A much deserved celebration of the genius of Webster Lewis. I first came across his name on Merry Clayton‘s 1980 LP “Emotion”, where the sort-of title track, “Give Me Some Emotion”, immediately hit me with its utterly deep soul and jazzy Rhodes playing. Finding one of his solo albums was a pretty hard task, even…
Singer Eddie Chacon and keyboardist John Carroll Kirby made a stop in Berlin last night. They are currently on a European tour and played Kreuzberg’s Gretchen for a good hour or so. John started the proceedings with a track from his five-paw reviewed LP “Septet” before Eddie took the stage to perform “Wicked World” from…
I bet you remember the first time you listened to “Talking Book” (1972), one of Stevie Wonder‘s pivotal albums of that decade. It is fascinating to come back to the album, listening to the ten tracks again and actually finding something new, something you didn’t hear the first time around. The New York Times just…
Over 80 concerts, 500 musicians from 30 countries, 23 different locations, and around 40.000 visitors. Jazztage Dresden start today with the opening concert by the Klazz Brothers, Dresden Bigband, Trio Balkan Strings, and more. Coming up during the next four weeks: concerts by Nina Attal, Maceo Parker, Iiro Rantala Quartet, Max Mutzke and the Landesjugend…
Now more so than ever, don’t we all want to go to the land of Shangri-La? It seems as if Young Gun Silver Fox have come up with the perfect soundtrack for the trip. Andy Platts (Mamas Gun) and Shawn Lee are back with their fourth studio album, to be released this Friday on Légère…
Zee Desmondes and Teddy Powell are back for good. And more than that. Imagine Kashif, Quincy Jones, and Leon Sylvers getting together in the early to mid 80s. Out comes “Lionel Richie”, the first cut on the brilliant new album “Cruiserweight” by The Jack Moves. Wonderful string arrangements, “Off The Wall”-style vocals and a thick,…
It’s that time of year again. Starting November 3rd, over 150 musicians gather again for the 59th edition of Jazzfest Berlin. Five locations will host the guests for four days. Included in the lineup are Craig Taborn, Matana Roberts, Tomeka Reid, Hamid Drake, and Kris Davis, among others. We’ll also get Immanuel Wilkins, Isaiah Collier,…
In the liner notes to her new album “Reasons”, singer Lindsey Webster says that “this is the most personal album I’ve ever written. You’ll likely feel the pain…but the excitement and beauty…were real moments in time…Reasons is in two parts, telling two totally different stories that occurred back-to-back.” The combination between Lindsey and her musical…
Gina was not very amused when singer Ann Hampton Callaway and her wife Kari came over to our place for a glass of champagne before we headed over to one of our favorite Italian restaurants in our neighborhood. She was very jealous and had to defend her territory, but after a while, she got by….
48 years after her Barry White-produced debut album “What Am I Gonna Do” came out in 1974, Texas-born singer Gloria Scott returns with her second album “So Wonderful”. At 76 now, she’s got the help of UK-based Snowboy who plays percussion throughout, and producer and drummer Andrew McGuinness. Gloria moved to San Francisco where she…