Here we are on the hottest day of the year and I’m reflecting on the hottest gigs I’ve ever attended. One of them, on a night like this, was by Nas at the 100 Club.

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I don’t know how I forgot this one when I was trawling through the songs of my childhood. It wasn’t a big hit but back in 1974 it seemed to be everywhere.

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Alarming news – in my old age I may be starting to like jazz. Yes, I’m afraid a lifetime of jazzophobia may be under threat after I heard this dude, Yussef Dayes yesterday. On a sunny day on my car radio, his music blew my mind.

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If there was an instrument I’d lock away in Room 101 it’s the ukelele, that scratchy little four-stringed guitar so beloved of hipsters. Yet I’ve always had a soft spot for Zach Condon.

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Summer sounds, from primal punk to vintage soul, reggae and African dance grooves, plus a tribute to Robbie Robertson and a little chill jazz for those long hot evenings.

Christina Vantzou and John Also Bennett collaborate as CV and JAB on this beautiful piece of peaceful piano music – a soothing balm for the pains and frustrations of everyday life.

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Four white men in black suits and white shirts. One black man in a shiny gold suit. And two classic Northern Soul tunes. That’s The Epitome Of Sound.

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The mysterious Rubin only recorded a single side in his obscure music career – but it became a Northern Soul classic. (more…)

This Welsh group is new to me but it seems they’ve been going since 2019 when they formed as what Americans call a “jam band.” The sextet are named after their home town of Church Village, ten miles from Cardiff, calling themselves Church Village Collective – CVC for short.

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I don’t know how you can make a song sound this funky with little more than a bunch of drums from Africa and Asia. But dammit, Nina Simone can. And she did.

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