Quarterly Critic’s Choice
The best and most interesting new releases of the previous three months are awarded a place on the Quarterly Critic’s Choice. Evaluation criteria are artistic quality, repertoire value, presentation, and sound quality. From 2014 onward, the Long Lists are stored directly with each Quarterly Critic’s Choice.
NEW: Long List 2/2024, published on 5th April 2024
Blues and Blues-related
Kai Strauss: In My Prime
Continental Blue Heaven CBHCD 2038 (in-akustik)
Most recently, he won a spot on the Critic’s Choice in 2017 with the CD »Getting Personal«, and now he’s back for more. Asked about himself, Kai Strauss says he’s a blues fan who plays for blues fans. He found the optimal balance for himself: conscious of both the legacies of the ancestors and the demands of modern blues. Strauss carefully seasons the »primordial soup« with the latest flavors without ever diluting it. Placing great emphasis on the sound’s elegance, he never loses sight of blues’ original rough-and-tumble. This album is a real treat. For the jury: Karl Leitner