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
Agnas Bros.: Sista Forsoket
by Mark Corroto
There is something about the Agnas Bros. that evokes the Beastie Boys--not in sound, but in spirit. Like Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch and Michael Diamond, the four Agnas siblings channel a mix of playfulness, precision and deep musical chemistry. On Sista Försöket-- translated as The Last Attempt--the quartet releases its fifth recording, and perhaps its most adventurous to date. The brothers have a history of woodshedding the material in a basement rehearsal space, and with this disc recording directly to ...
Continue ReadingThe Core: Roots
by Mark Corroto
It has been over a decade since a release from the Norwegian jazz band The Core. Founded in 2001, the quartet released half a dozen albums before mostly going their separate ways. Saxophonist Kjetil Møster worked with Gard Nilssen, Mats Gustafsson, and Per Zanussi, pianist Erlend Slettevoll with Hedvig Mollestad and Petter Wettre, bassist Steinar Raknes with Tord Gustavsen, and drummer Espen Aalberg in the Basement Sessions with Jonas Kullhammar and Torbjörn Zetterberg. Roots, the ensemble's ninth recording, ...
Continue ReadingStåhls Trio: Källtorp Sessions Volume Two
by Mark Corroto
This is the third release by vibraphonist Mattias Ståhl, bassist Joe Williamson and drummer Christopher Cantillo and also the second release to come from the trio's 2017 studio recordings. Källtorp Sessions Volume Two adds trombonist Mats Äleklint on two tracks with Ståhl on soprano saxophone from what one assumes is an additional 2018 studio session. Like Källtorp Sessions Volume One (Moserobie, 2019), the performances are crisp and nattily sharp. Ståhl's vibraphone, which can be heard in bands such ...
Continue ReadingJohan Lindström Septett: On The Asylum
by Karl Ackermann
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Johan Lindström issued his 2018 septet debut Music For Empty Halls (Moserobie Music) to global accolades. The unique set was nominated for a Swedish Grammy, an award which Lindström had captured on four previous occasions. The debut was noted for its unhurried and democratic approach to creative ensemble music. On the Asylum, the second outing of the Johan Lindström Septett surpasses its predecessor as a stunning and eclectic project. Lindström is not yet well-known in ...
Continue ReadingPer Texas Johansson: Stråk på himlen och stora hus
by Glenn Astarita
Swedish multi-woodwind expert and composer Per Texas Johansson is a musical freethinker who dishes out a series of unfettered compositions, injected with heartening attributes on his latest solo effort. As a top-flight session artist, Johansson has been at the forefront of the fertile Scandinavian music scene. Here, the artist blends a multidimensional soundscape with vocalists who often shade or reshape the proceedings with hallowed wordless choruses, while also providing depth to these resonating thematic overtures, spiked with up-tempo motifs, sanguine ...
Continue ReadingDanel Bingert: Berit In Space
by Mark Corroto
Berit In Space is available in all formats from LP to CD and digital except cassette, but you don't have to play the vinyl version to get at least some of the vinyl experience. The album's very clever sound incorporates what is described as a “true-vinyl-record-remaster" that includes a needle drop as each “side" begins, plus that end of the “side" snap of the stylus. The sound returns to the warmth of the pre-digital listening experience, as does the music ...
Continue ReadingStåhls trio: Källtorp Sessions, Volume One
by Mark Corroto
In a more perfect world, jazz would be found on jukeboxes. Better still, how about adventurist jazz on jukeboxes? Mattias Ståhl's trio brings this thought to mind. His Källtorp Sessions, Volume One is comprised of nine tracks averaging 3¾ minutes, perfect for those 45 rpm singles. The Stähls Trio of Mattias Ståhl (vibraphone), Joe Williamson (bass), and Christopher Cantillo (drums), follow up on their premier outing Jag Skulle Bara Gå Ut (Moserobie Music, 2013). These escapades by a ...
Continue ReadingHåvard Wiik: This Is Not a Waltz
by Glenn Astarita
Leading-edge Norwegian pianist Håvard Wiik is a widely acclaimed artist via his work in the eminent Scandinavian free bop band, Atomic and collaborations with saxophonists Joe Lovano, Ken Vandermark and many other jazz VIPs. Yet he's equally at home settling into modern jazz frameworks or when venturing into the outside peripheries of jazz. But this release, recorded with his piano trio, delivers a smaller scale and comprehensive synthesis of his advanced technical skills, approach and style. Wiik injects ...
Continue ReadingJohan Lindström Septett: Music For Empty Halls
by Mark Corroto
There is an old soul lurking in the body of guitarist Johan Lindström. I mean both the body corporal and his guitar body. His septet recording Music For Empty Halls draws the ear back to a time when music was less rushed and much more thoughtful. He's assembled a collection of compositions in a most considerate manner. He's done that by composing and arranging the music, and by choosing just the right combinations of performers and varied instrumentation for each ...
Continue ReadingJari Haapalainen Trio: Fusion Machine
by Mark Corroto
Short sharp shocks, describes the music of Fusion Machine. The twenty-eight minutes of sound is Jari Haapalainen's knuckle sandwich of a recording. Actually it's thirteen jabs, hooks, and uppercuts; let's call them the track list. The disc contains no composition longer than two minutes-fifty, the shortest, “Flykten Från Djursholm" (Escape From Djursholm), is just 1:34. The Jari Haapalainen Trio performs a familiar type of compressed mayhem, a sort of punk haiku music that draws as much from the ...
Continue Reading
