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…
We’ve reviewed singer Rondi Charleston‘s album “Resilience” back in October 2017, a brave and vulnerable work of art which came out on her own label, Resilience Music Alliance, which is also the home of her new album “Suspended In Time – A Song Cycle” with music of the great Fred Hersch. Since Rondi now has…
After the success of his debut instrumental album “Fio De Lâmina”, which he released himself, multi-instrumentalist Nyron Higor has moved to the brilliant Far Out Recordings for his second album, which came out last week. And following in the footsteps of his first LP, the album opens with a delicate instrumental, the frevo-based “Ciranda” where…
Canadian singer Holly Cole hast just released her 13th album, called “Dark Moon”. And she continues her unique streak of mysterious and oblique soundscapes with her signature raspy voice. Holly works with her longtime collaborators Aaron Davis (piano, Rhodes), George Koller (bass), and Davidé DiRenzo (drums) plus guests Kevin Breit (guitar), Michael Davidson (vibes), Howard…
Back in October 2022, German-American pianist Benjamin Lackner released his debut for the ECM label called “Last Decade”. It immediately summed up the typical ECM sound, if something like this exists after all. Lots of space, clarity, intimacy, and of course highest production values. Trumpeter Mathias Eick was on that particular record and he is…