Reviews

Somi: Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper with Frankfurt Radio Bigband (Salon Africana)

This recording documents a May 2019 meeting between vocalist Somi and the titular German outfit (also known as the hr-Bigband)—her first collaboration with a big … Read More “Somi: Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper with Frankfurt Radio Bigband (Salon Africana)”

Somi: Petite Afrique (OKeh/Sony Masterworks)

The section of Harlem along and around West 116th Street is known as Little Africa—or, in French, Petite Afrique—a vibrant jumble of African immigrants, their … Read More

To access this content, you must purchase JazzTimes Membership.

Somi: The Lagos Music Salon

Born in Illinois to parents from Uganda and Rwanda, Somi has always felt the pull of Africa. She has visited much of the continent, and … Read More

To access this content, you must purchase JazzTimes Membership.

Somi: Live At Jazz Standard

If you’re familiar with the phenomenal TED (Technology, Entertainment & Design) program and its annual conferences in support of “ideas worth spreading,” then you’ll appreciate … Read More

To access this content, you must purchase JazzTimes Membership.

Somi: If The Rains Come First

She floats and flutters like a swatch of chiffon caught in soft cross-breezes, her cream ‘n’ sugar, Sade-meets-Astrud Gilberto voice riding gentle waves of guitar, … Read More

To access this content, you must purchase JazzTimes Membership.

Somi: Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper with Frankfurt Radio Bigband (Salon Africana)

Somi: Petite Afrique (OKeh/Sony Masterworks)

Somi: The Lagos Music Salon

Somi: Live At Jazz Standard

Somi: If The Rains Come First

10 Best Jazz Albums of the 1970s: Critics’ Picks

The Day Louis Armstrong Lost His Color: A Short Story

Speakin’ My Piece with Dekel Bor

The Changing Nature of Protest in Jazz