Jazz Articles
Daily articles including interviews, profiles, live reviews, film reviews and more... all 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.
Alexis Valet: Explorers
by Geannine Reid
Alexis Valet is a vibraphonist making a name for himself in the French jazz scene as an accomplished sideman with the Xavier Belin Quartet, Shauli Einav Quintet, Joachim Govin Sextet, and most importantly, as a leader. His compositions draw their insight from contemporary jazz, hip hop, free jazz, and electronica while keeping a strong footing in the jazz tradition. Valet presents a captivating album with Explorers. Filled with contemporary jazz, the sound is driven by a sense of invention and ...
read moreOmer Avital Qantar: New York Paradox
by Edward Blanco
Israeli bassist and composer Omer Avital and his group Qantar, offer their second album, New York Paradox, producing a musical sound in a unique, splashy and audacious style which is quite riveting. The uniqueness here extends to the members of this quintet who have formed a special bond which is quite evident when they are performing. All five players are Israeli-born and live in the Bed-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. For Avital, this is his twentieth-plus recording as leader ...
read moreOmer Avital/Qantar: New York Paradox
by Fiona Ord-Shrimpton
The world in its collective viral neurosis is in a cold sweat. What to do? Store shelves are empty, hands have never been cleaner, and if all goes wrong, salaries may soon rise for those who will work. In these trying times, some days you simply must “Avital"—Omer Avital understands this. Thanks to his latest album, New York Paradox , you can, that is you can eavesdrop on the newly broken horizons made through the “rhythmic and harmonic vocabularies underpinning ...
read moreYotam Silberstein: Future Memories
by Friedrich Kunzmann
If 2016's The Village (jazz&people) qualified as a step outside of Yotam Silberstein 's comfort zone, Future Memories may as well be considered a giant leap. The New York-based guitarist has evidently arrived at a point in his career where he feels free to play and compose as he pleases, and makes his confidence known to his sidemen so that they can smoothly follow suit. With veteran bassist John Patitucci and drummer Daniel Dor keeping a breezy rhythmic foundation, Silberstein's ...
read moreJorge Rossy Vibes Quintet: Beyond Sunday
by Roger Farbey
The dreamy “Beyond Sunday" opens this recording and sets the pace for the whole album. Whilst leader Jorge Rossy is better known as a drummer, especially with Brad Mehldau's trio with whom he's made a dozen records, he's only playing vibes here. Meanwhile the drumming is taken care of by the legendary Al Foster. Whilst this quintet line-up isn't quite the same, the overall approach is not a million miles from the artful and reflective Modern Jazz Quartet. The MJQ ...
read moreLaurent Coq / Walter Smith III: The LaFayette Suite
by Mark F. Turner
In The LaFayette Suite, two exceptional musicians--French pianist Laurent Coq and American saxophonist Walter Smith III--continue the spirit of collaboration which interestingly enough began around 1777 between French nobleman / military officer Marquis de Lafayette and President George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. In a suite funded by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the French American Jazz Exchange program, the project's historical inspiration brings to life the adventures of LaFayette, an aristocrat, decorated soldier, and ardent abolitionist whose ...
read moreContest Giveaway
