espAfrika, the organizers of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, have once again come up with an exciting artist line-up for the 17th edition of the festival, which is to be held on April 1st and 2nd. There will be around 37.000 visitors again this year and among the international acts are Angie Stone, who…
The French-born, Brooklyn-based Cyrille Aimée who has won the Montreux Vocal Jazz Competition back in 2007 and the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2012, was also a finalist at the Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition in 2010, and now comes up with her new album “Let’s Get Lost” which features four original tunes and numerous…
And here he goes again. At 81, tenor saxophonist Houston Person has recorded another of his typical, elegant and bluesy, mellow and sophisticated albums. Houston, a longtime collaborator with the legendary Etta Jones, has always been a musician who had a deep understanding and knowledge of the lyrics of the songs he recorded. Best heard…
James Gavin, author of the praised “Is That All There Is? The Strange Life Of Peggy Lee” biography, hosted a highly entertaining evening on Thursday night during Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series (they had Vanessa Williams opening this year’s season the night before, see review on these pages). Highly entertaining regarding to James’ lively and…
Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series had Vanessa Williams last night at the incredible Appel Room. I do find myself watching the long stretch of 59th Street and the dark Central Park drama on the left vs the bustling Midtown to the right instead of what’s going on on the stage. But with Vanessa Williams, it…
This has finally been a day without any live music can you imagine? After a couple of meetings and a nice chat over coffee with singer Kenia, I met my friend Becca for a long walk through Central Park. It was still pretty cold, but with the sun out we could easily walk from around 72nd…
While the city is now saying goodbye to all the conference and APAP folks, it is more or less getting down to normal for this week. But what is normal in New York? I have a week of exciting meetings and interviews and performances up ahead and last night, I went to the Yamaha Piano Salon…
Among the artists Quincy himself introduced last night at the Quincy Jones Productions showcase at Subrosa on Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, was UK wunderkind Jacob Collier. What he does with the piano and loops and voice and what have you is so extraordinarily musical and imaginative. It also has a certain coziness and…
It was one of those nights where I thought OK this is only going to happen in New York. When Becca Stevens played her new show last night at one of the stages at Rockwood Music Hall and she asked bassist and singer Alan Hampton up on stage, I kind of knew that we were…
Three artists to watch out for in 2016: KING, Makaya McCraven, and Terrace Martin. Terrace, best known for his production work on artists like Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, Raphael Saadiq, Charlie Wilson, and of course Kendrick Lamar‘s “To Pimp A Butterfly”, played the sax last night on stage at The Bitter End. And he also was stepping…