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.
Sign in to customize your My Articles page —or— Filter Article Results
Christian Pabst: Rhythm Riot
by Frank Housh
On April 4, 2025, Italian-based German pianist and composer Christian Pabst released Rhythm Riot, his sixth album. All songs are composed by Pabst and feature bassist André Nendza and drummer Erik Kooger, with whom he recorded Balbec (JazzSick Records, 2021). Rhythm Riot is a satisfying musical exploration from three rising contributors to an iconic musical form. The album begins with “Incoming Signal;" Pabst sets the tone with a syncopated chordal riff before Nendza and Kooger add ...
Continue ReadingUnder Review: The Not-So-Simple Art Of Book Reviewing
by Duncan Heining
Jazz books occupy a tiny sector of the publishing industry, within which any book selling between 500-1000 copies counts as a success. Biographies of major figures might command mid-four figure sales but even then come nowhere near troubling the best-seller tables in the New York Times or Guardian. On All About Jazz, between 900 book reviews appear on the site between 2010-2025. Think about that for a moment. That is around thirty reviews on this major jazz site per year. ...
Continue ReadingFinn Wiest Quintet: Aurora
by Carl Medsker
"Music chooses her musicians." --Patricia Barber In a small town in southern Germany, Finn Wiest heard her call and picked up the drumsticks at a young age. He worked his way to the Conservatory of Cologne, winning competitions and awards. New York City beckoned, where, in 2024, he earned a Master's degree from the City College of New York while also honing his skills as a busy sideman. Aurora (Self Produced, 2025) is the first release of his ...
Continue ReadingRoyce Campbell/Vosbein Magee Big Band: Vagabond
by Jack Bowers
Royce Campbell has an awesome and enviable worldwide reputation--as a jazz guitarist. Who knew he could also write this well, and for a big band, no less. All but one of the eleven engaging songs on Vagabond were composed by Campbell, and every one of the impressive charts was penned by his cousin and mentor, the late Carroll DeCamp, who had done the same for Stan Kenton and Larry Elgart, among others. Campbell, who was born in ...
Continue ReadingSvetlost, Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love at MKC, Skopje
by Nenad Georgievski
Svetlost, Ken Vandermark & Paal Nilssen-Love MKC, Skopje Skopje, Macedonia April 16th, 2025 There was no prelude, no soft landing. The first notes of “Puma in the Corner" leapt into the air like a wild animal, chaotic and alert. A shriek above our heads--someone channeling emotion so openly it felt like a roaring animal. The energy crackled as the musicians locked in, and then burst apart again. Svetlost, the Skopje-based free jazz trio, opened this ...
Continue ReadingThe Music of Carla Bley: Late Carla, Part 4
by Larry Slater
Carla Bley's career spanned 60 years and included big band, small group, and a few duet recordings with her long time partner Steve Swallow. The music ranged from raucous free jazz to meditative chamber music. Her distinctive music never had a large following, which was just fine with her. In 2018 Carla was diagnosed with brain cancer, which took her life in October of 2023. In this final hour of the music of Carla Bley, you'll hear her late recordings: ...
Continue ReadingCharles Mingus: In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts
by Thierry De Clemensat
Resonance Records specializes in the release of such sonic documents, serving both the history of jazz and the sheer pleasure that albums of this kind offer to collectors. It is, therefore, with immense delight that we rediscover in this recording Charles Mingus (bass and piano), Ricky Ford (tenor saxophone), Jack Walrath (trumpet;), Robert Neloms (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums), and immerse ourselves in the year 1977, when this album was recorded. The era's unmistakable imprint lingers in the sound, though the ...
Continue ReadingSasha Berliner, Kaisa's Machine, Callum Allardice, Zacc Harris & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Enjoy a set dedicated to music that flows beautifully, is uplifting and energizing.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Sasha Berliner “Private Investigation" Fantôme (Outside-in-Music) 0:16 Host talks 6:35 Kaisa's Machine “Best Kept Secrets" Moving Parts (Greenleaf) 8:52 Callum Allardice “Elementa" Elementa (Earshift) 15:03 Host talks 23:34 Zacc Harris “Catalyst" Chasing Shadows (Shifting Paradigm) 25:55 Jake Leckie “Santa Teresa" Planter of Seeds (Self-produced) 31:34 ...
Continue ReadingDon Byas: Sax Expat
by Richard J Salvucci
Don Byas: Sax Expat Con Chapman 233 Pages ISBN: 9781496856081 University Press of Mississippi2025 Don Byas, a tenor saxophonist, who was regarded with great respect in his day, is, unfortunately, now not much more than a name. In part, it is because he has been gone for half a century. Yet that hardly is a sufficient explanation for neglect. Others of his cohort, like Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young or Ben Webster, are hardly ...
Continue ReadingHello Angelina
by Dan McClenaghan
I Fall In Love Too Easily Angelina poured down her first pint of the night in ten seconds flat, standing right there at the bar. Her job as a field reporter for the local news had given her the unenviable task of performing a mock interview of Charlie, the pelican who had taken up a roost on Oceanside's pier railing, just east of the bait shop. That interview hadn't gone well. Charlie had bitten the microphone out of her hand ...
Continue Reading
