Jazz Articles
Our daily articles are carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. You can find more articles by searching our website, see what's trending on our popular articles page or read articles ahead of their published dates on our future articles page. Read our daily album reviews.
Sign in to customize your My Articles page —or— Filter Article Results
David Janeway: Interchange
by Dan McClenaghan
Unearthing and releasing old music--even sounds sourced from decades old tapes--has become common in jazz. Pianist Bill Evans (thank you. Zev Feldman) has enjoyed something of a twenty-first-century renaissance. Pianist Fred Hersch released @ The Village Vanguard (Palmetto Records, 2018), recorded in 1997; and 2021 saw the posthumous release from pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, Hanamichi (Red Hook), recorded in 2013. Pianist David Janeway has been on the scene since the late 70s; he offered up the marvelous Distant Voices ...
read moreBurak Bedikyan: Istanbul Junction
by Hrayr Attarian
Istanbul-born and New York-based pianist Burak Bedikyan is an inventive composer and intelligent improviser with a subtle touch. His fifth release, the intimate and cinematic Istanbul Junction, showcases his talents fully as he leads a new band through nine of his captivating originals. The album's overall ambience is dramatic and darkly-hued, and the various tracks expand within it with vibrant poetry. The main theme of “Moods," for example, consists of expectant and simmering refrains. These progress into an ...
read moreBurak Bedikyan: Awakening
by Hrayr Attarian
On his third release as a leader, Istanbul based pianist, Burak Bedikyan seamlessly blends his dual education in western classical and jazz and his national/ethnic heritage into an intriguing and cohesive album. Awakening comprises of nine Bedikyan originals that are elegantly crafted balancing intricate harmonies with deceptively effortless fluidity. The gently rolling refrains on the lilting ballad “Mother Earth," for instance, have a warm, Near Eastern lyricism. Saxophonist Loren Stillman embellishes the melancholic theme with yearning spontaneous phrases ...
read moreDavid Ambrosio / Russ Meissner: Moments in Time
by Jakob Baekgaard
For a long time, bassist David Ambrosio has been a vital part of the jazz scene in New York City and his playing has been documented on many releases, including the wonderful trio recordings by pianist Eri Yamamoto. In 2014, a new chapter began in Ambrosio's story when he released his first album as a leader on Fresh Sound New Talent: Gone. Here, he was in the good company of alto saxophonist Loren Stillman and drummer Russ ...
read moreGreg Burk: Clean Spring
by Budd Kopman
Pianist Greg Burk has built quite a discography as a leader, including solo albums and his latest, Clean Spring will only further burnish his reputation as a deep player and thinker. In a very real sense, this album is a homage to Burk's mentor Paul Bley, who had an obvious impact of Burk's musical attitude and playing, but who also helped Burk pick out the tracks for the album in the months between the actual recording sessions and his death ...
read moreGene Segal: Mental Images
by Dave Wayne
Guitarist and composer Gene Segal has put the intervening years between Mental Images and his recording debut, Hypnotic (Innova Records, 2009), to good use. While Segal still loves the funk, as the opening “Healing Feeling" definitively shows, the remainder of the album doesn't easily fit into any one musical pigeonhole;unless there's a category at your local music store called “accomplished, original jazz-rock from out of left-field."Russian-born and Brooklyn-raised, Segal has assembled quite a band for “Mental Images." Jon ...
read moreSamo Salamon: 2Alto
by Hrayr Attarian
Slovenian guitarist Samo Šalamon is ever the intrepid adventurer of modern music. With each release he explores new sonic textures and harmonic ideas. The 2014 2 Alto on Steeplechase is no different. Šalamon combines his polyphonic guitar-work with the contrasting and complementary sounds of saxophonists Loren Stillman and John O'Gallagher and the propulsive beats of frequent collaborator, drummer Roberto Dani to create a delightful variety of abstract soundscapes. On the cinematic “Man of Mystery" for instance Šalamon enhances ...
read moreSamo Salamon: 2Alto
by Jakob Baekgaard
2014 has already been a productive year for Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon. Earlier this year, Salamon released the ambitious Orchestrology where he recorded with strings and now comes an album with focus on the sound of alto saxophones. 2Alto finds the guitarist in the familiar company of drummer Roberto Dani, who also played on Orchestrology. The new faces this time are the alto saxophonists Loren Stillman and John O'Gallagher. Salamon wrote new music, specifically with these master ...
read moreRotem Sivan: Enchanted Sun
by Chris May
Is this destined to be one of the great undiscovered albums of the year? Released with little fanfare on Steeplechase's Lookout strand back in June, Enchanted Sun has picked up precious few reviews. Maybe it is just the summer slumber. Let us hope so, for the debut recording from Israeli-born, New York-based guitarist Rotem Sivan and his trio deserves to get n.o.t.i.c.e.d.Unusually for a modern guitar-led album, there are no loops, no effects, no overdubs, no turntablists, no ...
read moreRotem Sivan: Enchanted Sun
by Dan McClenaghan
Guitarist Rotem Sivan, who made the move from his native Israel to New York City in 2008, chose the trio format for his debut, Enchanted Sun. Working with just bass and drums accompanying--whether the “lead" is a piano, a horn or a guitar---is one of the most intimate ways to make music; since pianist Bill Evans' groundbreaking trio of the late fifties and early sixties, it's also one of the most potentially interactive. And, with drummer Rajiv Jayaweera and bassist ...
read more
Giveaway
Days remaining: 2
