When Jazz meets Folk meets World Music meets Country meets Zappa meets Schlager meets Sun Ra meets Blues. Add to that a good portion of bright humor and you enter the hilarious world of Stein Urheim and Mari Kvien Brunvoll. The Norwegian duo has created a bizarre mix of space-age bachelor pad turns extraterrestrial music…
Producer Larry Klein, who has shaped albums for Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Walter Becker, Shawn Colvin, or Curtis Stigers and the new one by his wife Luciana Souza, is also responsible for the airy and open sound on singer Lisa Bassenge‘s new album “Canyon Songs”. That canyon of course refers to…
Latest output from 34-year old Israeli pianist Yaron Herman is, above all, a duo album with his longtime musical partner, Ziv Ravitz on drums and percussions. Yaron, who lives in France, manages to let the thirteen songs on his album sound like it is at least a full trio, though. Listen to “Points Of You”…
The 28-year old Norwegian bassist and singer Ellen Andrea Wang is currently on tour with her new album “Diving”. It reminds me a lot of the genre-crossing Becca Stevens in her compositions which can be at times jazzy, then again more rock-oriented, singer/songwriter-like or on the folky side. Ellen recently joined drummer Manu Katché‘s band…
Portuguese fado singer Mariza releases her new album “Mundo” this week and will showcase her new material on a tour through the US, Canada, and Europe. I had the pleasure of meeting her in Berlin last August and we talked about her new album and the brilliant work of her producer Javier Limón. The new…
German singer and guitarist Torsten Goods who studied at the New School in New York, has come up with a strong new album that focuses on soul songs and spirituals and puts him clearly in the George Benson category, most evident on the Oscar Brown Jr. tune “Brother, Where Are You” where he amazingly sounds…
There is clearly no shortage of good jazz festivals the world over – Germany for example has dozens of high-quality events in all parts of the country; from January to December, you can tour the country and find a lot of worthy live jazz events. But I think it is always worth a mention when…
After the disappointing album with Lady Gaga which went to Number 1 and won a Grammy Award, Tony is back with a set of songs from one of the most important composers of the Great American Songbook: Jerome Kern. His impeccable swing and sure-fire intonation still brilliantly intact at 89 years old, Tony is accompanied…
Alto saxophonist Phil Woods died on Tuesday in Pennsylvania from emphysema. He was 83. The winner of the 1956 Downbeat International new star division, the Springfield, Massachusetts born Woods spent many years in Paris where he played at the Cameleon club in April, 1968 with George Gruntz, Henri Texier, and Daniel Humair: Phil Woods and…
Drummer Kendrick Scott, who turned 35 last summer, is probably best known for his work with Terence Blanchard. But he also made a lasting contribution with his own group Oracle which released its debut album almost 10 years ago and which featured Robert Glasper, Aaron Parks, Lionel Loueke, and Gretchen Parlato. He is now back…