Natalie Cole 1950-2020
We remember Natalie Cole all day today. It would have been her 70th birthday.
GLOW – Ten Of Diamonds
GLOW is not a single artist or a group, but rather a production team of songwriters, producers and composers who works for groups, bands, and solo artists. And so, Dave Love starts off this brilliant indie soul album with a very sexy “Best Of Me”, shuffling along effortlessly and with a lot of warmth, reminding…
Rainer Trueby presents Soul Gliding
A compilation sent from heaven thanks to Rainer Trueby, DJ and producer whose main focus lies on boogie, 2-Step, Modern Soul and Jazz. Starting off the proceedings with Peter Brown‘s “Without Love”, a track from his 1977 “A Fantasy Love Affair” LP featuring the vocals of Pat Hurley, the mood is set with an elegantly…
New Category: Albums you won’t find on Spotify
Everyone uses Spotify these days. However, I have realized that tons of albums I was researching don’t exist there for whatever reasons. Which always makes me go back to my vinyl collection and spin some of those good old gems. This is going to be a loosely published review section of albums you won’t find…
North Sea Jazz 2020 Announces First Acts
There will be all the naysayers again complaining about why artists such as Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, or Alicia Keys are part of a jazz festival programme when in fact, the vast majority of the line-up clearly is jazz and also, what’s the real problem behind it? There is nothing wrong if a huge festival…
Theo Hill – Reality Check
The Rhodes on Stevie Wonder’s “Superwoman” at the beginning of pianist/keyboardist Theo Hill‘s interpretation of the Wonder classic is worth the trip alone. He also makes use of the piano and some synth touches, echoing the original, somewhat mystical composition. “Reality Check” is the third release for Theo on the LA-based Posi-Tone label and features…
Nils Landgren & Jan Lundgren – Kristallen
There is this special beauty, the Scandinavian mythic touch on “Kristallen”, the new duo disc by Swedish trombonist and singer Nils Landgren and pianist Jan Lundgren, also from Sweden. “It’s very much a matter of leaving notes out, of making space”, Nils told me recently during an interview at his label’s offices. ACT Music is…
Orpheus – Visions
Think about a mixture of George Duke and Lonnie Liston Smith. Jarrod Lawson is behind this project called Orpheus and has played almost all instruments on this instrumental album which is now also available on beautiful orange vinyl. The opening track, “Arrival”, really reminds me of some of the meditative Lonnie Liston Smith stuff on…
Moonchild taking Little Ghost to Berlin
Amber Navran, Andris Mattson, and Max Bryk, collectively known as Moonchild, have released their fourth LP “Little Ghost” last September. Staying true to their pretty unique neo-soul sound, the trio will head to Europe in February, with just one show in Berlin (Privatclub, February 10th). After their wonderful “Voyager” double-LP (2017), “Little Ghost” is also…
Montreux 54
I was visiting the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival regularly starting in the late 80s all through the 90s and the early part of the new century. The people I have met during those years, the interviews, walks, parties, get-togethers at the chalet of founder Claude Nobs watching footage of the festival from the 70s, countless…