DECEMBER 2015 ISSUE
A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the December 2015 issue…
Samm Henshaw
How come you sing like an ol’ soul ‘n’ blues guy when you’re only 21 years old?
“Growing up in church has had a major influence on my music. My dad is a pastor so I grew up listening to gospel music and also played as part of my church worship team. That’s where I learned to play drums first, then keys and, eventually, guitar. In terms of other influences, we always had a lot of music playing around the house, from Johnny Cash to Michael Jackson, and once I was old enough I went on to discover the likes of Lauryn Hill, D’Angelo… ”
Terisa Griffin
The year’s pretty much over, the ‘Best Of’ lists been compiled, the ‘Ones To Watch In 2016’, as suggested by mainstream media, roundly ignored in favour of artists with actual talent. And then, just before Santa is heaving on his boots, comes Terisa Griffin with her third album, Revival Of Soul.
Thanks to Soul Brother in Putney, I am aware, as probably you are too, of her first two albums, My Naked Soul from 2006 and Soulzophrenic from four years back. But this new one is something special. Cut entirely with live musicians and without a programme in earshot, the Chicago-based [though Louisiana born] singer and songwriter and former American The Voice contestant [but we needn’t dwell on that] has just delivered what could well turn out to be a career defining album…
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Billy Cobham
Americans in Europe: it’s a subject with a far-reaching history. Sidney Bechet hit Paris in the ‘20s; Ben Webster Copenhagen in the ‘50s; Steve Lacy Rome in the ‘60s. Also prominent in the pantheon of long-term jazz repatriation from the New World to the Old is Billy Cobham. The impressively youthful 68-year-old New York drummer who was actually born in Panama has been living in Switzerland for 34 years.
As we sit down for tea at the swish Heights bar of central London’s Langham hotel whose 15th floor location affords a sweeping panorama of ‘The Big Smoke’ draped in a grey mid-winter pall, Cobham is more than happy to talk global perspectives…
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Romain Virgo
In 2007, when he was just 17 years old, Romain Virgo became the talk of Jamaica after becoming the youngest-ever person to win Rising Stars – a televised talent show that was essential viewing every Sunday evening, and the nearest thing they had to X Factor on the island. A little over two years later and his debut album heralded the arrival of a major new talent on the reggae scene. It’s a status he’s upheld ever since, whether collaborating with country stars [Larry Gatlin], earning tweets of approval by Sam Smith for his cover of Stay With Me or delivering thought-provoking reality songs…
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