One of the finest jazz festivals in Europe, Berlin’s XJazz! Festival, returns in early May. From May 6th to 12th, well-established and lesser-known acts will grace the stages in Kreuzberg, with all venues within walking distance. Starting on May 6th, Nala Sinephro and her meditative fusion of jazz, folk and field recordings get things moving…
London-born saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings declared earlier this year that he would take a hiatus from performing the instrument with his bands Sons Of Kemet, Shabaka and The Ancestors, and The Comet Is Coming. Instead, he changed to the flute for his solo album “Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace” which came out on Impulse! Records…
“In The Realm Of Affections” is the translation for “No Reino Dos Afetos”, the title of Brazilian singer and poet Bruno Berle‘s debut album which came out in 2022 on Far Out Recordings. Several tracks from that album, like “Até Meu Violão” or “Quero Dizer”, are still in heavy rotation on the playlist in Gina’s…
We’ve just put together our latest weekly 60-minute playlist of new music. It features a second track from Madeleine Peyroux‘s upcoming album “Let’s Walk”, which will come out on June 28th. She turns to her bluesier side for “Showman Dan”. She celebrated her 50th birthday last Friday. There is also another piece from Kenny Barron‘s…
On Thursday, the German Jazz Price ceremony was staged in Cologne. Since 2021, Jazz in Germany has been getting much more attention, and deservedly so. The hosts of the evening, Hadnet Tesfai and Götz Bühler, did a nonchalant and cool job, helping to make this a pretty entertaining night. Each nominee took home 4.000€, with…
After many years, I was finally back at jazzahead! in Bremen, the largest jazz network meeting in the world. And right from the start, it was clear that this was going to be a special one. After the press conference, I headed over to the fair and immediately bumped into old and new colleagues, friends,…
From Sao Paulo to Brighton, the non-binary singer Lau Ro will release his debut LP “Cabana” on May 31st on Far Out Recordings. Mixing British folk, rock, and jazz with 60s and 70s Brazilian music, Lau Ro has come up with an exceptionally personal and imaginative record. First single “Onde Eu Vou” is out right…
Just a few weeks after her remarkable performance in Berlin, singer Lizz Wright has just released her new album “Shadow” on her own Blues & Greens Records. It is available as a colored 180g vinyl version too. We’ve already been treated with a couple of singles, like the wondrous, easily shuffling “Your Love” which features…
We just came back from this year’s jazzahead! fair in Bremen (expect a report sometime later this week) during which a bunch of great new releases came out. José James finally came up with his 12th release. Titled “1978” (his birth year), it’s a double vinyl album with a total of nine tracks, three of…
For his 60-minute set on Tuesday night at Berlin’s Frannz Club in the bubbling Prenzlauer Berg area, singer, songwriter and guitarist Jalen Ngonda basically played the tracks from his brilliant 2023 Daptone Records LP “Come Around And Love Me”. His 60s/70s soul sound with tight and crisp arrangements and short 3-minute stories worked explicity well…