From being a major musician in swinging Addis Ababa to a taxi driver in Washington DC, Hailu Mergia has seen many changes after settling in American in 1981. Reissued by the label Awesome Tapes From Africa, Hailu Mergia has this year released a new album, Lala Belu, 30 years after his first ethio-jazz adventures.
ECM have put out the full recording of a Keith Jarrett solo show, captured at the La Fenice back in 2006. To coincide with this remarkable release, we asked three renowned pianists describe the admiration they have for the art and mastery of a living genius
Aged 92, Randy Weston passed away in Brooklyn where he had grown up. He was one of the first to defend the African legacy on jazz. Tribute to a giant.
Qwest TV EXCLUSIVE: BBE Records will release a recording of an extraordinary four-hour performance by an inspired Charles Mingus at the Strata Concert Gallery in Detroit in 1973.
The product of an activist’s intuition, Makaya McCraven’s mixtape has brought together the brightest stars of the time: Chicago and London. How do we explain this meeting of two scenes if it isn’t the hype about them both?
A major Tunisian artist, Anouar Brahem talks to Qwest TV about his latest album, his career, his years in Paris and his passion for the cinema. He will appear at the Jazz in Marciac festival on August 4.
In France, we were still searching for the ambassadors of a future rejuvenation of the audience when Daïda brought it home for us with La légende de Daïdarabotchi. In this promising first EP, the quintet led by Vincent Tortiller doesn’t get bogged down with manners.
"Gil Scott-Heron and I, we saw each other as conspirators you know, as co-conspirators and trying to get the message of sensitive urgency about becoming more involved with our lives, more involved about what it’s going on at the time in America."
An historic figure in French jazz, Henri Texier is infatuated with Sand Woman, his latest disc with six long, intense, magnificent tracks by incomparable musicians.
