19 year old Berlin-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Cosmo Lautaro released his second album “AUTONOMIA” last Friday. We’ve already praised his four singles which came out in the last couple of months as a preview. This is really a pretty surprising output for such a young artist since it has a lot of ingredients…
Gina reviewed two previous ECM albums by Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick: “Midwest” from 2015 and “When We Leave” from 2021. For his latest album “Lullaby”, Mathias has worked with fellow ECM musicians Kristjan Randalu from Estonia on piano and Ole Morten Vågan on bass, with new drummer Hans Hulbækmo. And this is another one of…
Chicago-based singer Elaine Dame‘s cover of Donna Summer’s disco classic “Last Dance” is worth the trip alone here. The way she phrases the first words is simply stunning. And she keeps the vulnerability and the strength and the longing of the song for a total of six and a half minutes. She tackles the disco…
Latvian saxophonist and composer Toms Rudzinskis received the annual Latvian Music Records Award for Best Jazz Album of 2024 for “Interception”. The album on Jersika Records, run by Mareks Ameriks, who also produces most of the label’s albums, came out last October and is now finally available on vinyl too. There is this special dynamic…
After two brilliant albums on Edition Records, “Midnight Shelter” (2021) and “Still Life” (2022), both with pianist Romain Collin (who also just released his five-paw reviewed “Dust” LP), singer and songwriter Sachal Vasandani has moved on to Patron Saint International for “Best Life Now”, his seventh album. Produced by the great drummer Nate Smith (we…
Finnish soul singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer Bobby Oroza was in town yesterday. On a pretty cold Sunday night, Bobby played music from his two albums “This Love” (2019) and “Get On The Otherside” (2022), both released on Big Crown Records, the Brooklyn-based label which was started back in 2016 by Leon Michels of El…
French pianist Romain Collin, a graduate of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, has released his first solo album last month. Entitled “Dust”, the album came out on the UK-based Edition Records, where Romain already released two wonderful albums with singer Sachal Vasandani and which is one of the most reliable and interesting labels around….
LA-based ASHRR, consisting of Ethan Allen, Josh Charles, and Steven Davis, released their second album “Sunshine Low” on 20:20 Vision last September. Their not easily describable sound, a mix of Electronic, Alternative Soul, 80s New Wave, and Indie dance, was a pretty mixed affair on those 14 tracks. Enter Ron Trent, the now almost legendary…
Now this album has really caught us by surprise. Guitarist Coleman Mellett, a core member of Chuck Mangione’s band and husband of singer Jeanie Bryson, Dizzy Gillespie’s daughter, who released four great albums in the 90s on Telarc Jazz and in 2001 on Koch Jazz (the still resonating “Deja Blue” which features Coleman on acoustic…
Singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and arranger Kelly Finnigan, originally from California, is currently on tour in Europe with his group the Atonements, which consists of musicians from various groups on the Colemine Rercords label, like The Monophonics, Orgone, The Dap Kings, and The True Loves. The raw sound of his retro soul albums “The Tales…