I know it’s not really politically correct to start out with the negatives, but I have absolutely no understanding for the fact that the vinyl version of “Love For Sale”, presumably Tony Bennett‘s last album of his unusally long career, only has 10 songs instead of the 12 tracks which ended up on the official…
Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick releases his fifth album for ECM as a leader. We reviewed his still beautiful album “Midwest“, a collection of songs about the voyage of Norway coming to America, on these pages in 2015. He also released “Ravensburg” in between. The album and its protagonists, including two drummers, is the backing again…
Hard to categorize Nigerian singer, songwriter, and performer Wayne Snow, who now resides in Berlin, has come up with his sophomore album “Figurine”, released on the French Roche Musique label, based in Paris. Hailed by some music mags as the next breakthrough artist, “Figurine” comes three years after his debut “Freedom TV”, which came out…
Here is another album which proves that those long lockdowns we were all facing since spring of last year, also led to some very positive, creatively effective outcomes. Norwegian singer Silje Nergaard explains on her website that she had to clear her head through daily walks around her neighborhood and that she started to “fantasize…
It’s stretch your ears time with the new Kurt Elling album “SuperBlue” which finds him moving into new directions. Moving again, you might add since he has come up with so many different projects in his career. But he never released a full-length funk album. Until now. With the help of guitarist Charlie Hunter, who…
The way Theo Croker lets his trumpet conjure up feelings of hope, despair, optimism, melancholy, and beauty on “Soul Call//Vibrate”, sets the agenda for his most satisfying album to date. The tune already sounds like a future classic. Dealing with his experience and knowledge of Black Culture, Theo started working on his album with just…
Two years after her debut “Walk Through Fire” came out on the indie Easy Eye Sound label, Yolanda Quartey, known as Yola, came up with another rich and classy genre-defying album in late July. “Stand For Myself”, produced by Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, is full of Americana, Soul, Country, Folk, Gospel. But the…
As a serious vinyl buff, I always look out for release dates of current and forthcoming albums. Sometimes, the vinyl version is out even before any streaming services. Other times, the vinyl version of an album includes several bonus tracks which you can’t download or stream. In the case of Sam Wills and his fabulous…
Amazing debut album from the Los Angeles-based singer Marley Munroe who records and performs under the name Lady Blackbird. With her single “Blackbird”, the 1963 Nina Simone anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, her recording tragically has become the 2020/21 version of the current race and class oppressions. Her voice is exceptionally full of wisdom,…
The Belgian-Caribbean pedal harpist, synth player, and composer Nala Sinephro, part of London’s burgeoning and bubbling jazz scene, has come up with a deeply healing debut album. She has played with south London collective Steam Down and won early praises from the likes of Gilles Peterson. With the London Contemporary Orchestra, she played at King’s…