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
Kuniko: Steve Reich: Drumming
by C. Michael Bailey
If it can be beaten with a stick, a mallet, a brush or a hammer, Kuniko beats it. The master percussionist elevates the musical art of universal percussion to a level that forces it to not only be taken seriously, but to encourage an effort to learn about it. That is the measure of an artist. Kuniko's previous Linn recordings, Kuniko Plays Reich (2012), Cantus (2013), Iannis Xenakis IX (2015), and Bach: Solo Works For Marimba (2017), all ...
read moreKuniko: Bach: Solo Works for Marimba
by C. Michael Bailey
Johann Sebastian Bach. His music is a cornerstone of Western Civilization. On reason Bach's music has had staying power in our quickly evolving culture is its durability. Bach's music has been effectively framed by vastly different instrumental approaches. These include Vittorio Ghielmi's near-the-intent viol consort approach to The Art of Fugue (Winter & Winter, 2009), through Uri Caine's reconstructed Goldberg Variations (Winter & Winter, 2000), all the way to Bill Cunliffe's BACHanalia (Metro, 2017). That is an impressive breadth of ...
read moreBoston Baroque, Martin Pearlman: Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
by C. Michael Bailey
The hinges of musical history have typically afforded one or two artists most associated with them. At the horizon of the Renaissance looking over into the Baroque period was Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567--1643). He is often credited with developing polyphonic performance at the end of the Renaissance period and the basso continuo technique (establishment of a harmonic underpinning) in the Baroque period. New York Times classical music critic Harold Schonberg called Monteverdi, the “Pioneer of Opera," as his L'Orfeo ...
read moreKuniko: Iannis Xenakis IX
by C. Michael Bailey
Sound is elemental. It is why the heartrate, composed of many individual heartbeats in succession is called a vital sign. Percussionist Kuniko understands this in an explicit and integral manner. Her previous recordings, Kuniko Plays Reich (Linn Records, 2012) and Cantus (Linn Records, 2013) were devoted to her command of the vibraphone and marimba. Iannis Xenakis IX broadly expands her use of percussion methods, liberating her talent dramatically. In other words, Kuniko mixes things up...like a wild, precisely structured, aural ...
read moreClaire Martin: Time And Place
by Dan Bilawsky
Few vocalists are as elegant and eloquent as Claire Martin. She's been dubbed “The First Lady of British Jazz," but she doesn't simply belong to her own people; she's one of the crown jewels of the jazz world, contributing classy and intelligent music via her steady flow of albums on the Linn imprint. In the past, Martin has tried plenty of different things. She collaborated with pianist-composer Richard Rodney Bennett, tipped her cap to Shirley Horn, visited ...
read moreWolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Requiem
by C. Michael Bailey
Bruce Haynes, in his book The End of Early Music: A Period Performer's History of Music for the Twenty-First Century (Oxford University Press, 2007) states: “More than anything else, Authenticity seems to be a statement of intent. Totally accurate historic performance is probably impossible to achieve. To know it has been achieved is certainly impossible. But that isn't the goal. What produces interesting results is the attempt to be historically accurate, that is, authentic." ...
read moreMark Moraghan: Moonlight's Back In Style
by Bruce Lindsay
Moonlight's Back In Style is a swing album. In fact, according to songwriter Nicky Campbell's liner notes, it's a New Swing album--songs in a classic style but rooted in contemporary experience. Whether this recording heralds a new musical genre or not it's an easygoing and likeable set of songs. Old swing fans should find plenty to enjoy. The genesis of this album warrants some explanation. Mark Moraghan is an actor, well-known in Britain for his work on ...
read moreClaire Martin: A Modern Art
by Bruce Lindsay
Is jazz still a modern art? It's a hundred years old, after all, and some performers and fans seem to ignore everything written after 1940. But as far as the work of Claire Martin is concerned the question has only one answer. Apart from being one of the finest singers on the current scene, Martin is constantly searching for new writers and new ways to interpret them, ensuring that her own approach to music stays resolutely in the present. A ...
read moreClaire Martin & Richard Rodney Bennett: When Lights Are Low
by Michael P. Gladstone
I'm happy to report new activity from one of my favorite jazz vocalists, Claire Martin. Her new album is a duo recording with pianist (and vocalist) Richard Rodney Bennett. Despite the fact that Martin has released ten albums and a compilation since 1992, she still needs an introduction to even so-called jazz vocal enthusiasts. The British vocalist has recorded for Linn Records and has placed regularly on “best of" jazz surveys, sometimes within the top ten. She has won Best ...
read moreClaire Martin: Perfect Alibi
by Craig Jolley
One of the best of a strong crop of young British jazz singers, Claire Martin has been on the scene for over ten years. Actually it's not clear she is a jazz singer, but that's another discussion. One thing that makes sense is her repertoire. She used to sing show tunes from the '30s and '40s and probably still does occasionally, but lately she's been recording the better pop songs of the last forty years (the Beatles and after). She ...
read more
Giveaway
Days remaining: 5
