, Pablo Menares on bass, and Kush Abadey on drums, and “Echoes Of The Inner Prophet” (2024) with Lage Lund, Fabian Almazan on…
Gina and Gustel favorites Mamas Gun, the UK soul-pop band founded by Andy Platts in London in 2007, just released the second single off their next album, due April 10th on Légère Recordings. On “DIG!”, the title track from the new album, the group is joined by living legend Brian Jackson who contributes vocals, keys,…
German jazz pianist Julia Hülsmann just released her 10th album for the prestigious ECM label. Called “While I Was Away”, she more or less returns to earlier works on ACT Music where she recorded several albums with vocalists. On her most recent effort, there are three very distinct vocalists, each representing a certain mood and…
We’ve been following Jarrod Lawson and his incredible career ever since his very first album was declared our soul album of the year back in 2014. We covered his excellent shows in Paris and Berlin in 2015, his “Be The Change” album was our record of the year in 2020 and we last saw him…
On July 16th, 1976, the first North Sea Jazz Festival opened its doors at The Hague. It had six halls, 300 musicians, and an audience of about 9.000 visitors. Today, with the festival now based in Rotterdam, the 3-day event draws a crowd of about 90.000 visitors who can witness around 1.300 artists on 17…
Guitarist Julian Lage releases his fifth album for Blue Note Records, “Scenes From Above”, on January 23rd. After “Squint” (2021) with Jorge Roeder and Dave King, “Room With A View” (2022) with additional guitar from Bill Frisell, his solo album “The Layers” (2023), and “Speak To Me” (2024) with an extended band that featured Kris…
Flashback to 1982. When producers, writers, arrangers, and multi-instrumentalists Robson Jorge and Lincoln Olivetti started their solid partnership, writing songs for dozens of MPB artists during that era, they also received pretty critical reviews accusing them of turning the classic MPB sounds into lame and boring pop. Fast forward over 40 years, and all of…
Trumpeter Milena Casado, who released her debut album “Reflection Of Another Self” on Candid Records last May, is embarking on a tour through Europe this month. Milena, part of Terri Lyne Carrington’s group (Terri also produced her album), was playing her first headlining set a couple of years ago at the North Sea Jazz Festival,…