It is hard to believe that 20 years have gone by since the groundbreaking “Godsdog” album by Heidelberg-based De-Phazz. It was their second album (after “Detunized Gravity” from 1997), I was still working as a bartender in a hip Mexican restaurant in Kreuzberg (and played their music), but had already started my career in radio….
Her very first concert in Berlin turned out to be a big party for a large part of this city’s huge Brazilian community (about 4.000 Brazilians live here), so when singer Maria Rita entered the stage at Astra at about 9:30pm last night, there was a big welcoming roar. In contrast to this other Brazilian…
It adds some additional spice to have legendary background singers Maxine Waters, Julia Tillman Waters, and Clydene Jackson singing on her new album “Anthem”, which is the 8th album for this hard-to-categorize artist who nevertheless has found her own niche which is a somewhat quirky mix of folk, country, pop, soul, and jazz. Most of…
Thank you Lakecia. “Rise Up” is just what we need now. Full of funky grooves, imaginative, evocative and cool sax lines, fantastic vocals which all come with a message. We can’t get enough of the ultra sexy “Flashback” at the moment and its amazingly catchy hook. What you also get on the album are all…
A solo record from guitarist Bill Frisell, who recently celebrated his 67th birthday, is also a reminder of how poetic his songwriting skills are. Some of the tunes on his album are re-recordings of former, older pieces from earlier albums. Some of them have become popular in the Frisell oeuvre, like “Rambler” for example, which…
New York-born singer Indra Rios-Moore, now living in Barcelona, releases her new album “Carry My Heart” this week on Verve. It comes right after her pretty successful (at least in Europe) “Heartland” album. One of the most sympathetic features of the album is the fact that Indra wanted to record an optimistic record because there…
It’s one of my favorite tracks at the moment, the luxurious title song of Lindsey Webster‘s new album “Love Inside” which was released yesterday. It’s her fourth record with her husband Keith Slattery and the seven minutes of the opening tune are swaying along so elegantly soulful, with a big dose of sexiness and a…
Singer Dolores Scozzesi follows up her acclaimed 2010 album “A Special Taste” with “Here Comes The Sun”. Her rich timbre, rounded voice and precise diction is present throughout the nine tracks on the album, which was produced by Mark Winkler. About her background and taste, she says: “I’m part Mexican and Irish with a dash…
Ever since her first album “Plantation Lullabies”, which featured Geri Allen, Joshua Redman, and Wah Wah Watson and included my own little credo at that time, “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)”, I have followed singer and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello‘s career with all the ups and downs. One of the downs for example…
Curtis Mayfield left The Impressions in 1970 to pursue a solo career. It was Leroy Hutson who replaced him for the “Times Have Changed” LP in 1972, the only Curtom Records album which featured Leroy (he already left the group again in 1973). All of the songs (almost) were written by Curtis Mayfield and he…