Miles Davis: ‘Painting is the visual equivalent of making music.’
The similarities between jazz and visual art are clearly evident in the work of Miles Davis (1926 – 1991). In the early 1980s, the influential American trumpeter, bandleader and composer was temporarily unable to play his instrument as a result of a stroke. His doctor advised him to use pencil exercises to regain movement in […]
Karel Appel, the fierce painter beast
The name of Karel Appel (1921 – 2006) is inextricably linked to jazz music. Like many of his Cobra colleagues, the Dutch artist was a passionate jazz lover. To create the right working conditions, he played rousing jazz records in his studio. Listen to the text on my YouTube channel: The documentary ‘The Reality of […]
Best jazz albums and concerts in 2025
5 Mathias Eick: Lullaby. (ECM). Mathias Eick has added another great album to his impressive discography this year. The eight compositions, in which the Norwegian trumpeter draws on his childhood, are reassuringly hopeful. The power of Eick’s music is revealed by the omission of superfluous frills. American trumpeter Wynton Marsalis may not believe in the […]
A bright light on Eva Cassidy’s multifaceted personality
After watching The Essence of Eva, you really feel like you have gotten to know the singer and visual artist who died at the early age of 33. The long-awaited documentary about Eva Cassidy (1963–1996) is surprisingly comprehensive. Filmmakers Malcolm Willis and Alex Fegan have succeeded in getting many different key figures from Eva’s life […]
Benny Andersson’s timelessly beautiful songs
The idea was so obvious that you wondered why no one had thought of it before: in 2017, Benny Andersson made an album of instrumental music that he had written during his long career. Andersson had been performing on stage with various bands for years before he achieved worldwide fame in 1974 as the pianist […]
What makes Paul McCartney’s songs so brilliant?
As a composer of pop songs, Sir Paul McCartney has been at the top of his game for more than sixty years. Most of The Beatles’ tracks are credited to the Lennon-McCartney duo. Yet McCartney’s influence on the music of the most successful pop group of the 1960s is evident. McCartney was the creator of […]