As soon as New York City entered a first lockdown in March 2020, double bass player Dezron Douglas and jazz harpist Brandee Younger launched a series of live streams on Facebook and Instagram Live from their East Harlem flat. Dubbed “Force Majeure: Brunch in the crib with Brandee & Dezron”, the Friday morning concerts ... [Continue Reading]
Jazz
Yumi Ito: Stardust Crystals
Born to a Japanese father and a Polish mother, Yumi Ito is a young jazz vocalist, songwriter and composer based in Basel, Switzerland. As a classically trained pianist, the singer is also an accomplished bandleader who has already performed extensively on the European jazz circuit. Featuring eight new songs composed over a ... [Continue Reading]
Stéphane Tsapis: Le Piano Oriental
A visual marvel, Le Piano Oriental is a graphic novel originally published in 2015. Written by Franco-Lebanese author Zeina Abirached, the story delightfully weaves together the parallel lives of Abdallah Kamanja, an office clerk and piano tuner in 1960s Beirut with modern day Zeina growing up between Beirut and Paris. The ... [Continue Reading]
Billy Prim: Thalassa
Born in Larissa, Greece, Βασίλειος Πριμηκύρης aka Billy Prim is a young jazz drummer who also studied classical piano. Now based in Budapest, the musician can be heard performing and collaborating on the Hungarian and international jazz scene. For many perceptive musicians, the sea (“Thalassa” in Greek) is an endless source of ... [Continue Reading]
Makaya McCraven: Universal Beings
Often introducing himself as a “beat scientist”, Chicago-based drummer Makaya McCraven is a startling new voice on the music scene. Released in 2015, his outstanding breakthrough on the international stage In the Moment LP already highlighted his novel synthesis of live jazz and hip-hop production techniques. Using collaborative ... [Continue Reading]
Brandee Younger: Soul Awakening
Based in New-York, Brandee Younger is a young jazz harpist who is in the process of rejuvenating a style still dominated by the towering influence of her historic peers Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. As a composer and teacher, the musician is one of the rare contemporary jazz harpists recording today either as a solo artist, ... [Continue Reading]
Chris Gall & Bernhard Schimpelsberger: Myriad
Chris Gall & Bernhard Schimpelsberger is a jazz piano and percussion duo formed in 2016. Piano and drums duos are extremely rare, especially in the realm of jazz where the formation will always be considered a double bass-short of the classic trio. But the absence of an official bass is more than adequately compensated here ... [Continue Reading]