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.
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Rolf Thofte: Martha's Dance
by Konstantin N. Rega
When musicians are inspired, it shows. Danish trumpeter Rolf Thofte deftly takes the reins of leadership on Martha's Dance. Dedicated to his daughter, the release has an accessible jazz style to it for a diverse audience. Though there is some free styling here and there, the tracks are well composed and keep the listener engaged. These seven compositions are further accentuated by some of Scandinavia's exceptionally talented musicians like Andreas Toftemark on tenor sax, pianist Rasmus Sørensen, Jakob Roland on ...
Continue ReadingScandinavian Art Ensemble with Tomasz Stańko: The Copenhagen Session Vol. 1
by Troy Dostert
Although trumpet legend Tomasz Stańko sadly left us in 2018, there are fortunately plenty of signs that his recorded legacy is still unfolding. In 2024 his sparkling release, September Night (ECM), documenting a live engagement from 2004, reminded us of the distinctive emotional vibrancy of this most sensitive of modern trumpeters. And now we have the first of a planned two-volume release, courtesy of a 2015 residency Stańko spent in Denmark with the Scandinavian Art Ensemble. Not only does this ...
Continue ReadingThe Action 4S: The Action 4s
by Neil Duggan
This is the debut album from The Action 4S, a quartet comprising Scandinavian and British musicians. Their music is a powerful combination of jazz, fusion and electronica built on a rock-solid rhythmic foundation. The quartet is made up of acclaimed musicians, none more celebrated than multi-award-winning harmonica virtuoso Mathias Heise. A true virtuoso of the chromatic harmonica, Heise became a world champion harmonica player when aged 20 and has since been expanding the confines of jazz improvisation on ...
Continue ReadingAlawari: Leviathan
by Troy Dostert
Although Denmark's Alawari has been a known quantity in Europe since its founding in 2016, the group has yet to achieve the visibility it deserves elsewhere--but maybe that will change with Leviathan, the band's sophomore release. Filled with dense arrangements belying the sextet's diminutive size, emotionally resonant themes and fine musicianship, Alawari has crafted a gem of a record, one worth revisiting for its obvious and hidden charms. There are a few lineup changes from the group's self-titled ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Sommer / Arve Henriksen / Johannes Lundberg: Sounds & Sequences
by Nenad Georgievski
Danish drummer Daniel Sommer's Sounds & Sequences is the second part of his Nordic Trilogy, a captivating project that aims to explore the breadth and depth of Nordic improvisation across three distinct ensembles. This follow-up to As Time Passes continues Sommer's commitment to presenting different facets of Nordic music, while avoiding any repetition of sound or structure from the first installment. In this chapter, he's joined by Swedish bassist Johannes Lundberg and Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen, and together they craft ...
Continue ReadingRasmus Sørensen: At The Right Time
by Konstantin N. Rega
Danish-born, New York-based pianist Rasmus Sørensen finds melody as well as fluidity in At The Right Time. This rising jazz star stands alongside other young musicians like Joey Alexander and Fergus McCreadie, exhibiting his ability to craft pieces that have a generous listenability matched by a sophisticated musicality in more freestyle sections. With this release, Sørensen showcases 12 diverse and original compositions with the talented help of Jon Henriksson on double bass and Francesco Ciniglio on drums. Unlike ...
Continue ReadingMorten Schantz Trio: Passenger
by Ian Patterson
It might be tempting to view Morten Schantz's Passenger as a lockdown album, recorded as it was during those strange times of isolation, but the music can perhaps better be understood as the culmination of personal and musical growth stretching back over more than two decades. Schantz first led a piano trio whilst still a teenager, in the late '90s. Baby steps, for sure, he admits. 'I was so young... It was more about learning the language of ...
Continue ReadingAlawari: Alawari
by Troy Dostert
For signs of the vibrancy and creativity of jazz coming out of Denmark, look no further than Alawari, a group whose self-titled debut forges a compelling synthesis of jazz, classical and folk idioms. Often sounding like a much larger ensemble than its septet format would suggest, Alawari takes some chances too, especially with its use of sampling and live processing, and the results are consistently intriguing, even at times quite affecting. The group is a true collective, with ...
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