She just finished her European tour. I was lucky to catch up with her in Vienna. I’m still going back to her 1985 LP “Good Morning Kiss”. Her new one, “Soul To Soul”, is her best so far and one of the best recordings of 2014. Happy Birthday Carmen and many more to come!
He is best known as a songwriter for timeless songs by The Chi-Lites like “Oh Girl” or “Have You Seen Her” or the successful “Soulful Strut” for Young-Holt Unlimited which later became a hit for his wife Barbara Acklin as “Am I The Same Girl”. Eugene Record left The Chi-Lites in 1976 to record three…
I remember interviewing Jack Kleinsinger in his Manhattan home many years ago when his Festival was still held at PACE University and after the interview he generously gave me two concert LPs, one of which was a recording of the December 12, 1985 concert at NYU with Doc Cheatham on trumpet and George Kelly on…
There are only a handful of pianists with such a virtuosic approach and diverse dynamics like Fred Hersch. Which he proved again last night at Spot in Groningen, the vibrant live venue in the heart of this equally bubbling city which doesn’t showcase its virtues on or above the surface, but rather more slightly under…
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…
It could be the pop songs of the day, a veritable jazz standard, or a classy soul tune, whatever Nancy Wilson touched, became angelic. After almost 60 years in the business and dozens and dozens of timeless recordings, she left this world yesterday at age 81 after a long illness. She died at her home…
Listening to Billie Holiday today and forever. April 7th, 1915 – July 17th, 1959.