One good thing about the Grammy nominations is that I usually listen back to a record or two which somehow fell under the radar. This time around, I totally neglected Tierney Sutton‘s last release (nominated as Best Vocal Jazz Album) with the songs from Sting. My favorite Police albums remain the three records the group…
Once again this year, a lot of new holiday records were released in the past weeks and even now, a new track or a single or two are coming in digitally. But there are a few new recordings that we’ve come back to over and over again this year and we wanted to give you…
The 67th Berlin International Film Festival has announced the first 10 films for the Competition section. World premieres from Hungary, Germany, the USA, the UK, and several co-produced movies are now in for the Golden Bear. There is also a German documentary among the movies, “Beuys” by Andres Veiel. The American entry is by Oren…
It was Sunday, July 12th, 1992, when I first saw Gladys Knight live in concert. The Northsea Jazz Festival in The Hague (now in Rotterdam) and its biggest location, the Statenhal, was packed to the roof. I was pretty close to the stage witnessing a flawless, charming, entertaining, rousing set by one of soul music’s…
The Family of Jazz is the subtitle and theme of the next Jazz Connect conference, to be held on January 5th and 6th at Saint Peter’s Church in New York City. And a family gathering it is indeed. It is always a blast seeing so many of our peers and being around people who are…
It’s that time of year again where I wish I could be at several places at the same time: the annual JazzConnect Conference (January 5th and 6th), the 13th annual Winter Jazzfest (January 5th to 10th) at 14 venues across the Village (with an unbelievable lineup), and the annual APAP conference and showcases (January 6th…
After a short break, the Elbjazz Festival is back in 2017 and yes, part of the venues will be the new queen of the city, the Elbphilharmonie. Hamburg harbour will act as the dramatic stage for two days of jazz and jazz-related genres with over 50 acts performing. On June 2nd and June 3rd, acts…
The book I’m currently reading is “My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire”. Founding member Maurice White‘s autobiography was published in September and written with Herb Powell. I’m still in the early years of his life when he was working as a drummer, long before Maurice started his groundbreaking, award-winning supergroup. Maurice White died much…
I know that the Grammy Awards are not as important today as they used to be and I also know that I’m not the only one who thinks that Adele is unbelievably overrated with her pretty blood-, soul-, and lifeless singing that leaves me totally cold, but still, a Grammy nomination and a Grammy win…
One of my all-time favorite vocalists, Carol Sloane, returns to New York for a one-night only duo performance with her longtime pianist Bill Charlap on January 11th. Carol started her professional work as early as 1951 (she turns 80 next March) and worked with the Les and Larry Elgart Orchestra before she occasionally stood in…