Category Archives: Concert And Event Reviews

Concert Review: Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko (Senegal) & Volker Goetze (Germany)

Review by Hubl Greiner

(Photos courtesy of Hubl Greiner and Volker Goetze)

Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko & Volker Goetze – A Dialogue

There are encounters on stage that are more than just musical collaborations. Undoubtedly, this was the case for the concert by Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko (Kora) and Volker Goetze (trumpet) last Wednesday at K9 in Konstanz (Germany). The duo demonstrated just how deeply music can resonate when it is grounded in mutual understanding.

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Gig Review: Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub in New York

Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub, live at Otto’s Shrunken Head, June 29, 2025

Review by David Belmont

I was looking forward to catching Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub at Otto’s for a couple of reasons. One, I have a perverse liking for the East Village dive bar that has been the scene of lots of independently produced entertainment and artistry over the decades, including a monthly poetry reading that I have participated in for the past several years. Two, I was interested in checking out the band in person after having gotten heavily into their Live at Green Kill Sessions CD when I was reviewing it for DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY. I wanted to see/hear what made this highly eclectic band tick, and, in my experience, there’s no better way to do that than check them out in an intimate setting.

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Renaud Garcia-Fons

Live Review: Renaud Garcia-Fons Solo and In Quartet. At the East Neuk Festival, Scotland.

Artist: Renaud Garcia-Fons
Genre: French double bassist presenting his modern take on Andalusian cante jondo and Maqam.
Live concerts: on 28 and 29 June 2024 in Anstruther, Scotland, as part of the 20th iteration of the East Neuk Festival, a boutique annual international music and arts festival.

Photos courtesy of East Neuk Fest’s official photographer, Neil Hanna.

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Festival Review: Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (EJBF) July 2022

Text and photos by Fiona Mactaggart

This year’s lavish, multi-venue, ten-day juggernaut of an Edinburgh Jazz and
Blues Festival (EJBF) opened with a bang, with a ‘Mardi Gras’ in Edinburgh old
town’s Grassmarket and an Edinburgh Festival Carnival along the beautiful,
new town Princes Street getting the party started over the first few days. EJBF
has now screeched to a halt while some other festivals Edinburgh is famous for
have taken off, and it feels timely to reflect on some of this year’s jazz festival
offerings.

Bigger than ever this year, EJBF encompassed a wide range of jazz and blues
and prompted the feeling that there may have almost been as many bands
coming from overseas as from within Scotland itself.

EJBF

De Beren Gieren

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