Single Review: “Away From Here” – Speech Debelle X Baby Sol

Speech Debelle just dropped a beauty of an album, “Sunday Dinner On A Monday” and one of my favourite tracks on it is this one for many reasons.  The warped record playing the chords sets the tone, especially with the crackle. The beat drops in borrowing from afrobeat with the rimshot, kick and shakers.  It’s …

Single Review: “Darling Boy” – Nitin Sawhney and Guy Garvey

Nitin Sawhney and Guy Garvey have collaborated on a song ahead of the release of an album in October. There is so much to love about this song. First of all, it starts off with a multilayered a cappella. The main vocal does some really lovely runs, but It’s the harmony that caught me off …

Album Review: “Most Definitely” – Devin Gray. Words: Sammy Stein.

At Platinum Mind we reviewed Devin Gray’s single, ’Pull to Refresh’ when the album was a future vision. Now that vision is here and out on Rataplan Records on 9th June. Firstly, let’s talk about value – twenty-three tracks, twenty-one of them short but all gloriously different. Secondly, let’s talk drums – Devin has amazing …

Blog interview: Remi Miles

Hello Remi, how are you? I’m doing good, thanks…just got back in from a walk in the glorious sunshine of the day. Congratulations on the release of “Moonlight Lady” how does it feel? Thank you. It feels cool. As an artist I think anytime you’re lucky enough to release something that you’re passionate about and …

Copasetic Foundation Celebrates Ten Years. Words: Sammy Stein

May 2023 marked the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Copasetic Foundation. What began as an informal vehicle for jazz and related music words and music productions has grown to become an established, non-profit collective that creates and produces live music and theatre shows, to promote the understanding and appreciation of jazz and related music via …

Single Review: “War Baby” – Tom Robinson

As it’s Tom’s birthday today I decided to review one of his biggest hits.  This song has so much soul, mixing jazzy rhythms with a beautiful Rhodes piano and a saxophone solo – oh don’t forget the crunchy guitars… I got introduced to this song quite late in life, as I was discussing Fresh On …

Album Review: “It’s All We Have” – Diana Torti and Sabino de Bari. Words: Sammy Stein.

Diana Torti is a singer, improviser, and composer based in London. She has performed in jazz clubs, theatres, and international festivals. Her CD “On A Cloud” (2019, SLAM Productions) was nominated among the best jazz vocal releases of 2019 by The New York City Jazz Record. Torti is also a lecturer and researcher and has …