Here is an album that can only be enjoyed in its entirety – it is a suite-like set of tunes with lyrics and wordless vocals by singer Sabeth Pérez and also includes several little interludes to loosen it all up. Its atmospheric stance is what makes it a worthwhile listen. Saxophonist Marc Doffey and his…
Matthew Kaminski, Hammond organist from Atlanta, opens his new live set with a Brian Wilson tune: “Sail On Sailor” is a solid, soulful, blues-inflected showcase of his forceful and sometimes exuberant style and has an effective tenor sax solo by Will Scruggs, too. Lou Donaldson‘s “Hot Dog”, originally from Lou’s 1969 Blue Note LP of…
Just a few months after the release of their 17th album “In Search Of Better Days”, three albums by UK jazz/funk troupe Incognito have now been reissued with a few additional cuts: the 2002 album “Who Needs Love”, 2004’s “Adventures in Black Sunshine” and “Eleven” from 2005. And to hear those three albums again back…
French-born synth and keyboard ace Wally Badarou recorded with the group Level 42 between 1980 and 1994 and also graced albums by Gwen Guthrie, Grace Jones, Black Uhuru, Robert Palmer, Herbie Hancock, and many more. His most well-known solo recording, at least to these ears, is the 1983 instrumental “Chief Inspector” from his album “Echoes”….
Singer Kenia, who grew up in Rio de Janeiro and moved to the US in 1980, now living in Pittsburgh, continues her streak of recordings that combine contemporary Brazilian material with US standards and top-notch production. The title track opens the set, with lyrics by the great Lorraine Feather. Thick keyboards from Mark Soskin and…
So the story goes that Norah Jones met Wayne Shorter two years ago at the 75th birthday celebrations of her label, Blue Note Records, at Washington’s Kennedy Center. The story also goes that this was the inspiration for her latest release “Day Breaks”. Wayne Shorter is prominently featured on four tracks here, even though he…
The much anticipated Soul Togetherness edition for this year is finally out and it is, yet again, a great round-up of consistently high-quality modern soul. The 15-tracker starts out with a deep disco-dance groove with the ever so graceful Jocelyn Brown on “Don’t Quit” by Dutch house producers Diephuis & Eastar. I already can’t get enough of…
There are new twists on pianist and composer Orrin Evans‘ new album – adding the guitars of Kurt Rosenwinkel and Kevin Eubanks is just one of them. The short electronic gimmicks over his piano lines on the opening and final title cuts show another face. The interaction of his piano, Kevin’s guitar and the sax…
When Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson were ready to record the epochal “Thriller” LP, Quincy called the best of the best, among them, songwriter Rod Temperton. In his autobiography “Q”, Quincy says that Rod was “one of the best songwriters who ever lived, with the melodic and contrapuntal gifts and instincts of a classical composer…He…
I still can’t believe the sudden passing of legendary producer, writer, musician, and author Kashif on September 25th. I have grown up with his solo records and all the great songs and albums he wrote and produced for other artists. I wanted to share this article from December 21st which was published on this site…