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 Coming Soon page. Read our daily album reviews.
Sign in to customize your My Articles page —or— Filter Article Results
Seungmin Jung: Anecdotes
by Dan McClenaghan
Korean-born bassist Seungmin Jung journeyed to America to study at the Manhattan School of Music. His debut album, Anecdotes features a cohesive sound crafted by a group of like-minded international players who go deep into the leader's compositions.The opener, “Blue," has a melancholy flavor spiced with hope. Trumpet and saxophone rise into the sky; the rhythm section--featuring a guitar, piano, drums and Jung's bass--tether the horns to the ground with a flexible tenacity and a complex weave of ...
Continue ReadingNasheet Waits, Sasha Berliner, Nels Cline and the Premazzi-Nasser Quartet!
by Hobart Taylor
This week's show features the intricate melodies of the Premazzi-Nasser Quartet, new music from guitarist Rez Abbasi, Sasha Berliner, Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen and the latest from Nasheet Waits. Playlist Premazzi-Nasser Quartet “Raoul Blues" from From What I Recall (OA2) 0:00 Nasheet Waits “Snake Hip Waltz" from New York Love Letter (Bitter Sweet) (Giant Step Arts) 6:10 Amina Claudine Myers" Cairo" from Solace of the Mind (Red Hook) 13:50 Host Speaks 17:35 Rez Abbasi “Meet the Moment" from ...
Continue ReadingJackie McLean, Eugene Chadbourne, and Miho Hazama
by Jerome Wilson
Technical difficulties prevented me from recording last week's show, so instead here is a vintage one from February 9, 2021. The musicians featured here include Jackie McLean, Susan Alcorn. Miho Hazama, Dave Burrell, and Eugene Chadbourne. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 John Abercrombie “Ralph's Piano Waltz" from Timeless (ECM) 00:58 Wes Montgomery “Double Deal" from The Best of ...
Continue ReadingSwinging Scores—How Jazz Shaped Bollywood’s Golden Age
by Karan Khosla
This piece--the first in a five-part series on the Indian jazz revival--focuses on the heavy imprint of jazz on Indian cinema, specifically Bollywood during its golden age between the 1940s and 1970s. It's a story about how a music born in New Orleans made its way to Bombay, and how, for a few wild and brilliant decades, it seeped into the sonic fabric of Hindi-language cinema, leaving behind echoes we can still hear today. This article draws heavily ...
Continue ReadingUsein Bekirov: Qizilciqlar
by Ian Patterson
Head of the jazz department at Lviv National Academy of Music (LNMA), Usein Bekirov is a Ukrainian jazz-fusion/ethno-jazz keyboardist who draws on his Crimean Tatar musical roots as well as influences from Azerbaijan and the Balkans. As titles go, “Qizilciqlar" might not roll off the tongue, but the music does the talking. Lilting folkloric melody and jazz-fusion architecture combine with notable contributions from the leader on piano, Randy Brecker, Ada Rovatti and Turkish guitarist--here on acoustic--Cenk Erdoğan. Rounding out the ...
Continue ReadingRonan Guilfoyle's Bemusement Arcade: At Swing, Two Birds
by Ian Patterson
If there were Grammys for the most punning name for a jazz band, or for the most enigmatic album title, then Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle could well bag a brace. The title of the wonderfully coined Bemusement Arcade's debut album is a wordplay on Irish humorist Flann O'Brien's At Swim Two Birds (Longman Green & Co., 1939) --a wild and woolly work of satirical postmodern metafiction beloved by existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, writer Aldous Huxley and rock 'n' blues guitarist ...
Continue ReadingThe Hemphill Stringtet: The Hemphill Stringtet Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill
by Troy Dostert
One of the most multifaceted saxophonists to come out of the 1970s-80s jazz avant-garde, Julius Hemphill exuded both fervid power and delicate sensitivity, always with an underpinning of swing to help anchor him within the jazz tradition. While his iconic releases like Dogon A.D. (Mbari, 1972) and Flat-Out Jump Suite (Black Saint, 1980) are rightly considered classics, exemplifying Hemphill's rich harmonic sensibility and improvisational prowess, sometimes forgotten are the wonderful duet releases he recorded with one of his go-to colleagues, ...
Continue ReadingTony Tixier, Hermon Mehari, Sun-Mi Hong, Branford Marsalis & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Between Branford Marsalis' integral reimagining of Keith Jarrett's Belonging and Tony Tixier's prolific output, here is a playlist full of creative, up and coming musicians.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Salin “Being Here" Rammana (Self-produced) 0:16 Host talks 3:49 Sun-Mi Hong “A Never-Wilting Petal II: Loneliness" Fourth Page: Meaning of a Nest (Edition) 4:51 Host talks 10:48 Chaerin Im “Summer Dream Forever" Midnight Resets (Dox) 11:39 Lada Obradovic, ...
Continue ReadingRussell Haight: Go Forth
by Jack Bowers
Go Forth is exactly what saxophonist Russell Haight did after recording this tasteful album in July 2023, leaving the Dallas, Texas area where he had lived and worked for two decades, moving to New York City, the jazz capital of the world, to continue his musical journey among the elite in his profession. As this was Haight's previous go-round with three of his longtime friends and colleagues from Dallas--pianist Sean Giddings, bassist Ryan Hagler and drummer Daniel ...
Continue ReadingMelody, Please
by Patrick Burnette
The boys ponder a batch of 2025 releases on the search for memorable, hummable melodies. These being 2025 jazz albums, you can guess the results of the search. Still, much to enjoy is these very diverse selections.Playlist Discussion of Dayna Stephens album Hopium (Contagious Music) 5:54 Discussion of Sean Imboden's album Communal Heart (Self Released) 26:18 Discussion of Chicago Jazz Orchestra's album, featuring Bobby Broom More Amore (Chicago Jazz Orchestra Records) 46:11 Discussion of Camilla Meza's album Portal ...
Continue Reading
