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

Satoko Fujii - Myra Melford: Katarahi

by John Sharpe
October 17, 2026

On Katarahi, pianists Satoko Fujii and Myra Melford revel not in contrasts but in empathy. Although no longer the novelty they once were, piano duets exist in a rarefied plain. For a start, few venues or studios possess two high-quality grand pianos. Then the widescreen potential of the piano, with its possibilities for voices in each hand, throws down a challenge to would-be collaborators: can you do something more worthwhile together than you could do individually? Fujii and Melford answer ...

Album Review

Alexander Hawkins & Taylor Ho Bynum: A Near Permanent State Of Wonder

Read "A Near Permanent State Of Wonder" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
June 25, 2026

Nearly two decades after first crossing paths in the transatlantic Convergence Quartet, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and pianist Alexander Hawkins reunite on A Near Permanent State Of Wonder, a recording that finds their rapport undimmed and their curiosity intact. In the intervening period Hawkins has become one of the most in demand pianists in Europe, as collaborations with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Shabaka Hutchings, Evan Parker and Tomeka Reid testify. Bynum, likewise an alumnus of Braxton, as well as ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii-Myra Melford: Katarahi

Read "Katarahi" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
June 4, 2026

The connection(s) between pianist-composers Satoko Fujii and Myra Melford transcend the usual truisms. Not kindred spirits in creativity or even mirror images in technique, the pair are more like twin sisters of different artistic mothers, distinctly their own individuals in style yet complementary as such in almost ineffable ways. Hence this album title, a Japanese term referring to a heart-to-heart conversation between intimate friends, fittingly suggests a deep, meaningful dialogue. Katarahi is the duo's second collaboration, but as ...

Album Review

Myra Melford - Satoko Fujii: Katarahi

Read "Katarahi" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 20, 2026

When four hands meet across 176 keys, is it even possible for pianists to check their egos at the stage door? Piano duets, by their very nature, often invite comparison--even confrontation. Consider the 1977 encounter between Mary Lou Williams and Cecil Taylor, the high-profile 1978 concerts by Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, or Kris Davis and Craig Taborn's Octopus (Pyroclastic, 2018). Each of these pairings carried the tension of a musical grappling match. Even Bill Evans' overdubbed Conversations with Myself ...

Album Review

Paul Dunmall: Here Today Gone Tomorrow

Read "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
December 10, 2025

Much improvised music may be ephemeral, but Here Today Gone Tomorrow, captures British saxophonist Paul Dunmall's long-standing quartet at a peak of collective lucidity. Featuring pianist Liam Noble, bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders, the ensemble works through three slabs of unapologetic free jazz that display the rare assurance of a band that has put in its time together. Over the years they have honed such rapport that, in a feature which distinguishes ...

Album Review

Ramón López: 40 Springs In Paris

Read "40 Springs In Paris" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
June 17, 2025

To say that Spanish-born Ramón López is an in-demand drummer would be an understatement. His recent collaborators span a wide spectrum of creative music, including Satoko Fujii, Natsuki Tamura, Ivo Perelman, Barry Guy, Agustí Fernández and Angelica Sanchez--and that list reaches well beyond the realms of jazz and free improvisation. López has performed in intimate ensembles and large jazz orchestras, and his deep study of both flamenco and Indian classical music adds rich dimensions to his artistry. This ...

Album Review

Joëlle Léandre: Lifetime Rebel

Read "Lifetime Rebel" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
September 25, 2024

Joëlle Léandre is the definition of a force of nature. She is unstoppable, unforgettable, and full of boundless energy. It is the nature of her force that recordings like Lifetime Rebel attempt to capture. These four CDs--plus an interview and solo performance DVD--capture a moment, but just a moment of her inexhaustible spirit, before she moves on. Recorded in 2023, Léandre was honored with a lifetime achievement award during New York's Vision Festival. The performances captured are by diverse and ...

Album Review

Ivo Perelman Quartet: Water Music

Read "Water Music" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
August 15, 2024

New and old converge on Water Music. Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman showcases a quartet with longstanding partner Matthew Shipp on piano together with the fresh rhythm axis of bassist Mark Helias and drummer Tom Rainey. Although they have not played with Perelman before, they are not exactly Johnny-come-latelys. Both have achieved veteran status, not only individually, but also as a team, exemplified by Rainey having fuelled Helias' mighty Open Loose trio since its inception back in the late 1990s.

Album Review

Rob Brown Quartet: Oblongata

Read "Oblongata" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
July 28, 2024

Although reedman Rob Brown has a string of small group leadership outings to his name, dating back to his first, Breath Rhyme (Silkheart) in 1990, Oblongata may be one of his finest. The 2022 studio session reunites him with some of his most enduring collaborators, the same crew responsible for From Here To Hear (Rogue Art, 2019), as well as an outstanding appearance at the 2019 Vision Festival, namely trombonist Steve Swell, bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Chad Taylor.

Album Review

Matthew Shipp: The Data

Read "The Data" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 8, 2024

Music is communication, and jazz, especially jazz improvisation is the purest form of expression of one's intercourse. Think of this in terms of the contrast between Buddy Bolden, who is believed to be the very first jazz musician and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. Bolden began playing Gospel, blues, and marching band music, but his performance was not limited (critics have debated whether he could read music) to the notes on the page. Nonetheless, Bolden improvised, changed tempos, and ...