https://johnhollenbeck.bandcamp.com/album/letters-to-george John Hollenbeck is a genre-fluid composer/percussionist, renowned in both the jazz and new-music worlds. He gained widespread recognition as the driving force behind the unclassifiable Claudia Quintet, and the ambitious John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, groups with roots in jazz, world music, and contemporary composition. He has earned six GRAMMY nominations and has worked …
Blog interview: Dave Britto, Arrows
Hello Dave how are you? Hello Del, I’m good and thank you for speaking to me. Congratulations on the release of “Another Avenue”, how does it feel? Thanks! It’s great, there’s always that feeling of nervousness and excitement that comes with every release. I’ve been holding on to this song for a very long time, …
Single Review: “Can’t Touch” – The Great Leslie
The boys are back in town and they’ve got a cracker of a track proclaiming that they’re planning to make more noise in 2023. “Can’t Touch” is a mixture of different patterns, first of all it starts off with a guitar riff that chugs off at 16ths, the drums come in at 0:06, all toms …
Single Review: “Penny Lane” – The Beatles
“Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes…” You know you sang along with that. I certainly did. This song is part of English history and on this particular day in 1967, the Beatles did a last minute remix of it along with “Strawberry Fields Forever” the double a side single that they …
Single Review: “Few And Far Between” – Calum Baird
The thing I like about Calum’s voice is that it’s… Honest. What do I mean about that? Well first of all, you can hear his Scottish accent coming through real true, there are no heirs and graces there. He’s a folk singer telling a story in his songs, and you have to have a believable …
Single Review: “Sugar Pie” – Dakota Jones
Drums! Bass! Guitar! Hammond! Horns!Loooooooord the Hammond!!!!! And the star of this song that voice. This is so soulful, I can just imagine Dakota Jones rocking up to Jimmy Fallon’s looking at The Roots, uses the Force to connect with Questlove and then him counting this off like his Afrocomb is on fire and then …
Single Review: “Only Just Begun” – Marseille
Marseille are a problem. These guys write infectious tunes that just make you want to sing along to, and “Only Just Begun” is no exception. This is a song that’s all too easily relatable being the one that the person you have your eye on knows that you want to be there for them. I …
Single Review: “Little Grey” – Laura Dannan
Now this song caught my ear for a variety of reasons, first of all, I love Laura’s way of writing she’s a singer songwriter that writes about… Well. Life! If you don’t know what I’m talking about listen to her song “Mid Life Crisis”, it’s self explanatory. This song is about her car though. Yes. …
Single Review: “Married By Elvis” – Begonia
The title of this song is what got my attention. That and the Bossa nova groove, this is a pretty sweet track, acoustic guitar over a latin groove, the claves haven’t gone unnoticed by the way, and Begonia’s vocals are gorgeous on this, very soulful and playful at the same time. This song is about …
Single Review: “Pull To Refresh” – Devin Gray. Words: Sammy Stein
Devin Gray is a drummer, composer, and bandleader currently working and living in Brooklyn, New York City. Gray is involved in many musical projects and has worked with innovative musicians including David Liebman, Tony Malaby, Gary Thomas, Ingrid Jensen, Dave Burrell, Dave Ballou, Michael Formanek, Nate Wooley, Stephan Crump, George Garzone, Chris Speed, Drew Gress, …