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

Jo Harrop: The Path of a Tear

Read "The Path of a Tear" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
July 11, 2024

The Path of a Tear from UK vocalist Jo Harrop contains eleven fine selections that tell tales of love and its vagaries and vulnerabilities. Opener “Beautiful Fools" is moderately-paced, a laid-back groove with a great deal of presence. Harrop dances across the poignant lyrics. Anthony Wilson delivers an appropriately tasty guitar solo. “Whiskey or the Truth," slow and soulful, has all the earmarks, phrasing and chord progression of a soulful country-gospel tune. There is imagery presented in both the title ...

Album Review

Jo Harrop: The Path of a Tear

Read "The Path of a Tear" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
June 25, 2024

The Path of a Tear is Durham-born singer and songwriter Jo Harrop's fifth album release on the Lateralize label, which was established in 2018. Harrop's first album was Songs For The Late Hours (Lateralize, 2019), a download-only release on which she and her guitar, piano and bass trio arranged and played a selection of Tin Pan Alley songs, including the Gershwins' “How Long Has This Been Going On," which showcased Harrop's voice well. Her second album, the first ...

Album Review

Jo Harrop & Paul Edis: When Winter Turns to Spring

Read "When Winter Turns to Spring" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
January 31, 2023

Although Jo Harrop had previously released albums such as Songs for the Late Hours (Lateralize, 2019) and Weathering the Storm (Lateralize, 2020), the release of The Heart Waits (Lateralize, 2021) was a quantum leap forward for the Durham-born vocalist, not least because the album included fewer covers and far more original material than before. Harrop has said of that breakthrough album, “I sent my first lyrics to [pianist] Paul Edis and we wrote “If I Knew," which became the key ...

Album Review

Jo Harrop: The Heart Wants

Read "The Heart Wants" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
April 6, 2022

Is it the behind-the-beat feel Ms Harrop gets, even when she is not? Or perhaps it is in the phrasing? Somehow, she puts a listener in mind of Keely Smith, which is a good thing. There are some very talented jazz singers in the United Kingdom; Jo Harrop is certainly one of them. Here is a recording of loss and longing, and very well done it is. Much of the material Harrop presents in this recording, bluesy, mournful ...