John Shand Posts

July 4, 2020 / Features - Archive

She met any transgression with such a withering glare that her eyes were more like flamethrowers than headlights; the voice imperious, with a crust of sarcasm. Nina Simone could scare the pants off her band and fans, alike. Watch, in Netflix’s gripping What Happened, Miss Simone?, her stop playing to…

July 3, 2020 / Features - Archive

Flipping through records in a department store, the 16-year-old me is hooked by the cover image: an ebony man in a bright white singlet, his body arching backwards as he plays his trumpet. Miles Davis, it says. A Tribute to Jack Johnson. I ask to hear it – in those…

July 2, 2020 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Jazz: NOW Wired June 6 7/10 Perhaps live music video streams are here to stay – especially when the sound is this good. Of course they’ll never replace the electricity of musicians and listeners crammed into the same room, but now that we’ve adjusted to them in the COVID-19 age,…