It is always a pleasure at the beginning of each year to receive the consistently brilliant independent Luxury Soul compilations. I have checked in my files and found all discs going back to 2004 with great music by Leon Ware, Frank McComb, Keni Burke, Sandra St. Victor, or Ronnie McNeir. The latest 3 CD Box…
To grow up with an aunt who owned a luncheonette in Harlem right behind the Apollo Theater and see all the stars coming in and hear them talk, must have a big influence on a future musician. Singer Allan Harris (who also plays guitar and writes songs) saw them all: from Marvin Gaye to Louis…
For her new album “Wallflower”, Diana Krall mostly recorded songs from the 70s with the help of producer David Foster who also did the plush orchestral arrangements, Joachim van der Saag who programmed the disc and was responsible for the so-called sound design, and lots of first-rate musicians. But those musicians are kept in the…
Vincent Peirani‘s new album “Living Being”, to be released this Friday, starts with a mystique accordion and Fender Rhodes motif segueing into the hymn-like “Suite En V” and featuring an intense soprano saxophone by new band member Emile Parisien. Five artists from different musical perspectives have found each other, or rather Vincent has found them,…
I know he has been dissed and bashed over the years like almost no other musician but what is the real essence of saxophonist Kenny G‘s new album “Brazilian Nights” please? There are some enjoyable moments on his 1982 debut LP and the follow-up a year later when artists like Jeff Lorber or Kashif had…
It is very difficult to follow up an album that had 14 timeless tracks on it and which ranked among the best of the year. The songs of her 2012 album “Way Down Low”, her second one after the 2009 debut “Take To The Sky”, still haven’t lost momentum and so here comes album number…
“Imaginary Cities” is the first release of Chris Potter‘s Underground Orchestra, a new project taking his Undergound Quartet a step further. It starts with a haunting melody by violinists Mark Feldman and Joyce Hammann, viola player Lois Martin, and cellist David Eggar before the tenor saxophone of Potter comes in slowly and erupting in something…
If there is one singer whose voice is reminiscent of the late great Luther Vandross, it has to be Marc Staggers. The Washington, D.C. singer has just released his fourth album “Dream Catcher”. After many years in the Gospel music world, Staggers turned to Soul with his 2009 R&B debut album “Then And Now” and…
To record the music of Abbey Lincoln is a very brave undertaking and not many musicians have taken on the dramatic, often political statements and witty lyricism of this timeless artist. In 2013, her former pianist Marc Cary released a beautiful solo homage called “For The Love Of Abbey”. And now comes German singer Esther…
Trumpet and flugelhorn artist Matt Lavelle studied with Ornette Coleman back in 2005 and subsequently took on the alto clarinet as well. The avant-garde musician who also has his own blog, teams up with John Pietaro, the vibraphonist and percussionist for an album of the music of Thelonious Monk. Both are known for their more…