One of the earliest, and certainly one of the best, festivals of the year is the Winter Jazzfest in New York. Manhattan’s Greenwich Village will once again be the heart and soul of live jazz on 12 different stages. I remember last year when I attended the festival that it was necessary to decide to either just…
Jean-Claude Thompson is one half of famed duo The Amalgamation Of Soundz and has now come up with a nine-track exotic jazz compilation which includes some obscure, yet pretty accessible stuff. Well, not in all cases. The album opens with the Jazz percussion ensemble M’Boom and a track from their 1984 LP “Collage”. M’Boom was…
Polish guitarist Maciek Pysz started to write the material for his sophomore album in Italy and imagined the music “more as a soundtrack for a journey…”. He teamed up with bandoneon player Daniele di Bonaventura and the mix of classical guitar and the bandoneon is indeed magical. As can be heard on the beautiful opening track…
I think it’s great that Jazz is represented in the Best Children’s Album category this year – thanks to the wonderful album “How Great Can This Day Be” by singer Lori Henriques (see also my review from January 8th): http://www.ginalovesjazz.com/lori-henriques-catches-ginas-attention-on-new-album The 58th Grammy Awards show will run on February 15th and today, the nominees have…
Pianist Lucas Heidepriem opens his new trio album “Silence In Motion” with a dreamy solo intro before Johannes Schaedlich on bass and drummer Peter Erskine join in. “Falesia” is a truly fascinating trio piece with almost sacred qualities and some intensive repetitive patterns. And his very lyrical playing continues on “Second Steps” with its chamber music-like…
“It’s not supposed to be a special place or city, it’s more like a search to find your home, anywhere”. For someone touring the world over, that’s something that you can easily relate to. Born in Israel and based in New York, guitarist Gilad Hekselman is currently on tour in Europe to support his latest…
Both pianist Sebastian Sternal and flugelhornist Frederik Köster belong to the acclaimed and accomplished German jazz musicians who have received several awards in the past. They’ve been playing together in various groups since about 10 years. For their latest duo album, they went to Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. And so, their compositions seem to reflect…
The new seasonal album by Barbara Dennerlein, the Hammond B3 organist from Germany, is as colorful and playful as the wonderful cover suggests. Produced by Italian mastermind Nicola Conte (who can also be heard on guitar on two tracks), and released through the re-established MPS label, the thirteen songs on “Christmas Soul” are your common…
When Jazz Institute Berlin director Peter Weniger and journalist Wolf Kampmann spreaded word that they want to organize a concert for the Flüchtlingsrat Berlin e.V., which supports a vast number of refugees coming to the city, the reaction of the Berlin musicians was overwhelming. And so, the concert which is called “We Insist! Solidarität mit…
Melbourne-based, Morocco-born guitarist Albare is currently on a European tour in support of his new album “Only Human”. From the Pat Metheny-like opener “Nightly News” to the smooth groove of the title track, here’s a pretty versatile musician combining his superb skills with imaginative compositions. Albare, whose real name is Albert Dadon, wants his new…