There are recordings made to reinterpret a familiar piece, and then there are recordings made because the music means something deeply personal to the person playing it.
Releases as a tribute to the late Maestro Luis Bacalov, Raffaele Scoccia has released “Il Postino” and the recording finds Scoccia returning to a piece of music connected not only to one of cinema’s most enduring films, but to an important chapter in his own musical life. Continue reading
Ken Lovern’s third single from Blind Boone the Musical explores the place where extraordinary talent begins to find its voice.
Talent is rarely born fully formed. It arrives quietly, sometimes before we have the language to understand it. A child discovers an instrument, a sound, a rhythm that feels somehow instinctive. Someone notices. A teacher listens. A door opens. What happens next can change the course of a life.
For John William “Blind” Boone, one of America’s great musical pioneers, that door was the Missouri School for the Blind.
It is here that “School for the Blind,” the third single from Kansas City composer and jazz organist Ken Lovern’s Blind Boone the Musical, takes us. After the journey towards freedom explored in “Quindaro,” the story moves inward. The landscape changes from roads and rivers to classrooms and instruments, from survival to discovery. Boone is still a boy, but the extraordinary musician he will become is beginning to emerge. Continue reading
Find out more about Ken Lovern and Blind Boone the Musical on the Website Continue reading
Some songs become so woven into the fabric of American music that they risk becoming museum pieces performed beautifully, certainly, but rarely questioned. “Why Don’t You Do Right?” is one such song. Immortalized by generations of jazz and blues artists, its smoky allure and familiar narrative have endured for decades. But rather than preserving the song in amber, jen M chooses to ask what it might say if it were written today. Continue reading
There’s a sense when listening to “Silent Mountains” that Raffaele Scoccia has stepped away from everything non-essential, not just in terms of arrangement, but also in mindset. This is a piece that feels like it arrives after a pause, after distance, after the kind of reset that comes from stepping outside of your usual rhythm and letting things fall quiet.
For an artist whose catalogue stretches across genres including the more groove-led, electronic work released under his Moon Rocket alias, this return to solo piano is clearly intentional. Not a retreat, but a recalibration. With “Silent Mountains”, Scoccia isn’t trying to merge styles or push the boundaries. Instead, he us gently narrowing the focus and trusting melody to carry the weight. Continue reading
With Recalibration, Amana Melome’ returns with a record that feels thoughtful, personal and refreshingly unhurried. Rather than announcing itself loudly, the album unfolds gently revealing an artist who has taken the time to reflect, reset and reconnect with her creative instincts. Continue reading
There are artists who release music, and then there are artists who release a feeling. With “Con C.ALMA” Amana Melome’ does the latter. The song, which is her first offering after several years away from the spotlight, unravels with a quiet confidence that can only come from a life fully lived. Continue reading
Lil’ Red & The Rooster’s new album 7 is one of those rare projects that feels timeless and truly alive in the moment, a record that dances between the blues tradition and daring experimentation without ever losing its center.
This album is all about connection at its heart. Connection to self, to others, to history and to the joy of making music in real time. Continue reading
On her long awaited debut album Debo Ray, the Boston based artist bursts on to the scene. This is a record that is both reclamation and revelation. And it is a fearless one too with its exploration of musical genres as well as themes of identity, truth and artistic power.
From the opening notes of “Tell Me What You Want,” Ray makes her intentions clear. The track folds slick R&B rhythms into a spitfire rap verse, a bold and immediate sign that Ray’s musical instincts refuse to stay in one lane. Continue reading
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