Articles by Michael Ricci

Website News

By Jazz Fans, For Jazz Fans: How All About Jazz Works

by Michael Ricci
September 21, 2026

When All About Jazz launched in 1995, one of our earliest taglines was simple: “By jazz fans, for jazz fans." At the time, those six words pretty much said it all. We were people who loved jazz, writing about jazz for other people who loved jazz. There wasn't much need to explain the organizational philosophy behind it because there wasn't much of an organization yet. More than thirty years later, All About Jazz has ...

Website News

Thirty Years Later, the Vision Remains

by Michael Ricci
August 13, 2026

When people ask me how All About Jazz began, they often assume it started with a website. It didn't. The idea predates AAJ by two years. Before All About Jazz launched in August 1995, I was fascinated by the possibilities of organizing album information in ways that made it more useful, more connected and more enjoyable to explore. At the time, I was working on a CD-ROM project devoted to jazz discographies, inspired in ...

Top Ten List

The Infinite Groove: Top 10 Classic Jazz Marathons

Concept by Michael Ricci | Written by AI
March 8, 2026

Classic Jazz | Prog Rock While the “3-minute single" was the rule for radio, the jazz world of the mid-20th century operated on a different internal clock. With the arrival of the Long Play (LP) record, jazz musicians finally had the “room" to let their ideas breathe. This era gave birth to the extended jam, often referred to as a “blowing session," where the primary goal was to capture the spontaneous telepathy of a group of virtuosos. These ...

Top Ten List

The Grand Sonic Journey: Top 10 Progressive Rock Epics of All Time

Concept by Michael Ricci | Written by AI
March 7, 2026

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a musical revolution occurred when rock musicians decided the standard three-minute pop format was no longer enough. Enter progressive rock--a genre characterized by boundless ambition, virtuosic musicianship, and a sheer fearlessness when it came to track length. Bands fused rock and roll with classical structures, jazz improvisation, and avant-garde experimentation to create sprawling, multi-part suites that often required an entire side of a vinyl record. These extended compositions, typically running anywhere ...

Jazz Fiction

Resonant Access

Concept by Michael Ricci | Written by AI
January 17, 2026

In this jazz fiction piece, Resonant Access, music is more than expression--it's a form of inquiry. Elliot Mercer, a modern jazz alto saxophonist and theoretical physicist, discovers that sustained tones and careful listening can destabilize the very systems meant to observe and control the world around him. Blending improvisation, science, and quiet resistance, the story explores jazz as a discipline of resonance, choice, and freedom--one that exists only in the moment it is played. Elliot Mercer discovered it ...

Jazz Fiction

To Boldly Swing

Concept by Michael Ricci | Written by AI
January 7, 2026

I boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise at Starbase 11 with my hands in my coat pockets, feeling for all the universe like a kid walking into his first club date--equal parts confidence and nerves. The ship loomed above me, impossibly clean, humming softly, as if already in a comfortable vamp. You could feel it breathing. “Welcome aboard," said the transporter chief, smiling as if jazz bands materialized on Federation starships every day. Maybe they did. It was 2265, after ...

Year in Review

Most Viewed In Pictures articles: 2025

by Michael Ricci
January 4, 2026

Photographers report on jazz happenings from around the world, and we present them on All About Jazz as In Pictures articles. We also track the frequency these articles are viewed, and the articles listed below represent our most popular in .2025. SFJAZZ Spring Concerts In Pictures August 28, 2025 Views: 26,671 Laufey and the Virginia Symphony at the Chartway Arena In Pictures August 17, 2025

Year in Review

Most Read Album Reviews: 2025

by Michael Ricci
January 2, 2026

All About Jazz tracks how often an album review is read, and the reviews listed below represent our most popular in 2025 Alma Libre Arturo Sandoval Reviewed by Karan Khosla July 23, 2025 And Now Kjetil Mulelid Reviewed by John Eyles February 16, 2025 Old Home/New Home Brian Martin Reviewed by Jack Bowers August 23, 2025 Lado B Brazilian Project 2 Otmaro ...

Year in Review

Popular Jazz Songs: 2025

by Michael Ricci
January 2, 2026

All About Jazz tracks how often a featured song is heard, and the following represent the most popular in 2025. If you missed them the first time around, give them a listen now, and enjoy! I'll Be Always With You From: Alma Libre By Arturo Sandoval Tutu From: TUTU -Tribute to Miles (Feat. Stefano Andreatta) By Selma Boragian Rising From: Rising By Daniel Garbin ...

Year in Review

Most Read Articles: 2025

by Michael Ricci
January 1, 2026

All About Jazz tracks how often an article is read, and the articles listed below represent our most popular in 2025. Best Jazz Albums of 2025: All-Star Break Edition Year in Review July 2, 2025 Bob Schlesinger at Dazzle Live Review August 20, 2025 The Unlikely Story of Cannonball Adderley's Rise to the Top So You Don't Like Jazz ...