Here you find our album reviews of the past and present – always subjective, but full of respect for the music and artists. Let’s talk about records!
The American jazz pianist, R&B singer, composer, producer and songwriter Patrice Rushen is a fixed star in the Jazz and R&B world for decades. One of my personal favorites is her 82’s album “Straight From The Heart”.
James Mason was a member of Roy Ayers’ legendary jazz-funk band of the late 70s. His most prominent appearance as a guitarist was in 1977 on Ayers’ classic cut “Running Away”. In the same year Mason recorded his debut solo album “Rhythm of Life” for the New York independent label Chiaroscuro.
Légère Recordings has pressed 200 copies of the electro funk masterpiece “The 37 Minute Workout” by Shawn Lee’s Incredible Leg Warmer Band. Let’s get physical!
With “The Tales People Tell” the American soul singer Kelly Finnigan has released one of the best soul albums of the past years in 2019.
While ex-bandmate Walter Becker tried to get clean in Hawaii, Donald Fagen and Steely Dan producer Gary Katz returned to the studio to record a ground-breaking masterpiece of the new decade.
What makes an album to a classic? I think it’s a result of many ingredients. First of all the music: strong and memorable melodies, grooves and arrangements, real musicianship, the storyline of lyrics and an outstanding production. Not to forget a remarkable artwork. But real art arises from more: All great albums are surrounded by myths and stories (remember the Beach Boys’ “Smile”), especially in pre-digital times when it was even more difficult to get information about artists and records.
When Marcus Liesenfeld aka DJ Supermarkt released ‘The Ladies Of Too Slow To Disco’ in 2016, he not only created a long overdue monument to the female singers, musicians and songwriters who played a major role in shaping the sound of California in the 70s and 80s, but also compiled one of the most popular editions of the renowned series.
Only a few albums have impressed Yacht Rock lovers and West Coast aficionados as much in recent years as Young Gun Silver Fox’s critically acclaimed debut album “West End Coast”. With their sophomore album “AM Waves” Andy Platts (Mamas Gun) a.k.a. Young Gun and multi-instrumentalist and producer Shawn Lee a.k.a. Silver Fox consistently develop the unique sound of their debut album further and entice their listeners with well-crafted West Coast melodies into the heyday of the genre.
