APRIL 2024 ISSUE
A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the April 2024 issue – OUT NOW!
LIZZ WRIGHT
The Cadogan Hall locates just off London’s Sloane Square and on a Friday evening, midway through March, Lizz Wright is in total command thereof. Behind and a little to the left of her sits Marvin Sewell, his bluesy slide guitar and air of effortless calm ever at her beck and call. To her right, meanwhile, a standing Adam Levy – formerly guitarist in Norah Jones’ band – veritably bounces through his solos, in flat cap and light-brown blazer looking for all the world like a Millwall fan dressed for a big night Up West. Wright has eased into a fluid cover of I’m Confessin’ That I Love You and, as the band hits the vamp, she inserts the opening lines to Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me – it fits the groove perfectly – and you can hear the purr of satisfaction rippling through the crowd. It’s largely an older, mostly white audience in attendance, perhaps in part due to the venue’s reputation for classical music since its conversion from a church in the early noughties, but then Wright’s ability to subvert the usual genre classifications despite delivering what is essentially a blend of traditional American music styles – gospel, blues, soul, jazz, some folk – endears her to international audiences of many creeds, colours and ages.…
UB40
Someone once pointed out that it’s not achieving success which is the hardest thing to do but maintaining it. Imagine battling against the odds to reach the top and then having to consistently write, record and perform the kind of material that will keep your fanbase happy, whilst hopefully attracting new ones. UB40 have been doing that for 45 years now and yet their latest album, the aptly named UB45, is more relevant than ever.
Just like the Rolling Stones, they’ve rejuvenated themselves by returning to what they do best. In UB40’s case – and we’re talking about the original group here, and not whatever aggregate their long departed former lead singer Ali Campbell currently leads – they’ve continued writing songs born from the same spirit that inspired early hits like One In Ten and Food For Thought. They’ve never stopped voicing love songs of course, but UB40 are renowned for speaking out for what they believe in and expressing solidarity with ordinary folk, including those who happen to be most vulnerable – the victims of injustice especially. Right from the start, there was an undeniable authenticity at the heart of their music and all this time later, we’re still able to say the same thing about some of the songs on their latest album.
JUDITH HILL
Judith Hill has packed enough in her nigh on four decades on Earth to last at least five lifetimes. With a musical CV that spans work with the likes of Steve Wonder and Spike Lee, a stint on US reality TV monster The Voice and a lead feature on Michael Jackson’s aborted This Is It tour, to say that she’s been busy is an understatement. And that’s before you even get to her relationship with the artist known as Prince in the final years of his life.
It’s been a seemingly non-stop ride of impossible highs and crashing lows – an extended legal battle to get out of a major contract, the well-documented passing of those key figures in her life, and some horrendous online trolling by so-called fans [more of which later]. And through it all she’s created a series of ambitious, genre-defying albums – each more expansive and soul-bearing than the last. Which brings us to her latest project Letters From A Black Widow – a compelling 12-track song suite that pushes her artistry to new heights…
BLUE NOTE RECORDS
It’s anniversary time again. Blue Note turns 85 this year. Anybody with an eye for numbers will not be surprised, given that the label prepared for the milestone by coining at birth a motto for the ages: ‘The finest in jazz since 1939’. That is certainly not lost on the imprint’s president Don Was, who is more than aware of the need to mark the occasion in style. The moment has to capture hearts and minds.
“I’m really excited about it,” he says, gleefully. “We kind of decided to dispense with some of the gimmickry of previous anniversaries. We’re cognizant that we celebrated the 80th and the 75th so we thought just stick to what the people like about Blue Note – which is the music – so we doubled down: we’re releasing 70 albums this year.”
Ensconced in a chic restaurant in the kind of Soho hotel that is refrred to as ‘boutique’ rather than ‘bourgie’ these days, Was is all smiles, as is his colleague Justin Seltzer. The Executive Vice-President and General Manager played a major role in campaigns for the label’s A-listers Robert Glasper and Gregory Porter…