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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Billy Lester Trio: High Standards
by Jack Bowers
Pianist Billy Lester's album High Standards, recorded in 2017 in Italy, encompasses Lester's singular versions of eight memorable standards from the Great American Songbook. Although Lester plays sublimely, and his Italian rhythm section is first-class, the lingering impression is that something is missing. Yes, something is clearly missing...but what could it be? Lester's technique is impeccable, his improvisations sharp and clever, while the rhythm section (bassist Marcello Testa, drummer Nicola Stranieri) is focused and alert, lending strong ...
Continue ReadingFelipe Salles, John Sturino, Hillai Govreen, Isaiah J. Thompson, Mani Padme Trio
by Ludovico Granvassu
Large ensembles, young talents, modern jazz ministry and a hidden gem from Brazil make up for a very rewarding listen.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Isaiah J. Thompson “VIII. The Prophet" The Book of Isaiah: Modern Jazz Ministry (Mack Avenue) 0:16 Host talks 6:32 Hillai Govreen “Smoke" Every Other Now (Fresh Sound / New Talent) 8:03 Host talks 12:53 John Sturino “PLG (Prophets Lefferts Gardens)" Blow Globe (Outside ...
Continue ReadingRoberto Bonati ParmaFrontiere Orchestra: Si erano vestiti dalla festa
by Duncan Heining
"Si erano vestiti dalla festa"--They had dressed up for the party. In August 1922, citizens of Parma barricaded the city against a planned assault by Mussolini's blackshirts. They resisted valiantly and repelled the fascists. No fascist passed that day. A few months later, in October, King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini prime minister. The heroes of Parma were not forgotten and their bravery is embedded in Parma's popular history. Roberto Bonati and his orchestra chose to celebrate their ...
Continue ReadingTracy Yang Embraces Her Multi-Cultural Background in Composition
by Dean Nardi
Tracy Yang is intimately familiar with the significance placed on identity in music. However, this awareness has not stopped the Taiwanese American composer from embracing all of her musical gifts, regardless of style. It is a choice that in just a handful of years has led Yang to a number of awards and recognition for her work, including the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition prize in 2021, the Benny Golson Award while attending the Berklee College in Boston and Golden Melody ...
Continue ReadingLandæus Trio: Greed Ruined It for Everyone
by Ludovico Granvassu
Nestled somewhere on the whimsical spectrum between the infectious grooves of Tom Tom Club and the nostalgic pulse of video game soundtracks, “Greed Ruined It for Everyone" stands out as a delightful highlight from Resilience. This captivating album, the latest from Swedish pianist Mathias Landæus, showcases his trio with Johnny Åman on bass and Cornelia Nilsson on drums. Together they prove there is still plenty of new ground to explore in this time-honored configuration. On this track, Landæus plays both ...
Continue ReadingTom Caraher: Ninety Degrees
by Ian Patterson
For his debut as leader, Irish saxophonist Tom Caraher has roped in some of the country's finest jazz musicians to bring his music to life. The album clocks in around the length of an old vinyl, which, for some tastes is ideal in terms of attention span--it is easy to overegg it these days, with digital compression sometimes guilty of enabling 70-minute slog-fests. No such charge of overindulgence can be levelled at Caraher's quintet, whose soloing feels lean and to ...
Continue ReadingNoah Haidu: Standards III
by Jack Bowers
Standards III, the ninth album by New York-based pianist Noah Haidu, is essentially a trio date with a guest appearance on one number ("Slipstream") by alto saxophonist Steve Wilson. As was true on Standards (Sunnyside, 2021) and Standards II (Sunnyside, 2024), the inclusion of several unfamiliar themes (including some by Haidu) stretches the meaning of “standard" well beyond what most listeners would consider acceptable. To be fair, there are a liberal number of standards on all three ...
Continue ReadingAntonio Adolfo: Carnaval - The Songs Were So Beautiful
by Katchie Cartwright
What prompted pianist and composer Antonio Adolfo to record, in 2025, an album of songs from the 'golden age' of Brazilian carnaval music, circa 1920-1950? He has known and loved this music since he was a child, growing up in Rio de Janeiro. “All these songs are very alive in my memory," he told All About Jazz. They were “everywhere--on the radio, in the streets, in social clubs." At the time, he saw that “there was some magic in the ...
Continue ReadingLakecia Benjamin, Janet Planet, Susan Krebs, Alex Trembley, Katie Thiroux, Sinne Eeg & More
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from Janet Planet, Susan Krebs, Alex Trembley, Katie Thiroux, and Sinne Eeg, plus a single from Lakecia Benjamin, with birthday shoutouts to Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Brandee Younger, Madeline Eastman, Susan Krebs, Caroline Davis, Nancy Erickson Lamont, Rhoda Scott, Natalie Cressman, Monika Ryan and Lezlie Harrison, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear--see them live, buy their music so they can continue to comfort, distract, provoke and remind the world that ...
Continue ReadingRoberto Bonati Chironomic Orchestra: The Gesture Of Sound / The Gesture Of Colour
by Duncan Heining
Someone once said that writing about music was as illogical as singing about economics. Writers about music inevitably bristle at the suggestion but it might have merit when it comes to improvised music. How do you write about something that can never be recreated, even when recorded and preserved for posterity? We can discuss its method of creation, the sounds made by those who perform it, its colours and textures and our emotional and intellectual responses to it in much ...
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