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

La Tanya Hall: If Not Now, When...

Read "If Not Now, When..." reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
January 3, 2026

With If Not Now, When... , La Tanya Hall emerges not just as a vocalist but as a storyteller, deeply connected to the quiet power of a well-chosen song. This is her most personal statement yet, an album crafted with intention rather than for show, where each track earns its place through lyrical depth and emotional impact. Hall avoids the obvious, assembling a selection of lesser-known material that invites the listener inward, asking for attention rather than applause. Supporting this ...

Album Review

Randy Hoexter: Tomorrowsville

Read "Tomorrowsville" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 20, 2025

Several words spring to mind when listening to the music of Atlanta-based composer, arranger and pianist Randy Hoexter. Colorful is one, wide-ranging is another. Not to mention creative, robust and well-ordered. Each of those traits and more are deftly combined in Hoexter's latest album, Tomorrowsville, on which he leads a high-grade ensemble through its paces on eleven of his intriguing themes and charts. What is clear from the outset is that Hoexter is a talented and earnest ...

Album Review

Jeff Richman: XYZ

by Jim Worsley
April 17, 2023

XYZ could perhaps reference any number of things. Sparing us that rabbit hole, in this case it references boundaries pushed to their fullest extent with some exceptional new music from fusion guitarist Jeff Richman. Richman's previous release, Sizzle (Nefer Records 2017) was/is a record that lives up to its name. There is something to be said about not putting out a record every eighteen months, twenty-four months, or any other calendar-driven period. It would seem that Richman threw away the ...

Album Review

Allan Holdsworth & Alan Pasqua: Proto-Cosmos

Read "Proto-Cosmos" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
December 19, 2022

If the song title “Proto-Cosmos" brings Tony Williams to mind then step to the front of the class. Alan Pasqua's tune is featured on the drummer's 1975 album, Believe It (Columbia). The record is considered by some to be the best fusion album of all time. In addition to Pasqua and bassist Tony Newton, a young British guitarist named Allan Holdsworth introduced himself to the masses. Fast forward to 2022 and it has been five and a half years since ...

Album Review

Marilyn Scott: The Landscape

Read "The Landscape" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
June 16, 2022

Some artists feel obligated to put out a new record every one-point-three years, or whatever their factory warranty calls for (mileage may vary). Others are more interested in quality than quantity. On her first record since Standard Blue (Prana, 2017), jazz vocalist Marilyn Scott has something to say about The Landscape. More than the title track, Scott's concerns with our landscape is the scope and focus of seven original compositions, all co-written with pianists Russ Ferrante or Scott Kinsey. Scott ...

Album Review

ARC Trio and the John Daversa Big Band: ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt

Read "ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
June 10, 2022

What would happen if fusion, already a hybrid of musical genres, was compounded with the sound of big-band? Further, that both genres were stretched well outside the box? An ensemble of bright musical minds came together on just such a project. The results could have been the disastrous soup of too many cooks in the kitchen or, perhaps, something special and creative. Fortunately, they served up an entree which is very much the latter. It starts with quality ...

Album Review

TriTone Asylum: The Hideaway Sessions

Read "The Hideaway Sessions" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
April 16, 2022

Mellow is as mellow does, and Tritone Asylum (an interesting name for an updated “fusion" band) certainly opens that way, with a pleasantly relaxed feeling on “Grasshopper." But do not get too comfortable. Do you remember the first time you heard “Chameleon" with Harvey Mason wailing away? Your reaction may have been puzzled; many were, because the recording “broke the mold." That did not sound familiar, as if Herbie Hancock had started channeling Sly Stone. “Schizophrenic," composed and arranged by ...

Album Review

Mike Miller: Trust

by Jim Worsley
March 4, 2022

This record is more than a breath of fresh air. It is more like when you open the front door and that momentary rush of crisp wind blows in. Trust embraces that sensation and creates a limitless screen door of opportunity. Ten original and melodious compositions by Mike Miller seamlessly flow, and both sustain and cherish the feel of the moment for the duration. The magnitude of this project propelled Miller to assemble an elite group of musicians. ...

Album Review

Melbreeze: I Love Paris

Read "I Love Paris" reviewed by Jim Worsley

by Jim Worsley
February 21, 2021

"I Love Paris" declares Melbreeze in song. It “fucking sizzles" she exclaims, adding just a tad of creative expression to the lyrics of Cole Porter. The delightful ambiance of France was the perfect vacation spot (if only in one's mind) to celebrate the unveiling of her tenth—yes, its been that many-- record. Melbreeze has long put the instrumental aspect upfront or on top. Her voice is often heard as another cog in her crafty musical structure. Ah, ...

Album Review

Lyle Workman: Uncommon Measures

Read "Uncommon Measures" reviewed by Mike Jacobs

by Mike Jacobs
February 19, 2021

If there's a major takeaway to be had from listening to guitarist Lyle Workman's Uncommon Measures, it's the palpable sense that all of his impressive musical experience has been poured into it. And to that end, Workman certainly doesn't bury the lead. The epic opening track “North Star" can single-handedly make sense of Workman's entire decades-long resume. It's a CV that includes working in and with bands (Bourgeois Tagg, Jellyfish, Frank Black), being a “hired gun" guitarist (with such icons ...