Pascal Rioux a/k/a Charles Maurice did it again. Assembling incredibly hard-to-find soul gems from the glorious days of the past, 1977 to 1984. Running the fantastic Favorite Recordings out of Paris, this fifth volume in this wonderful series starts off with a track by the group Rhapsody, who released just one LP back in 1981,…
It is always interesting to know where and when a recording career actually started. Singer Roseanna Vitro‘s first album was recorded in 1982 and is now available on CD for the first time (but who listens to CDs anymore when vinyl is still available and striving?). Roseanna has recorded several artist-based albums over the years,…
What a nice surprise! Singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli has come up with solo takes on more than a dozen Pat Metheny compositions. As they both show deep respect for each other in a recent JazzTimes interview where John was asked to talk to Pat about his new “Road To The Sun” album, recorded by…
Born out of the dire situation of not being able to perform or make music per se during last year’s lockdown, Swedish singer, songwriter, and pianist Ida Sand has come up with a stylish pop/soul album called “Do You Hear Me?”, to be released on the German ACT Music label this Friday. And on vinyl…
Every few years, there is a guitarist popping up which garners more attention than your regular player. Dan Wilson, who started out as a guest on organist Joey DeFancesco‘s group, later joined Christian McBride‘s trio and has now released his debut on Christian’s Brother Mister label, called “Vessels Of Wood And Earth”. The bass man…
For an avid reader of liner notes and credits, Sheree Brown is best known to me as a frequent collaborator on several of Patrice Rushen‘s best albums, released between 1978 and 1987. She has written or co-written some of the most memorable and loved tunes for Patrice: “Didn’t You Know” for “Patrice” (1978), “Let The…
There is nothing as intimate and raw as a vocal and piano duet. Singer Sachal Vasandani and pianist Romain Collin have recorded an album of 11 songs last year as a sort of healing for not being able to perform, let alone communicate music-wise. As Romain puts it in the press release: “In this time…
It’s reissue time today: Austin, Texas-born Tom Brock, who went to live in Los Angeles in the first half of the 70s, released just one LP back in 1974, copies of which circle around for 100€ and more, if at all. The album was produced by Barry White and his influence can be heard throughout…
Here’s the finest compilation of 2020: I know this is out on the market since about six months, but I had difficulties obtaining the vinyl version. After several postponements and after selling out a couple of times, my black vinyl version finally arrived (there’s also a white vinyl edition for the avid collector). Thanks to…
Here’s another real vinyl highlight from the magnificent guys at Futuristica Records. French singer, songwriter and producer LaNote (Caroline Marks) releases her new album “Rebirth” with accompaniment and production work by her former band member As Valet who was with her in the group Electric Conversation, sort of the epitome of indie future soul. They…