In future years, Emmet Cohen should always be remembered as the ebullient jazz musician whose online performances during Covid, live from his Harlem apartment, raised our spirits and almost vanquished our lockdown blues. But now, with this album recorded early [...]
Allow me to suggest why this album, so extrovert, exuberant and life-enhancing, carries a poignant postscript. Sometime during 1968, 70-year-old Louis (always ‘Lewis’, not ‘Lou-ee’) Daniel Armstrong, internationally celebrated as ‘Satchmo’, is warned by doctors that he’s no longer superhuman [...]
Kenny Barron, Immanuel Wilkins, Steve Nelson, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake – Beyond This Place(Artwork Records/ [PIAS]. Album review by Len Weinreich) Last year, reviewing his previous album release, I described jazz master Kenny Barron as a revered pianist with formidable [...]
Scene: a London hospital bed occupied by Ronnie Scott, legendary club owner poleaxed by a rogue spinal disc. When a concerned visitor asks the cause of Scott’s problem. Scott replies through gritted teeth: “bending over backwards to please Stan Getz”. [...]
Trumpeter Richard Allen ‘Blue’ Mitchell (1930-1979) spent only 49 years on earth but, during his brief stay, managed to record some compelling albums. He rose to maturity at a time when Miles Davis and Clifford Brown were the twin gods [...]
Abdullah Ibrahim – Solotude(Gearbox Records. Available on 12-inch vinyl LP or CD. Review by Len Weinreich)Over the past few years, Abdullah Ibrahim (born Cape Town, South Africa, 9 October 1934) has shared his birthday with an enthusiastic audience in the [...]
