This song is a thing of beauty, it’s acoustic, and has Maya’s signature vocal… She sings strongly over an acoustic guitar that has percussion underneath. For me it’s the harmonies that are doing the job, especially where they are adding more and more in the chorus – there are harmonies throughout the song, but the …
Single Review: “Old Folks” – Chris Botti
This track is just… beautiful. Muted trumpet, piano, double bass, and drums played with brushes no less! This is a slow tempo track that calls to mind a slow dance in a black and white film, in an empty club. Or the first dance at a wedding. I don’t know which, but this is stunning, …
Blog interview: Bedhed
Congratulations on the release of “Holding Their Breath” how does it feel? Amazing! We waited a long time to have our first single out, and the response has been in wildest dreams territory. It’s brilliant to have one of our songs out there and have made this thing we love, and that it’s finding so …
Blog interview: The Great Leslie
Congratulations on the release of “Burn Me, Drown Me” how does it feel? Thank you! It feels like we have really good momentum going at the moment with the great things that have happened to us recently, this release just comes at the perfect time to keep that going. What’s the story behind the song? …
Single Review: “No Blame” – Christina Chong
This track is interesting in so many ways. It’s a powerful ballad, which starts off guitar led, and I get the feeling that the acoustic guitar plays a vital part in the pecussion of the overall arrangement. I’ll explain why shortly. Christina’s vocals are warm, it sits right at the front of the mix, she …
Single Review: “I Wish You Well” – Chidi Digital and ROT8TIONS
This is an instrumental of sublime levels… The drums are dusty and warm, reminding you of old jazz records, fused with a vinyl crackle, and it just whisks me back to listening to records on a really good hi fi system, it just sounds so natural. You can’t always get that with a sample of …
Single Review: “I Get Around” – Beach Boys
For my throwback track review I thought I’d go back to the 1960s. On July 4th 1964 The Beach Boys began a two week run on the US singles chart with this song. This is probably the first Beach Boys record I ever heard, on a dusty TDK tape in 1989 that a friend of …
Live Review: Too Many Zooz, London Jazz Cafe 3rd July 2023. Words: Sammy Stein.
Too Many Zooz are NYC-based trio Leo Pelligrino on baritone sax, Matt Muirhead on trumpet, and David Parks on drums. London’s Jazz Café was the perfect venue for the trio, the crowd was enthusiastic, and the space was large, packed, and atmospheric. After the first set by pianist/rapper Harvey White who topped his piano playing, …
Single Review: “Loud Love” – Iris Harley. Words: Sammy Stein.
Iris Harley is a vocalist who has been influenced by iconic figures like Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. Following her dream to express her feelings in music and lyrics, she began writing her own songs. Her previous release, the wonderfully fluid ‘Love Your Vibe’ (well worth checking out on Bandcamp – see link below) …
Single Review: “Worldwide Ceasefire” – Rebel Control
Well, this song is a protest song if ever there was one! Sunshine reggae groove laid down in dub style with reverb which is the main ingredient of a dub track… Lord knows we need this song right now. This song is about wars going on around the world. It may not be on our …