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.

Album Review

Boi Akih: Storyteller

Read "Storyteller" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
February 16, 2021

Storyteller is singer Monica Akihary and acoustic guitarist Niels Brouwer's ninth recording since 1997, and their sixth as Boi Akih. No two Boi Akih albums are the same, though Akihary's Indonesian heritage--she often sings in the endangered Haruku language--and Brouwer's jazz-inflected improvisations are common denominators. Over the years the duo has embraced Indian, African and Asian elements, with guest musicians such as cellist Ernst Reijseger, tabla & percussion maestro Sandip Bhattacharya, classical percussionist Ryoko Imai, bass clarinetist Tobias Klein and ...

Album Review

Boi Akih: Circles in a Square Society

Read "Circles in a Square Society" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
October 4, 2012

The soul of Boi Akih--a duo, sextet, and all configurations in between-- is Monica Akihary's soulful voice and guitarist Niels Brouwer's jazz/world-inflected acoustic guitar. Boi Akih has always experimented; Lagu Lagu (Bromo, 2005)--an exquisite meeting between jazz, blues and Indonesian folk--was sung in the almost extinct Haruku language of Akihary's ancestors. With Indian percussionist Sandip Bhattcharya, Boi Akih roars and sighs like a little Shakti. Innovation and adventure defines--and inspires--Boi Akih, but an album of interpretations of the alternative pop/folk ...