There are soul singers, soul preachers, soul crooners, and then there is Al Green. The wonder that is “Let’s Stay Together”, his number 1 hit from 1971, is still intoxicating and enthralling over 40 years later. Pieces like “”I’m Still In Love With You” (1972) or “Here I Am” (1973), “L-O-V-E” (1975) or “Keep Me Cryin’”…
As a music fanatic growing up in the late 70s/early 80s (mostly listening to the entire Stevie Wonder catalog) and soon exploring the bars, clubs and discos of Cologne, a perfect night-out always depended on the best music mix: the cherished disco classics combined with seldom-heard pieces and new discoveries. In those “formative” years, I’ve heard…
It was Bill Henderson who recorded Horace Silver’s “Senor Blues” for Blue Note Records in 1958. Bill also worked with Wynton Kelly, Yusef Lateef, Ramsey Lewis, and started to release several albums in the late 50s on Vee-Jay Records. In the 60s, Bill worked with Eddie Harris, Oscar Peterson, and Count Basie and after settling…
The passion and fire of tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri‘s playing and writing certainly had its artistic and commercial peak with his score for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango In Paris” from 1973, where the Argentinian musician, who was born into a very musical family, merged both his Latin and his jazz influences into a unique style….
Legendary saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who was certainly more than a blind musician who could play three horns at once, is the topic of a documentary called “The Case Of The Three Sided Dream”. The streaming of the movie and the download on vimeo on demand will be available on May 1st, with iTunes coming later…
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will produce the Jazz Masters Tribute Concert on Monday, April 4th at 8pm ET. This year’s recipients are vibraphonist Gary Burton, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, saxophonist Archie Shepp, and musicians’ advocate Wendy Oxenhorn. Participating musicians are Randy Weston, Jimmy Heath, Ambrose Akinmusire, Lakecia Benjamin, Stefon Harris, Justin Kauflin, Rudresh Mahanthappa,…
Legendary singer Sarah Vaughan‘s image will grace postcards and envelopes in the form of a “Commemorative Forever Stamp” beginning March 29th, two days after what would have been her 92nd birthday. Thus, the U.S. Postal Service honors the famous singer with an unveiling ceremony at the Sarah Vaughan Concert Hall at Newark Symphony Hall in…
Now that spring has finally arrived, at least on our calendars, live concert season picks up again as well with a lot of must-see acts coming to town (Berlin that is) this week. Not that there is nothing going on here during the winter, but it seems as if more and more people are willing…
Her godmother Dema Aikens entered young Ernestine in a talent contest at the age of 12 in Houston, Texas. And she won. Soon she started to play with Quincy Jones and Ray Charles before she was 18. She continued to work with Lionel Hampton, Gigi Gryce, and Johnny Otis. After her debut “It’s Time For…
We just wanted to take this opportunity and wish Quincy Jones the happiest of birthdays. The last time I saw him was during an APAP showcase in New York back in January where he presented a few of the acts of Quincy Jones Productions at Subrosa. Artists like Jacob Collier, Alfredo Rodriguez, or Justin Kauflin…