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

East of West: Velella

by Keith Flint
August 13, 2026

Blurring boundaries, dissolving distance, and creating coherence, Velella, the 4th studio album by the Brisbane, Australia trio East of West exhibits the group's distinctive style. The trio is led by Bosnian-born composer Goran Gajić (double bass), with Philip Griffin on oud and laouto, and Malindi Morris on percussion. Collectively, these musicians produce a compelling blend of Balkan-influenced rhythms and melodic motifs. Both the album and its title track derive their name from the species Velella velella (by-the-wind sailor), a ...

Album Review

The Scornful Four: Hopeful Music for Hopeless People

Read "Hopeful Music for Hopeless People" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
August 1, 2026

This is an exciting and important album, though some of the language surrounding its release obscures more than it reveals. The term “scornful," for instance, hardly captures the evident musical concord here. What we hear instead is a group in genuine sympathy: cooperative, attentive, and fully committed to the shared purpose of the music. The publicity aligns the quartet with the Gerry Mulligan--Chet Baker pianoless group of the early 1950s, as well as the Sonny Rollins's trio with ...

Album Review

Méva's Journal: Chimera

by James Aren
November 22, 2024

Straight from Australia, sounding like New York in 1960, Meva's Journal plays it mostly old school, with an interesting twist. On Chimera, this hard-bop band swings in all the right places. The band, led by Evan J. Evans, lists Thelonious Monk as their major influence, and it is easy to hear. The band features Tyger Middleton on tenor saxophone and Chis James on alto saxophone; they sound great while trading solos, especially when playing lines in tandem. With ...