I’ve waited a bit with this review because there was something in the air after the first listen. And one of the wonderful things about this solo piano album is that there is so much more to explore with each new listen. There is this profound aura of beauty surrounding the 18-track album by pianist…
There we are again: Too Slow To Disco is back with another wonderful compilation, the second in the Yacht Soul series. R&B and soul artists covering the songbooks of their white contemporaries. Starting out with the 1973 Mel & Tim track “Keep The Faith” from their self-titled Stax album. A song written by Mark James,…
Stacey Kent just released an album of songs which she has performed live over the years, but never recorded. During three recording sessions, she has come up with 11 songs, two each by Michel Legrand and Jacques Brel, three new compositions by her husband Jim Tomlinson, Kazuo Ishiguro and Cliff Goldmacher, two standards and a…
Saxophonist Joshua Redman released his first album for Blue Note back in September. Called “Where Are We”, it is also his first where he has worked with a singer. Gabrielle Cavassa is featured on most of the tracks on the album where all of the songs refer to a city or state in the US….
Brazilian pop star Ed Motta is back with his 14th studio album. Inspired by movies (George Cukor, Jacques Tati) and old TV series (“Barnaby Jones”, “The Streets Of San Francisco”, “Colombo”), his psychedelic soul, as he himself calls his music, has reached another level. Recorded in Brazil (his main band), Detroit (brass) and LA (singers),…
UK-based indie/neo soul chanteuse Natasha Watts is back with her fourth album “Music Is My Life”. The singer and songwriter, who had huge success back in 2009 with Cool Million, opens her 11-track album with “I Am Me”, a shining and sophisticated soul number which already had remix treatment by Atjazz. She follows it up…
There is a lot to love about singer Ann Hampton Callaway. Her rich and sumptuous voice, her vast repertoire (songs of Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, movie themes…), her never ending tour dates (she seems to be out on the road all the time). And then there is her ability to write magnificent songs, which have…
Manchester-based trumpeter, composer, producer, and label owner Matthew Halsall wanted to capture “the feeling of openness and escapism” for his new album “An Ever Changing View”, which arrived last Friday, three years after his stunning “Salute To The Sun” LP. He set himself up in an architect’s house in the British countryside and composed this…
Two years after “In Praise Of Shadows”, the critically acclaimed debut album by Jacob Allen, better known as Puma Blue, the South Londoner is back with “Holy Waters”. It’s another hopelessly romantic, in parts pretty gloomy, but overall absolutely exciting set of tunes. His whispering vocals lead the charming melody of “Pretty”, a guitar-driven ballad…
It is supposed to be a tribute to her father João Gilberto. Singer Bebel Gilberto‘s new album, simply called “João”, has just come out and it is a return to her basic musical memories. The instrumentation on this nicely subdued and stripped-back album is actually quiet comforting. However, her voice is not. She has now…