Posts by Paul Bloomfield

Part of his month-long US winter tour, Kamasi Washington played one night at Northampton’s Calvin Theater on February 22nd, with his eight-piece band, including drummers Tony Austin and Ronald Bruner Jr, Masayuki Hirano on keyboards and synthesizer, Ryan Portar on trombone, vocalist Patrice Quinn, Ben Williams on bass, and his dad Rickey Washington on flute/soprano […]

This is the final act on the Dean’s Bean’s stage of the three-day Green River Music Festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts on 7/14/19. The sun is shining on the distant hills of this idyllic New England setting. Minutes before the scheduled start time, Fantastic Negrito and his band do a soundcheck. “ Where should the guitar be […]

While starters “Soul Tree” are playing their brand of Zappa-esque dub reggae, 82-year-old, Lee “Scratch” Perry with his three-piece band walk across the floor at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, MA on 10/31. Unassuming, wading through the crowd is a mix of Halloween clad fans, Perry stops and points at my friend in a superhero […]

The stage is a tiered topographic landscape in beech wood laminate and the colors are muted and warm. Florence Welch enters after the eight-piece band, which includes Isabella Summers on keyboards and backing vocals, Robert Ackroyd on lead guitar,Tom Monger on harp, Cyrus Bayandor on bass, Aku Orraca-Tetteh on percussion and backing vocals, Dionne Douglas […]

Stevie Wonder has been an active performer for well over 50 years. He is one of the most respected, covered, and influential contributors to popular music around today. Tonight, we are at the final leg of the four-city tour created with MGM to celebrate his 68th birthday and also the opening of the new MGM, […]

With a full roster of local and national artists, the music and energy of Springfield (MA) Jazz and Roots Festival on August 11th at Court Square seemed even more vibrant in contrast with the gloomy weather. Performing artists include Wanda Houston, Avery Sharpe, Pedrito Martinez, Magdalena Gomez and Ben Barson, John Cleary, Sweet Honey in […]

After a sudden burst of  “a thousand kilowatts for P-Funk,” from the speakers (photographers reeled back at the sonic blast), all four music stages of the festival must be aware of the next act following the soulful velvety Gregory Porter. The announcer informs us that we are witnessing the completion of the holy trinity of […]

Before Coachella, Lollapalooza, Afropunk Festival, and even before Woodstock, the Newport Jazz festival was stirring things up back in the 1950s. For some, the notion of jazz as radical, revolutionary, cutting-edge, and entirely relevant musical genre may seem like a stretch. Yet since its inception in 1954 Newport Jazz Festival has been a participant and […]

Entering the stage in near darkness with the band, there was no grand entrance or pretenses of rock star ego at the XFINITY Theater in Hartford, CT on June, 23rd. The simple lighting echoed his entrance as Dave Matthews began “That Girl is You,” a soulful, bluesy yet uplifting track from their new 2018 album […]

Long before Kendrick, Kanye, Drake, and Nicki Minaj, a formidable and influential hip-hop duo, Erik B. and Rakim, were among those significant predecessors whose originality, style, and content helped create this global phenomenon. Though long past their limelight years recording together (1986-92), they have recent collaborations with giants Eminem and Rakim, as a solo artist, […]

The Bad Plus continually confirm their significant role of jazz ambassadors in contemporary music. Known in the early 2000s as a jazz band that also played pop classics by artists such as Blondie, Peter Gabriel, Nirvana, and Cyndi Lauper., The Bad Plus has avoided arrangements that makes their music feel ersatz. Instead, the Minneapolis trio […]