He should have gained much more attention, but for some reason, always stayed somewhat under the radar inspite of a recording career that spanned almost sixty years and a plethora of fantastic recordings. My favorite is his solo recording released for the Maybeck Recital Hall Series. The 1993 disc features Don Friedman on numerous standards and…
It is a collection of songs that popular Brazilian singer Marisa Monte has released under the title “Colecao”. Songs that were recorded between her 1989 debut (the phenomenal “MM”) and today, sometimes with added vocals, sometimes with a new mix, always with heart and soul. That’s the core element here: the heart and soul of…
Vibraphonist Warren Wolf opens his third album with “Soul Sister”, one of six original compositions that shows his versatility and progress in writing his own songs: the track oozes class, spirit and yes, soul and features some bright and brimming playing by John Scofield, who, together with Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Jeff “Tain” Watts,…
If there is any singer which is able to sing the Great American Songbook without any hint of boredom or nuisance, it is Jane Monheit. She sings the Ella Fitzgerald songbook on her new Songbook Sessions album (hopefully there are more to come in this series) and loosely collected songs Ella sang (and then didn’t…
The full programme for this year’s Jazzfest Berlin will be announced in September, but artistic director Richard Williams gave away most of the artists participating in the 2016 edition earlier this week. A total of 16 jazz bands will perform and five duo collaborations, some of which will play together for the first time. A lot…
Singer Eleanore Mills unfortunately released only one album, the 1974 LP “This Is Eleanore Mills!”, which is now available as a re-mastered edition. The album came out on Astroscope, which was a subsidiary label of All Platinum Records, the lable of impresario Sylvia Robinson and was produced by Harry Ray and Al Goodman (The Moments,…
Chick Corea turns 75 on Sunday. What better way to celebrate this milestone than a two-month stint at the Blue Note in New York. And to help him celebrate this special birthday, there will be a total of 80 shows, 15 legendary bands, and 60 legendary musicians performing between October 19th and December 12th. Since Chick…
There is the annual Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival in Samois-sur-Seine in France (June 22nd-26th) and there is the Django Reinhardt Festival in Hildesheim in Germany (July 1st and 2nd). And then there is the Django Reinhardt NY Festival which will celebrate its 17th season this year at Birdland (August 2nd-7th). Among the artists performing at…
Hot on the heels of the soundtrack to the Don Cheadle Miles Davis biopic where Robert Glasper played a vital role, here comes Robert’s tribute album to the meister who would have been 90 this year. And thank heaven this is not a trumpet album. Not that I don’t dig the trumpet, but a Miles…
I am a big Brad Mehldau fan. Ever since his very first album and ever since I first saw him in Montreux in the early 90s. His playing is flawless, groovy, aesthetically perfect and has some Keith Jarrett moments even. But in terms of repertoire and surrounding cast, isn’t it time for some changes? Just…