A review of the Tomasz Stanko Quartet’s Lontano (2006) Tomasz Stanko is a Polish jazz trumpeter who sounds a little like Miles Davis without anger. Lontano contains a series of thoughtful, quiet and slightly angular (maybe geometric is a better … [read more]
A review of Susheela Raman’s 33 1/3 There’s nothing Susheela Raman can’t sing. I remember thinking this the first time I heard her first record, Salt Rain, in 2001. Raman is a British singer of Indian origin (who grew up … [read more]
A review of Jill Barber’s Chances (2008) Jill Barber is a Halifax-based… traditional jazz singer? Swing singer? Country singer? Torch singer? Maybe “western swing,” antiquated as it sounds, is a good genre for her. I had previously heard, and loved, … [read more]
The Beet Organic Café & Market is housed in an old TD Bank building, its entrance behind a still-functional Green Machine ABM terminal. I’m not sure if this is an amazing coincidence or a subtle, “only in the Junction” political … [read more]
Sometimes, the music you don’t understand is the music that touches you most deeply. I’ve never been much of a jazz listener; I’ve skirted around it for years, essentially avoiding bebop in its myriad permutations, and enjoying traditional jazz, some … [read more]
It’s odd – sometimes there’s an artist who, despite my best efforts to take an inclusive view, slips through my fingers for years. I may know about them but – for whatever reason – I’ve never really listened to them. … [read more]
Reggae from Germany. Why not? Is it surprising that Germans can get their groove on and sound indistinguishable from Jamaicans? Francophone Europe has a long tradition of embracing reggae, particularly reggae from Africa (Alpha Blondy, Lucky Dube, etc.). Germany has, … [read more]
I’ve had a 26-year love affair with this album. This was one of the first records I bought with my own money. I was 11 or 12 when it came out. ABBA was accessible, wonderfully well-produced, very very catchy yet … [read more]