​

​Voormalig Cuby & The Blizzards-gitarist Hans Kinds uit Assen is in de nacht van zondag op maandag op 74-jarige leeftijd overleden. Hans was al enige tijd ziek. Voordat Cuby & The Blizzards werd opgericht, speelde Hans in Assen slaggitaar bij The Rocking Strings, een band waar ook onder anderen sologitarist Eelco Gelling en bassist Willy Middel in speelden. Harry Muskee zong en speelde toen contrabas in The Old Fashioned Jazz Group, een andere groep uit Assen. De twee bands speelden in die tijd ook regelmatig samen. Korte tijd later werd Cuby & The Blizzards opgericht, met Hans Kinds als slaggitarist. Hans speelde in 1965 mee op de eerste singles 'Stumble And Fall' en 'I'm So Restless'. Ook is hij te horen op het debuutalbum 'Desolation' uit 1966, waarop de hitsingle 'Just For Fun' stond. Twee jaar later kreeg de band een Edison voor die plaat. In 1967 verliet Hans de band, omdat hij in militaire dienst moest. In 1970 keerde hij terug bij de band, maar deze keer in de rol van 'roadmanager'. Cuby & The Blizzards hield er in 1972 (tijdelijk) mee op. Op 15 januari 1974 werd nog een 'afscheidsconcert' gegeven. Hans Kinds speelde ook daar mee. In 1990 deed Hans nog mee aan een reünieoptreden in Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, omdat Harry Muskee toen 25 jaar in het vak zat. Hans Kinds ruste in vrede!
 
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.

Over the last quarter century, Long Island Singer/Songwriter Chris St. John has truly led a diverse and successful professional career in the field of law as a prosecutor, judge and practicing attorney. 
 
Now, his dream of lateral success in the music business is starting to become a reality, as his LP, “I’m Dreaming,” 
​
The album includes 13 original songs plus a cover of “Peggy O’” and a musical score that connects two compositions. Chris St John’s music draws from multiple genres, utilizing an array of instruments. Each song leaves the listener intently waiting for the next surprise. St John cuts his own path though, making the music uniquely his own.
 
The topics include the loss of love at a young age; the loss of his parents; the birth of his son John (now 18) and life with his wife of 27 years Elisabeth; a surprise DNA discovery; a serious illness where he was put in a medically induced coma, and a nurse sang him back to life; the loss of a young relative in a car accident and the subsequent climb out of depression; alcohol addiction and recovery; and a gift from his grandmother that he intends to return to her someday.

​Says Chris, “My professional career is what I do. These songs are who I am. They are about my personal life. The songs have been written over about 30 years, with four new ones written in the last several months to finish up the album.” 
 
Chris also worked in the State Department, participating in the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in 1987; and lived, studied, and taught in China later that year. He was also a Congressional Aide and is now a volunteer firefighter.
 
In 2015, he and his friend started a not-for-profit charity called HALO Missions, which provides medical care, clothing, food, farming equipment, and surgeries for AIDS orphans and the extreme poor throughout Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean. 
 
Chris remarks, “The title of the LP is ‘I’m Dreaming’ because some of these songs were dreamed in my sleep and written down when I awoke. Others came from daydreams. There are so many references to dreaming in the album. I guess I like to dream. People have told me I should write a book or make an album. This is both to me”.
 
For more information:
Official Website: www.chrisstjohn.com
​

On his new CD, INTO THE NIGHT, releasing April 2nd on CAP Records, trombonist and composer ERIC GOLETZ offers a program that mixes funk, rock, and jazz sounds into a unique sonic blend. By featuring his trombone over a full rhythm section with keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and percussion, Goletz’ music has no artistic parallel in the current jazz scene. While the compositions are intricate, the approach is highly accessible for music lovers of all kinds. As a composer, Goletz wanted his pieces to appear in their fully developed state. On two tracks, he has added five horns to the band to create a powerful big band sound. Even when approaching established standards like John Coltrane’s “Mr. P.C.” or Cole Porter’s “What is This Thing Called Love,” Goletz finds inventive ways to make the music fit the personality of his band. These incredibly flexible musicians can create perfect grooves in a wide variety of genres, and then can switch those styles on the turn of a dime. They are also masters of dynamics, as displayed in the brilliant composition “Oasis,” which develops as a long crescendo and diminuendo. Naturally, this disc offers plenty of examples of Goletz as virtuoso trombonist, starting with the brilliant unaccompanied cadenza that launches the album opener, “Say What??” to the tender notes of the closer, “Lullaby.”
 
Tracks
1. SAY WHAT??  7:47
2. MR. PC 10:21
3. INTO THE NIGHT  13:17
4. AFTER HOURS  7:35
5. STEPPIN OUT  8:02
6. WHAT IS THIS THING...  5:21
7. OASIS  8:30
8. CAT ON THE CORNER 7:50
9. LULLABY  6:18
 
Personnel
ERIC GOLETZ  trombone, keyboards
HENRY HEINITSH  guitar  
MITCH SCHECHTER  piano
MARK HAGAN  bass
STEVE JOHNS  drums
JOE MOWATT  percussion
VINNIE CUTRO  trumpet
FREDDIE MAXWELL  trumpet
BOB MAGNUSON  alto sax
ERICK STORCKMAN  trombone
JONATHAN GREENBERG  bass trombone
 
All compositions by ERIC GOLETZ except for Mr. PC (Coltrane), 
What is this Thing Called Love (Porter), Lullaby (Rippingtons)
Arranged by ERIC GOLETZ

​Malcolm Cecil, a pioneering producer known for his work on some of Stevie Wonder’s biggest albums of the 1970s, has died. He was 84 years old.
His death on March 28 was announced via The Bob Moog Foundation’s Twitter account, who also revealed he had been suffering from a “long illness”.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the passing of the legendary creative genius, musician, engineer, producer, & synthesizer pioneer, Malcolm Cecil,” a post from the organization read.
Malcolm Cecil is widely regarded as an influential producer through his work with TONTO (The Original New Timbral Orchestra), which began as an analog synthesizer he and Robert Margouleff designed and constructed over a number of years.
The TONTO synthesizer delivered an array of new sounds, and marked the world’s first multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer. It remains the largest synthesizer of this kind in the world.
Through the use of TONTO, Cecil and Margouleff were credited as associate producers, engineers and programmers on some of Stevie Wonder’s biggest albums from the 1970s. These include ‘Music of my Mind’, ‘Talking Book’, ‘Innervisions’ and ‘Fulfillingness’ First Finale’ – the latter hitting the top spot on the Billboard 200.
Arguably the most notable of Wonder’s songs from this period is ‘Superstition’, taken from ‘Talking Book’, which marked his first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in almost 10 years in 1972. The keyboard sound of ‘Superstition’ was fed through TONTO, and its bassline was created with TONTO.
After almost two decades, Wonder would again use the TONTO on ‘Jungle Fever’, a soundtrack album for the Spike Lee film of the same name released in 1991.
Alongside Margouleff, Cecil released two studio albums early in the 1970s as part of ‘TONTO’s Expanding Head Band’. A string of musicians used TONTO following Wonder, including Quincy Jones, Gil Scott-Heron, Joan Baez, The Isley Brothers and more.

​Don Heffington (December 20, 1950 – March 23, 2021) was born in Los Angeles, California. Heffington was a drummer for Emmylou Harris's Hot Band, playing on the 1983 album White Shoes. On his first solo album Gloryland, Heffington played most of the instruments and recorded with engineer David Vaught. Heffington had been hospitalized for leukemia prior to his death. He died at the age of 70 in Los Angeles, California.
Heffington grew up in a musical family in Los Angeles. His grandmother played drums and his mother played upright bass, and they passed on their enthusiasm for jazz to Heffington. Then Bob Dylan's album Bringing It All Back Home broadened his musical scope to include rock and roll music. As a teen, Heffington joined a jazz band, The Doug Morris Quintet, on drums. Heffington was a member of the first incarnation of Lone Justice, along with Maria McKee (vocals), Ryan Hedgecock (guitar), and Marvin Etzioni (bass). Heffington was with the band from 1982 until 1985. Heffington is a member of the Watkins Family Hour, led by Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins. Other members include Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Greg Leisz (pedal steel), Benmont Tench (piano), and David Garza (guitar).
Heffington was an American drummer, percussionist, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the Los Angeles alternative country band Lone Justice, which he performed with from 1982 to 1985. Heffington was also a touring musician for various artists, including Lowell George, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, Victoria Williams, The Wallflowers, The Jayhawks, and Joanna Newsom.

New album
out 16.04.21
[Must Have Jazz / Membran]

includes the single
PROMEMORIA
out 26.03.21

video
youtu.be/zVKFqP2CPLs

FOR FANS OF ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM / SHIRLEY HORN / JIMMY SCOTT

Translated into English as ‘Based On A True Story’, this new album by the Italian jazz singer-songwriter Joe Barbieri houses a collection of songs as beautiful as they are personal.
Four years after releasing ‘Origami’ and two since ‘Dear Billie’ (his tribute to Ms. Holiday), the charismatic Naples-based artist has now returned to writing and singing his own songs for what is his most autobiographical work to date. “The truth is a treasure chest that is difficult to unlock,” he states. “In those moments when you try to understand a part of it, in changes and offers another facet of itself. However, after 30 years on my chosen path as an Artist, as well as in my personal life, it is to this research that I am still devoted and am putting into my songs."
 
The result is a bold album on which each track vibrates with true passion and luminous honesty. Richly diverse, cinematic yet intimate, it is often reminiscent of the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim and Shirley Horn. It also features a host of talent among its supporting cast, including Jacques Morelenbaum (cello), Fabrizio Bosso (trumpet), Chris Ott (trombone), the string quartet Onda Nueve, plus vocalists Sergio Cammariere, Carmen Consoli and Tosca.

The release of the album will be preceded by the upbeat single ‘Promemoria’. Barbieri describes the song’s lyric as “the eternal battle between regret and remorse, between the things you said and those you could have but didn't say in certain situations. But then there is also that unshakeable hope that lingers in the background of important choices."
       
TRATTO DA UNA STORIA VERA
TRACKLISTING
1  La Giusta Distanza
2  Promemoria
3  Previsioni Del Tempo
4  Niente Di Grave
5  Lazzari Felici
6  Vedi Napoli E Poi Canta
7  In Buone Mani
8  Alla Fine
9  Tu Io E Domani
10  Manifesto
11  Mentre Ridi

joebarbieri.com

Op advies van onze glazen bol beslisten we ons festival uit te stellen naar de nazomer. In de hoop dat we dan voldoende vrijheid hebben om er samen met jullie een muzikaal feest van te maken. Met een aangepaste maar even aantrekkelijke rootsaffiche. En inclusief de Kempische gezelligheid, waar we dan weer met volle teugen van hopen te genieten. Verkochte tickets blijven geldig. Meer nieuws over het definitieve programma volgt zodra het kan
 
Goezot! vzw
Website: www.goezot.be
​​

Woolvs is een jonge Brusselse edgy, off-key band met nummers die als rafelige dekentjes kunnen verwarmen, prikkelen, en af en toe genadeloos scheuren. De muziek klinkt als de optelsom van vijf unieke muzikale persoonlijkheden, die overigens ook in andere projecten te vinden zijn zoals o.a. Bombataz, SCHNTZL en An Pierlé Quartet. De bandleden delen dan ook een achtergrond in jazz en geïmproviseerde muziek. Met die vrijheid weven ze gezamenlijk songs rond de teksten van frontman muzikant/producer Willem Malfliet. Naast de zang neemt die ook de productie, opname en mix voor zijn rekening. Dit alles gebeurt met een onvervalste ‘do-it-yourself’-mentaliteit in hun werkruimte in muziekcentrum VOLTA. De nummers worden met de hele band in één take opgenomen, met weinig tot geen overdubs. 

​​Voor de meeste muzikanten was 2020 een jaar om snel te vergeten. Afgelaste optredens, uitgestelde releases en nauwelijks een festivalzomer. Maar zoals Johan Cruijff ooit zei, ‘elk nadeel, heb se voordeel’. De Brusselse band Woolvs greep de gelegenheid aan om met een resem nieuwe ideeën de studio in te trekken. Ze bevolken samen een ruimte in muziekcentrum Volta en werkten daar de ideeën uit tot voldragen nummers. Gevolg daarvan is hun eerste LP, die de naam Evening Planet draagt.  
 
Not so long ago, we were still children. Dat is de eerste zin die frontman en bezieler van de groep Willem Malfliet aan de luisteraar richt. Het klinkt als het begin van een sprookje, maar dat is het allesbehalve. Men zou dit eerste nummer als een allegorie kunnen beschouwen voor de evolutie van de band. De naïviteit is verdwenen, de klank is volwassen geworden, maar de verwondering en bovenal het plezier zijn gebleven. De zanger heeft zijn stem gevonden en heeft geen schroom om af en toe tegen het randje aan te schuren.  
 
Het geheel heeft iets weg van een planetaire ontdekkingstocht. Er wordt gretig gebruik gemaakt van verschillende klankkleuren en invloeden, van de reggae-achtige ritmesectie in Earth, tot de repetitieve intro in Dopers’ Planet, die wat doen denken aan het werk van Sparklehorse. Diezelfde dromerige tonen vinden we ook terug bij Metadata, en Evening Postcard Bin, een nummer waarin het raamwerk wordt aangevuld door de saxofoon van Thomas Jillings, hetgeen uitmondt in een semi-wrange climax tijdens het refrein. In het zevende nummer, Sweat, wordt de sfeer bepaald door het dwingende, ogenschijnlijk nét te trage tempo van de drums, die zich hier als dominante stem manifesteert. Het tweede deel van de plaat voelt duisterder aan dan het eerste. De tocht eindigt met het atmosferische Date, een song die zich ergens in een tussenwereld lijkt af te spelen, tussen werkelijkheid en droom. Na de intro zet een eenvoudige piano de toon, vervolgens stelselmatig aangevuld met subtiele percussie, en harmonieuze lijntjes van gitaar en klarinet om ten slotte af te sluiten met een meerstemmig sluitstuk, Think about it, als een mantra.
 
Soms zoet, soms scherp, maar telkens in balans. Evening Planet klinkt als een goed gesprek tussen twee vrienden, geliefden mogelijk, die zich na een uitgebreid diner in het gras neervlijen en naar de hemel staren. Gedachten dwalen, geesten reflecteren over de fenomenen van deze tijd, de omvang van het universum en het raadsel der liefde. Hoe kan het ook anders? In de teksten keert regelmatig een vrouwelijke stem terug die de vertellers kosmische hersenspinsels nuanceert en hem zodoende weer richting aarde lijkt te trekken, met de voeten op de grond.
 
Muziektechnisch zit er een inventiviteit in de nummers, die zorgt voor verrassende wendingen in het verhaal, zonder dat daarbij de luisteraar in de steek wordt gelaten. Het vakmanschap is voelbaar in elke maat, voeg daar de beschouwende, quasi-filosofische teksten van Malfliet aan toe en het resultaat dat je krijgt is een interessante eigentijdse kijk op wat hedendaagse muziek vermag. Het resultaat is zonder meer een coherente langspeelplaat, die op geen enkel ogenblik verveelt. Bijzonder is dat nagenoeg alle instrumenten simultaan werden opgenomen. We kijken al uit naar de live-set, hopelijk ergens op een zwoele zomeravond in de nabije toekomst. Daar leent deze muziek zich perfect voor. 
​

SOO LINE LOONS RELEASE THEIR EPONYMOUS, THIRD ALBUM
Highlighting The Rich Tapestries Of Flawed Characters
Across The American Landscape (May 14, 2021)
 
 The Band:  Grant Glad: Vocals, Guitar, Bass Mandolin | Erik Loftsgaarden:  Mandolin, Organ, Guitar, Banjo, Keys, BV | Robin Hatterschide:  Drums, Percussion, BV | Kristi Hatterschide:  Violin | Sam Hall:  Bass | Matthew Fox: Lap Steel, Guitar, Harmonica, Bass
 ​

If you’re into lyrical stories and some kick ass grooves, Soo Line Loons just might be the band for you.  They fall under the Americana umbrella, but the band blends elements of folk, rock, punk, jam and just about everything else under the sun.  Soo Line Loons take their name after a local railroad that runs Southeast through Minnesota.  The band formed serendipitously in early 2019 when Grant Glad met Robin Hatterschide just before recording his first album.  They soon brought in Matthew Fox on bass and Kristi Hatterschide, Robin’s mom and a former folk violinist, and Glad’s longtime friend and mandolin-playing songwriter, Erik Loftsgaarden. 
 
The band is known for a great stage presence and producing a fun and creative environment for audience and band members alike. Last year the band was exploring opportunities to make new fans, playing regional street festivals and adding gigs to their calendar. They were gearing up to really begin spreading their wings when the pandemic hit.  “It’s been rough,” said Glad. “It felt like the rug was swept up from under us, but we know we are some of the fortunate to have kept our day jobs, so we put our musical focus into recording this album. We were just writing the best possible song we could each time.  I’m sure the state of world played into some of the anger felt on songs like, ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ or ‘Long Winter’ but we tried to make something for people to escape from the world for a little bit and not dwell on it too much.”
 
Soo Line Loons their eponymous third album, is self-released on their label, ‘Don’t Quit Your Day Job Records’ and will be available as a CD, Vinyl and in digital form. This is a much more collaborative effort for the band than their previous albums.   “On the previous albums, I would write the songs and bring them to the band to flesh out,” explained Glad.  “On this one we all wrote the songs in the room while we were rehearsing.  This really helped to create the Loons sound and is why we decided on a self-titled album name. This is who we are and this is a pure representation of us that we hope serves as an introduction to new fans.”
 
“We put everything we had into every single second of this album,” adds Hatterschide.  “Ups and downs, re-recordings and late-night mixing sessions, we came out of it with exactly what we wanted and even better than we expected.” “This album is for everyone,” Loftsgaarden chimes in. “There isn’t one certain demographic that can appreciate Loons sound.  We try to get that across in the music.”
 
Kicking off the album is the haunting track “Old Mill”, a folky rock n’ roll murder ballad.  “This was a fun one to write,” said Glad.  “I just started with those chords you hear in the intro, and then Kristi came in with the violin and then drums, bass, and boom, we had a song.  We didn’t know what it would be yet; we just knew it was dark.  I even said, ‘Well, someone’s going to die in this song.’”
 
Saxophone lines weave throughout “Die Young”, a bluesy rock number that was written by Glad and Loftsgaarden.  “Old School Blues up here in the North,” describes Hatterschide.  “Opening with a classic Bernard Perdie drum beat, sweet keys, and a screaming guitar.”
 
The band brought in several guest players on this album, including local legend, Charlie Parr who plays slide guitar on the song, “Hope”.  “Hope’ is frenetic from the first snare shot,” said Loftsgaarden.  “The song speeds along at a raucous speed, threatening to lose control.  Charlie Parr’s slide guitar brings it back down to earth, while the narrator laments the weight of bad decisions and how to make peace with being a flawed hero in a world that seems to demand perfection.”
 
The ending ballad, “Amen” has Glad ruminating on what we leave behind as a legacy.  “Grant discusses the pressures of aging and following your dream while trying not to alienate everyone in your life at the same time,” explained Loftsgaarden. “The violin and mandolin are fitting additions, emphasizing the emotion of the storyline without overtaking Grant’s vocals.”
 
“We’re a working-class band for working-class people,” Glad states. “This is our craft, and we are proud of it, but you won’t see us wearing any funny hats or flashy outfits.  We’d rather let the art speak for itself. If you like it, great, if you don’t, then that’s cool too.” Loftsgaarden  adds, “Storytelling and the raw emotion of flawed heroes struggling to find their place in the world are key elements of our music.” Hatterschide describes the band’s music as “Folk to some and country to others. We like to think we’re bluesy ourselves.”
 
No matter the genre, the band, to quote their bio, “…has a characteristic tendency to transform misery into a unique form of lighthearted beauty.” Just take the line from “Can’t Stop Singing The Blues”:  “That sun goes down in the evening./ Well, that sun, you know, is gonna rise.”
 
Soo Loo Lines hopes to bring people together and to feel less alone--a ray of light and musical relief  in these contentious times.  

​For more information:  https://www.soolineloonsmusic.com/​

​Mississippi soul and bluesman Dexter Allen is back, with a new album out on Endless Blues Records: Keep Moving On. Before his touring was put on hold, Dexter performed his original blues jams everywhere from Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival to the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. But you can’t keep a good bluesman down, and Dexter’s Keep Moving On is a testament to that.
 
Keep Moving On showcases Dexter’s authentic blues chops. Born in Crystal Springs, Mississippi (home of Robert Johnson), Dexter got his musical start at 12 playing bass with his parents' gospel band. He then toured the world as lead guitarist for Grammy® -winning legend and friend Bobby Rush. Dexter has since stepped out into his own spotlight, building an international following with audience engagement, soulful vocals and passionate, driving guitar inspired by influences like Buddy Guy and Clapton.
 
Keep Moving On’s title song speaks of everyday struggles and triumphs everyone goes through, and gives hope that things are going to get better if you just keep moving on. Then Love Talk speaks to the love language from a man to a woman he finds attractive. Blues Eyed Girl features Dexter’s world-class wordplay about a man in search of  a woman who’s been through trials in her life: a blues-eyed woman of the world.

PINGPONGCLUB
'Move On', single (digital only)

release: 26 maart 2021

'Move On', de verse single van PINGPONGCLUB, is de voorbode van meer nieuw werk dat in het najaar verschijnt. 

Beluister hier de single.
​

​​Na een 50-tal optredens in België, Frankrijk & Nederland, waaronder shows op Leffingeleuren, Dranouter, Eurosonic (NL) en passages bij muziekwedstrijden als Sound Track en Humo’s Rock Rally, trok PINGPONGCLUB in de zomer van 2020 naar de studio om nieuwe songs op te nemen.
 
De eerste single, 'Move On', is een nummer over twijfels en hartzeer na een stukgelopen relatie. PINGPONGCLUB maakt al in de eerste maat een stevig statement, en sluit het nummer af met een outro die uitbreekt in snedige riffs en scheurende noise. 
 
Voor de opnames werkte PINGPONGCLUB samen met producer/muzikant Robin Aerts (Het Zesde Metaal).
“De band vibet als ze samen spelen, een zeldzaam goed. Dan moet je als producer vooral die sfeer proberen vast te leggen, en dat puur houden”, aldus Aerts.
 
Bijgevolg werd er beslist om alles met de volledige band live op te nemen, en de overdriveknop een stuk naar rechts te draaien. Deze ‘what you hear is what you get’-attitude is dan ook te horen in de eerste single.
 
Het nieuwe werk van PINGPONGCLUB wordt in het najaar van 2021 voorgesteld in Het Wilde Westen in concertzaal De Kreun (Kortrijk).
 
PINGPONGCLUB is een Gents-Kortrijkse indierockband rond songschrijver Jonas Desmet. De band bestaat sinds 2019 en bouwde op korte tijd een stevige live-reputatie op. Ondertussen is PPC Artist in Residence in het Wilde Westen. Niet slecht voor een band die pas twee jaar geleden het levenslicht zag. Met dank aan de vaak dansbare maar vooral erg clevere songs, de warme stem en de smeltende arrangementen.
 

​Domisoldo' van PCNW is het laatste deel van een trilogie van Belgisch icoon Paul Couter. Een heus drieluik dat gerust omschreven mag worden als zijn muzikale memoires. De triptiek is een zuivere culminatie van Pauls jarenlange ervaringen en omzwervingen. De rode draad doorheen de drie albums? De karakteristieke stem van Paul, zijn poëtische beatnikkwaliteiten en de samenhangende consistentie tout court. Hoewel elk album van het drieluik een totaal andere sound heeft, is er wel degelijk sprake van eenheid. Niet geheel ontoevallig: Peter van de Veire (Yellow Tape Studio) was de vaste engineer/knoppendraaier van dienst.
 
Het eerste deel 'A Yellow Tape Recording' (SMT-001) werd in 2015 uitgebracht, gevolgd door 'Paspeur' (SMT-005) in 2016. Het is Paul zijn laatste wens om de trilogie voltooid te zien en hij slaagt daarin tijdens de laatste dagen van zijn leven. Op het moment van dit schrijven verblijft Paul Couter in de palliatieve zorgafdeling van het ziekenhuis in Gent, de stad waar hij de tweede helft van zijn leven doorbracht.
 
'A Yellow Tape Trilogy' is Paul Couter op stap door de schemerige stad met z’n blues-fanfare. Een vrienden-onderonsje, opnames onder de schemerlamp. “Je n’ai pas peur d’attendre mon amour est plus fort que la mort”. Wildvreemde woeste ontmoetingen met fatale open eindes. Stadsmuziek op zonovergoten pleintjes op het platteland. De liefde, de onzin en andere noemenswaardigheden. Geheime geschiedenissen, klaar om geopenbaard te worden...
Een ambiance die Paul ook treffend wist te vatten toen hij samen met Arno deel uitmaakte van FreckleFace (’72-’75) en het legendarische duo Tjens Couter (’75-’80).

​

His cancer treatment mantra, “Let’s Roll,” is the title of his first single in five years, which goes for playlist adds on March 29.
 
LOS ANGELES (24 March 2021): Last March, guitarist Richard Smith was in a battle for his life. Before the doctors and nurses administered the experimental infusions that he hoped would strangle the stage 3 cancer gripping his throat, his daily response to their inquiries asking if he was ready for the four-hour process that he went through for 45 consecutive days became an affirmation: “Let’s roll.” A year later and now cancer free, Smith is set to drop his first US single in five years, “Let’s Roll,” which he wrote with Billboard chart-topping guitarist Adam Hawley, who produced the uplifting track featuring saxophonist-flutist Jeff Kashiwa.
 
Shortly before Smith’s diagnosis, the former chair of the contemporary guitar department at the Thornton School of Music at USC’s former student, Hawley, sent a demo track of the single that goes for playlist adds on March 29 from Chillharmonic Media. “Let’s Roll” was to become Smith’s daily mantra before infusions.
 
“The clinical trial drug that I volunteered for was a daily four hours of intravenous infusion, as well as radiation and chemotherapy that drained my mojo to zombie levels every day. Fortunately, the drug is now in production and is a game changer,” said Smith, who lost 40 pounds during treatment and has an eight-inch scar on his neck from the surgery.
 
“Let’s Roll” previews Smith’s forthcoming 13th album, “Language of the Soul,” which he plans to drop in the Fall.
 
“The album title comes from a piece written by great South American poet Pablo Neruda, who I discovered while on tour in Argentina and have become a huge fan. The new album is a lively collection of pieces that I recorded over the last two years while living in Finland, Italy, Greece, London and while isolated here in LA. I wanted to get back in my ‘LA lane’ and working with Adam (Hawley) helped me get back in the musical headspace to produce music for an American audience,” said Smith who remains a full professor at USC.
 
Smith’s “SOuLIDIFIED” (2003) album spent 17 weeks in the top 10 in terms of airplay and his 2015 set, “Tangos,” spent more than five months in the top 10 of the indie and contemporary jazz charts. As a featured sideman and collaborator, Smith has recorded or shared the stage with contemporary jazz royalty, including Richard Elliot, Peter White, Kenny G, Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair, Eric Marienthal, Brian Bromberg, Warren Hill, Everette Harp and Dan Siegel. Opportunities over the last ten years to perform, compose and record with international artists and at universities aboard afforded Smith the opportunity to combine his two loves.
 
“I can’t separate my passion for making music from my passion for teaching it. So, I committed to a musical life away from the States. I get summers off from USC, so I hop on a plane the day after classes and spend May to September abroad. My music has changed a lot, doing arrangements that suit European concert goers. However, when I met American actress Nancy Lee Grahn (General Hospital), I decided to return to full-time life in the United States and get back to my West Coast modern jazz roots.”
   
Although Smith describes the exuberant R&B instrumental groove on “Let’s Roll” as “very West Coast, very LA,” songs from the upcoming album tackle weightier subjects than just “palm trees, ocean breezes and great vibes.”     
 
“A few songs from ‘Language of the Soul’ have political origins. A big part of songwriting history are songs of protest and struggle. We are in such turbulent times that as an artist, it is impossible to avoid the opportunity to share the inspiration and social commentary that such times provide,” said Smith.
 
It’s possible that Smith’s cancer experiences may inspire more music that will appear on “Language of the Soul.”   
 
“A typical thing that cancer survivors say is that no one understands except the people who have been through it. That is so true, but it helps those who haven’t been through it to share some of the details – whether it helps them personally or one of their loved ones as they go through it.”
                
For more information, please visit https://www.richardsmithguitar.com. 

​‘Let’s All Pretend’ komt voort uit een fascinatie voor het moderne ‘doen alsof’
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De Nijmeegse indieband Waltzburg brengt vandaag hun nieuwe EP ‘Let’s All Pretend’ uit. Op de EP staan de eerder uitgekomen singles ‘Inbetween’, ‘Sure Shine’ en ‘Cleo’. Het is de opvolger van debuutalbum ‘Cut The Wire’, waar ook single ‘Gotor’ op stond. Die single werd het meest aangevraagde tijdens 3FM Serious Request 2019. ‘Let’s All Pretend’ is nu overal online te beluisteren.
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‘Let’s All Pretend’ komt voort uit een fascinatie voor het moderne doen alsof’. Elk van de liedjes verkent op zijn eigen manier de thematiek rond de maskers die we onszelf voorhouden, en de rol die we daardoor spelen in sociale situaties. In vijf tracks neemt de EP de luisteraar mee naar ongemakkelijke verjaardagen, een mislukte trip naar Londen en een bittere nieuwjaarsdag.

De rode draad is een vervreemding van de omgeving, en het gevoel van ongemak dat dit met zich meebrengt. Een zoektocht naar waarheid in een tijd waarin we de waarheid vaak proberen te verbloemen zodat er een beeld ontstaat dat voldoet aan de verwachtingen. “Misschien proberen we met zijn allen te veel één ding te zijn, en verliezen we daardoor waar het écht om draait.” Aldus zanger Menno Krivokutya.

Arno 
met Sofiane Pamart

"Solo Gigolo"
& "Quelqu'un a touché ma femme"
Nieuwe single nu uit! 
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Dit is het Arno album waar iedereen op gewacht heeft.
Een album met uitgeklede piano-stem versies van de meest ontroerende nummers uit zijn repertoire. Aan zijn zijde de jonge Franse pianist Sofiane Pamart, met magie als resultaat.

De eerste nummers die vandaag verschijnen zijn: "Solo Gigolo" en "Quelqu'un a touché ma femme", pakkende versies van twee klassiekers uit het repertoire van de Oostendse crooner.
Geen zware gitaren of pompende ritmes, maar pure, rauwe emotie.

Meer info over het album & Arno's plannen volgt binnenkort !

Luister hier naar de single.

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Acid Jazz presents a dynamic live recording capturing the energy & pure joy of The Brand New Heavies live in 1992.

1991 was a momentous year for The Brand New Heavies. They started it without a singer and were second on the bill to The James Taylor Quartet but by the end of the year they had a Top 3 US hit and were about to embark on a run of 16 Top 40 hits in the UK. N’Dea Davenport was by this point fronting the group as their guest singer, and the brilliant string of singles from their debut album were becoming locked in the minds of an ever-growing fan base.

Live they were a revelation. The only group from the UK scene who could do tight and slick, without slipping into ‘lift music’ blandness. The core membership of Andrew Levy, Simon Bartholomew and Jan Kincaid had been playing together since college and knew where the other was going. Their ability to write classic soul songs lifted them above their contemporaries.

Shibuya 357 is the quintessential (and only live) document of an era that quickly passed. The hits – ‘Never Stop’, ‘Dream Come True’, ‘Stay This Way’ and ‘Don’t Let It Go To Your Head’ are all here – as are some compelling funk jams. This recording captures the ecstatic rush of joy; when you go from youthful dream to accomplishment in such a short period.

This live album was originally only ever released in Japan in the late 90s and then only for a very short time. Acid Jazz is delighted to release this new version, remastered from the source tape and available on striking baby blue vinyl, softback CD and streaming services for the very first time.

Available on the 12th March 2021.
 
Tracklisting
Gimme One of Those
BNH
Ride In The Sky
Got To Give
People Get Ready
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head
Mr. Tanaka
Never Stop
Stay This Way
Doin’ It To Death
Dream Come True
Shakedown

​Chicago prog legends DISTRICT 97 have released a new quarantine video for the song “Divided We Fall” from their forthcoming live album “Screenplay,” which features well over 2 hours of music across 2 CDs and is released March 26, 2021! Along with this brand new track, the album comprises all of DISTRICT 97’s critically-acclaimed “Screens” album performed live at Europe's prog rock mecca, Boerderij Cultuurpodium, in October 2019. Additionally, the collection boasts a wide variety of live material spanning DISTRICT 97’s back catalog and covers ranging from John Lennon to Yes.
 
Also included is a rousing unreleased live performance of “21st Century Schizoid Man” featuring King Crimson/Asia/UK legend John Wetton, as well as collaborations with other artists such as Dave Kerzner and Fernando Perdomo. Plus, there are two secret “encore” performances.
 
Watch the video for “Divided We Fall”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFpdFhJAWiA
 
Leslie Hunt (vocalist): I have been absolutely fixated on the idea of confirmation bias and how dangerous it is for us to only have access to information that further solidifies our pre-existing convictions. In such an ego-centric culture that values individualism higher than anything else, the arrogance and moral righteousness in this country has reached such a level of toxicity that it comes out in these never-ending, rage-induced arguments on social media and with one another. We believe a thing, we google the thing, we get proof of the thing and we view others without the same belief-that-was-google-proven as irresponsible and obtuse, never pausing to consider that they might be stuck in their bubble as well. It might be our undoing as a society.  
 
The song explores the ego-discomfort necessary to challenge your convictions by looking through different lenses and googling things on other people's devices in an effort to poke holes in your own staunch beliefs.
 
Tim Seisser (bassist): When I write for the band, I think about what songs have been successful in the catalog, and I try to retain aspects of those songs to create a cohesive D97 sound. But I also think about what is missing from the catalog. The galloping groove feel is a favorite of mine from the “prog-metal” genre and it’s a fun challenge to keep up the pace rhythmically. I enjoy getting Leslie’s perspective on not just melodies and lyrical content, but also song form. I really like the counterpoint style lines she came up with for the hooks, as we have been trying to find more opportunities for lyrical and vocal interplay.
 
All in all, I’m super happy with the way this one came together and am really looking forward to performing it live for you wonderful fans in the hopefully very near future.
 
Both the song and video were recorded remotely in quarantine. Video editing by Phil Satterly.

On May 21st, Allison Russell will release her first ever solo project, Outside Child (produced by Dan Knobler) on Fantasy Records. Russell, a poet, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago, unpacks her youth in searing detail throughout the album. She has shared the first single, “Nightflyer” and its accompanying music video directed by Silvia Grav.

​Born and raised in Montreal, Russell imbues her music with the colors of her city – the light, the landscape, the language – but also the trauma that she suffered there. It is a heartbreaking reflection on a childhood no one should have to endure, and at the same time a powerful reclamation – asserted from a place of healing, of motherhood, of partnership – and from a new home made in Nashville. The record features contributions from many of the artistic family members she has found there including Yola, Erin Rae, The McCrary Sisters, Ruth Moody, producer Dan Knobler, Jamie Dick, Joe Pisapia, and her partner JT Nero.“It was just about making these songs live and breathe in the most honest way,” Russell says. “We were laughing, we were crying. And the communion between musicians, I hope people can hear that on the record. It felt like magic.”

Outside Child, says Russell “is about resilience, survival, transcendence, the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family.” Singing about this on “Nightflyer,” Russell ponders the healing power of motherhood, using the track’s wide open expanse to convey the strength she didn’t know she had. Here, the line “I am the mother of the evening star / I am the love that conquers all” is “the most defiantly triumphant, hopeful line I’ve ever written ..that’s about the birth of my daughter and how that transformed me.” Though they had a fraught relationship, Russell remembers how she’d crawl underneath the piano and listen to her own mother play. “I would hum along with her,” Russell recalls. “She said I was humming before I could talk. I was able to feel some kind of comfort or love or connection in a way that she couldn’t verbally or physically express – but I could feel in her music that there was love in her.
​
“When I was sixteen I read The Thunder: Perfect Mind for the first time – it’s an exhortatory poem discovered among the Gnostic manuscripts in the Nag Hammadi library in the 1940’s. It has never left me. I’ve been meditating on the nature of resilience, endurance, and grace more deeply since becoming a mother to Ida, seven years ago. I was trying to bridge the divide and embrace shame and my inner divinity equally with this piece. The burden and the balm of our lineages and our history that we all carry. We all come from long lines of survivors. I believe my Ancestors must have been protecting me all along. And now my daughter carries their strength…”

​
​In the end, Outside Child is not only a radical reclamation of a traumatic childhood and lost home, it is a lantern light for survivors of all stripes – a fervent reminder of the eleventh hour, resuscitative power of art. “Allison’s new album, Outside Child, draws water from the dark well of a violent  past,” says poet and songwriter Joe Henry. “The songs themselves ––though iron-hard in their concerns–– are exultant: exercising haunted dream-like clean bedsheets snapped and hung out into broad daylight, and with the romantic poet’s lust for living and audacity of endurance.”
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Allison Russell

De Amerikaanse singersongwriter Ethan Gold debuteerde in 2011 veelbelovend met zijn album “Songs From A Toxic Apartment”. Kort daarna kreeg hij een ‘freak accident’ waardoor hij jarenlang moest vechten en leren om te gaan met een hersenbeschadiging. Door diverse soorten therapie kreeg hij z’n cognitieve vaardigheden beetje bij beetje terug en krabbelde hij ook muzikaal uit dit dal; “although I was somewhat brain-dead, my soul was still very much there”. Helemaal stil zat hij ook weer niet, want er verschenen twee ‘oddities’-albums met covers en ‘synthstrumentals’ en daarnaast schreef hij filmmuziek, voor o.a. “Don’t Let Go”, “Adventures Of Power”, “Mean Creek” en “The Song Of Sway Lake” (waarop artiesten als John Grant en The Staves zijn songs uitvoerden).
“Earth City 1: The Longing” is echter zijn tweede ‘echte’ studio-album en handelt over ‘Our alienation and inter-connectedness. It explores our fascination, isolation and loneliness amidst the connections and disconnections we all experience in the highly complex 21st century world’. Ethan Gold’s muziek bestrijkt een divers en levendig pallet met elementen van ‘alt-rock, Eno-like sonics, romantic ballads, gorgeous indie pop and catchy folk music’ waarbij je muzikale vergelijkingen kunt maken met artiesten als Eels, Wilco, Conor Oberst, Ben Folds, Rivers Cuomo, Badly Drawn Boy en Elliott Smith.

Ethan Gold - Our Love Is Beautiful (Official Music Video) - YouTube
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LA-based artist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer, producer and composer Ethan Gold - son of the famous novelist / Beat poet Herbert Gold - is rewarding those patiently and long waiting for his sophomore album. “Earth City 1: The Longing” will be Gold’s first full-album with a ‘real’ new cohesive set of songs since “Songs From A Toxic Apartment” (2011), his debut that earned praise from the likes as Pitchfork (“emotions delivered with an unfiltered, glaring legibility”), the Sunday Times (“essential new music”) and throughout the blogosphere. A reason behind the break between these two releases was a ‘freak’ accident in 2013 - a head injury that left Gold living many years without his cognitive skills and ability to communicate; Gold says “although I was somewhat brain-dead, my soul was still very much there, and I could feel it there the whole time”.
During his recovery time off-stage, full with meditation, mindfulness, just sitting and listening to other play music to rebuild his neural pathways and playing himself all kinds of different instruments to help him rewire his brain, Gold continued composing film scores, for “Don’t Let Go”, “Adventures Of Power”, “Mean Creek” and “The Song Of Sway Lake” (featuring John Grant and The Staves singing Ethan’s songs), and also released two albums of oddities: “Expanses (Teenage Synthstrumentals)” (Vents Magazine: “my nominee for record of the year”) and “Live Undead Bedroom Closet Covers” (Roots & Branches: “if this is what he comes up with to pass the time, that second album should be pretty something”. Prior to his debut, Gold had received accolades for producing and arranging Elvis Perkins’ influential “Ash Wednesday” album (2007).
“Earth City 1: The Longing” contains his first fresh set of songs about our alienation and inter-connectedness. It explores our fascination, isolation and dissatisfaction amidst the connections and disconnections we all experience in the highly complex 21st century world; “the first step of yearning that drives us inward and forward into the most profound experiences of living – doubt, searching and loneliness are motivating principles that bring us towards others, and they bring us towards grace”. The music, similarly, works on multiple layers. Gold weaves together a vibrant soundscape, drawing from the elements of alt rock, Eno-like sonics, romantic ballads, gorgeous indie pop and catchy folk music. His heroes are Syd Barrett and John Lennon, but you could best compare his work with contemporary artists as Eels, Wilco, Conor Oberst, Ben Folds, Rivers Cuomo, Badly Drawn Boy and Elliott Smith. “Earth City 1: The Longing” is an eclectic, unique, strange and awesome journey into Ethan Gold’s subtle, melodramatic and moving music.

WEST OF TEXAS TO RELEASE HEARTACHE, HANGOVERS & HONKY TONKS
The Debut Album Finds West Of Texas In the Stretch Of Highway Where Bakersfield And Austin Come Together (April 16, 2021)


“No doubt if Faron and Ray were here, they’d be cracking a beer and a smile at the unadulterated honky tonk tones coming from West of Texas”
—Western Red, If That Ain’t Country

​Jerry Zinn is the singer, songwriter and leader of West of Texas, a band formed in 2003.  The band has shared the stage with other purveyors of “real” country music, such as James Intveld, Red Meat, Wayne Hancock, Big Sandy, 1100 Springs and many others. Heartache, Hangovers & Honk Tonks began as a 3-song EP called The Heartache Single that was released in 2010. It was poised to become a full album, when health problems hit Zinn and he was unable to sing.
In 2019 when Zinn recovered and was able to sing again, an exciting new lineup was assembled with shows booked from the end of March through May 2020.  This, of course, was just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down live music around the globe.  This drove Zinn into the studio where he went to finish the album he had started over ten years earlier. 

Produced and engineered by Americana stalwart, Rich McCulley, Heartache, Hangovers, & Honky Tonks was also produced by Jason Eoff, Jeremy Long and Jerry Zinn.  The album is brimming with players from the Southern California Country and Americana music scene; Jeremy Long, Dale Daniel, Erik Herrera, Dave Gleason, Gary Brandon, Jordan Shapiro, Rob King, David Serby, Robert Black, Rich McCulley, Dan Weinstein, Phil Glenn and Grant Langston. 

West of Texas is good ole’ Traditional Country music and known for “tear in your beer” toe-tappers.  These are songs of love, heartache, bad habits, being broke, and working for the man.  Zinn is known for his unique vocal style that’s reminiscent of 60s and 70s country music and the songs contain a twangy guitar, crying pedal steel, a walking bass line and a shuffling drumbeat.

Zinn can write a good country song and he pulls from real life, from dead-end day jobs to putting the work into a relationship.  “Life in California has an influence on you,” he observes.  “You’re constantly searching for the authenticity in life.”

Zinn wrote all of the songs on the album with co-writing credit on “This Fool” (with Daniel Goldblatt), “12 Steps To Drinkin’” (Grant Langston), and “Foolin” which he co-wrote with his wife, Cindy Zinn.  “It’s a cheatin’ song and those you don’t usually write with your wife, but this one, I did.”

The first song, “My Whiskey Life” immediately transports you to a Texas dance hall on a hot summer night with a beer in your hand. But don’t let go of your dance partner because the aforementioned, “Foolin’” will have you two-stepping until you’re out of breath.  The album is full of slow, medium and quick tempo tunes, so if you’re not dancing, your foot will be tapping or your body swaying.

Zinn’s deep baritone voice guides the record throughout. From the Tex-Mex influenced “This Fool”, the strains of Cajun music in “Bayou Boy”, and the western swing sound of “Fixin’ to Love You”.  The album ends with the classic country sounding “Sound of my Heart Breakin’” which Zinn says is, plain and simple, “…another heartbreak song.”  That’s the sound of my heart breakin’ | And I’ll never ever love another | I know I’ve said this before | And I won’t let it happen again…

The songs on Heartache, Hangovers, and Honky Tonks are nothing but real. “I’m not one to follow what’s trendy, because I have no time to reinvent myself,” states Zinn.  “Inspiration comes when it wants to and sometimes leaves as soon as it comes.  It also has to work between having a wife, two kids and two jobs.”

From the beginning, Zinn set out to make a well-rounded country album that touched on a little of everything.  “From the honky tonk shuffles, western swing, tex-mex, Cajun, ballads, etc.  It’s all there,” he muses.  “…except a waltz.  Somehow, I didn’t write a waltz for this record. Next time!”

Heartache, Hangovers and Honky Tonks was an album worth the wait and if it’s any indication of what is to come, we will look forward to the next record, and that waltz. 

Featuring Nathan East, Leland Sklar, Michael Manring, Tony Franklin, Doug Wimbish, Adam Nitti, Lars Lehmann,
Cody Wright, Mohini Dey, David Pastorius
 

Alberto Rigoni's “For The Love of Bass,” simply put, it’s bass heaven.
 
After the success of his latest prog rock album “Odd Times,” Italian bassist & composer Alberto Rigoni (BAD As, Natural Born Machine, The Italians, Vivaldi Metal Project), now releases his 10th solo album. As the title suggests, the instrumentation is exclusively electric bass, spanning ambient, fusion, jazz and new age styles. 
 
“It has been really challenging but the special guests contributed some gorgeous playing and we are all proud of the result,” says Alberto. “For The Love of Bass” is an all-star bassists album featuring some of the best players anywhere: Nathan East, Leland Sklar, Michael Manring, Tony Franklin, Doug Wimbish, Adam Nitti, Lars Lehmann, Cody Wright, Mohini Dey, David Pastorius, 
 
Are you ready to face a new bass experience?!
 
Watch Alberto Rigoni's new video for “Masked Souls” feat. Nathan East & Michael Manring: https://youtu.be/CT4lvWGaK1o
 

Born in 1981, Alberto Rigoni is an Italian bass player and composer, internationally known for his career as a solo artist and as a member of the metal band BAD As, The Italians, Natural Born Machines  Lady & THE BASS,  co-producer of the Vivaldi Metal Project and member of progressive rock band TwinSpirits (no more active).

Between 2008 and 2020 Alberto has released worldwide 9 solo album (Something Different, Rebirth, Three Wise Monkeys, Overloaded, BASSORAMA, Duality, EvoRevolution, Prog Injection, Odd Times), spanning from progressive rock metal to fusion. His albums also featured legendary musicians such as Kevin Moore (ex Dream Theater), Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), Marco Minnemann (the Aristocrats), Göran Edman (ex Yngwie Malmsteen), Michael Manring and many others.
Alberto has been featured on the cover of magazines such as Bass Magazine (Japan), Bass Musician Magazine (USA), Bajos Y Bajistas (Spain), Basistas (Poland), TOP BASS (Poland). Moreover, in March 2015 the prestigious Bass Guitar Magazine (UK) released Alberto’s CD anthology called “Into THE BASS.”

Alberto has also recorded for several international artists such as Italian pop singer Alexia and he is also playing bass for Canadian rock singer and songwriter Kim Bingham (ex-Nelly Furtado) and The Italians, sharing stages with artists such as Alan Parson, Suzanne Vega, Jørn Lande, Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore and others.

In 2016 founded a new metal band called BADASS (now called BAD As) which released three albums (More Pain More Gain, Midnight Curse and Crucified Society.

On December 15th 2017, Rigoni together with bassist Jeff Hughell (Six Feet Under) released a new studio project called Bassists Alliance. The first album “Crush” featured top notch bassists such as Michael Manring, Adam Nitti, Steve di Giorgio, Colin Edwin, Mark Mitchell, Scott Reeder, Dmitry Lisenko, Brandino BassMaster, Ryan Martini, Leonid Maksimov, Tony Grey.

In 2019 founded a new AOR band called “Natural Born Machine” featuring famous Pink Cream 69 singer David Readman. Their debut album “Human” was released on February 19th 2021 by Pride and Joy Music.

Currently he is also collaborating with famous producer Hiro Furuya (Elton John, Eric Clapton, etc.) as session bassist.

His tenth album “For The Love of Bass” feat. all star bassists such as Nathan East, Lee Sklar, Michael Manring, Doug Wimbish and many others will be released on April 2nd 2021. 

​Freddie Redd (May 29, 1928 – March 17, 2021) was born in Harlem, New York City. After losing his father at the age of one, he was raised by his mother, who moved around Harlem, Brooklyn, and other neighborhoods. Redd died in New York City aged 92.
Redd was an American hard-bop pianist and composer. He is best known for writing music to accompany The Connection (1959), a play by Jack Gelber. According to Peter Watrous, writing in The New York Times: "Mr. Redd hung out at jam sessions in the 1950s and played with many of the major figures, Sonny Rollins to Art Blakey, and worked regularly with Charles Mingus. When things got tough, he just moved on, living in Guadalajara, Mexico, and in Paris and London."
An autodidact, he began playing the piano at a young age and took to studying jazz seriously when he was 18 after a friend played him a record of "Shaw 'Nuff" by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie during his military service in Korea (1946–1949). Upon discharge from the Army in 1949, he worked with drummer Johnny Mills, and then in New York played with Tiny Grimes, Cootie Williams, Oscar Pettiford, and the Jive Bombers. In 1954, he played with Art Blakey. Redd toured Sweden in 1956 with Ernestine Anderson and Rolf Ericson.
Redd's most successful project was in the late 1950s when he was invited to compose the music for The Living Theatre's New York stage production of The Connection, which was also used in the subsequent 1961 film. In both play and film, he performed as an actor and musician. The theater production was a modest hit and the troupe toured the United States and Europe, performing in New York City, London, and Paris. Redd also led a Blue Note album of his music for the play, which featured Jackie McLean on alto sax. Redd's success in the theater production, however, did not advance his career in the United States, and shortly afterward he moved to Europe, spending time in Denmark and France.
He returned to the United States in 1974 and resettled on the West Coast; he became a regular on the San Francisco scene and recorded intermittently until 1990. In 2011, he resettled in Baltimore. Redd struggled to establish himself commercially; however, musically, his creative lines, particular voicings, and innovative compositions solidified his reputation; he worked with such musicians as Jackie McLean, Tina Brooks, Paul Chambers, Howard McGhee, Milt Hinton, Lou Donaldson, Benny Bailey, Charles Mingus, Louis Hayes, Al McKibbon, Billy Higgins, Osie Johnson, Tommy Potter, and Joe Chambers, among others.
He even contributed organ to James Taylor's original 1968 recording of "Carolina in My Mind". Redd recorded several albums as a leader, including two other Blue Note albums (although the last of these was not issued for many years). In 1989, his three Blue Note albums were reissued as The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Freddie Redd, the liner notes of which quoted Jackie McLean as saying: "You never know what town you'll see [Freddie] in. He's always been itinerant. Freddie just appears from time to time, like some wonderful spirit." Redd completed a European tour in 2013.

​De Amerikaanse bassist en componist Paul Jackson is gisteren op 73-jarige leeftijd overleden. Jackson werd geboren in Oakland, Californië en begon op al op negenjarige leeftijd basgitaar te spelen. Op 14-jarige leeftijd trad hij op met The Oakland Symphony Orchestra en ging hij studeren aan The San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Jackson speelde mee op verschillende albums van Herbie Hancock en The Headhunters. Daarnaast speelde hij onder andere mee op het album 'Steppin' (1975) van The Pointer Sisters en het album 'Festival' (1977) van Santana. Van dat album kwam de hitsingle 'Let The Children Play'. Paul Jackson overleed in Oakland, tien dagen voor zijn 74ste verjaardag. Hij ruste in vrede!
 
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.

De legendarische Nederlandse progressieve rockband Kayak kondigde onlangs hun inmiddels 18e studioalbum 'Out Of This World' aan, waarvan 7 mei 2021 de release is. Na ‘Mystery’ volgt nu de tweede single ‘Waiting’. Hier de link naar de video gemaakt door Kristoffer Gildenlöw:
https://youtu.be/v2MOazfEa4k
 
Ton Scherpenzeel:  “Niet het soort nummer dat men zou verwachten van Kayak, dus des te meer reden om dit te doen. We krijgen in dit liedje een klein maar ongemakkelijk kijkje in de wereld van iemand die zijn obsessie voor een ander persoon verwart met liefde.”
 
Zie hier de video van de eerste single ‘Mystery’: https://youtu.be/JHDDwyi_iPI
 
 
Het album is nu ook beschikbaar voor pre-order en is beschikbaar als een gelimiteerde cd Digipak, Gatefold 2LP + cd en als digitaal album. Een exclusieve bloedrode vinyleditie is rechtstreeks verkrijgbaar bij de band. 
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​
Bekijk hier een korte teaser voor het nieuwe album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo-YUX4RbWM
​

​‘Out Of This World’ is het achttiende studioalbum van de band, met 15 nieuwe nummers, verspreid over 70 minuten. Energiek en ongelooflijk divers materiaal met nog altijd de herkenbare Kayak-sound. Het is duidelijk dat de nieuw gevonden energie nog meer in een stroomversnelling is gekomen sinds Hans Eijkenaar zich weer bij de groep heeft aangesloten. Hoewel ze alle tours moesten afzeggen omdat Ton Scherpenzeel eind 2019 een hartaanval kreeg, en de Covid-pandemie verder roet in het eten gooide, horen we een band die sinds het overlijden van Pim Koopman in 2009 niet meer zó samen, evenwichtig en gemotiveerd heeft geklonken.
 
De huidige line-up van de band is als volgt:
 
Ton Scherpenzeel - Keyboards, lead- en backingvocals
Bart Schwertmann - Lead- en backingvocals
Marcel Singor - Gitaar, lead en backingvocals
Kristoffer Gildenlöw - bas, lead en backingvocals
Hans Eijkenaar- Drums