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.

Book Review

Listen to Prestige Now, Think Later

by Patrick Burnette
April 19, 2026

Listening to Prestige: Chronicling its Classic Jazz Records, 1949-1972 Tad Richards 250 Pages ISBN: 979-8-8558-0495-9 State University of New York Press 2025 Most jazz histories end up focusing on individual musicians, understandably enough. Talk about movements in jazz all you want: dixieland, swing, be-bop, hard-bop. You will end up talking about Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver and Art Blakey. A few towering ...

Interview

Charlie Ballantine Establishes Himself on the East Coast

by Robert Middleton
April 18, 2026

Jazz guitarist Charlie Ballantine has been on the move for the past decade. In that time, he's released ten albums, with his first official live recording set to arrive later this month--and another new studio album already finished and waiting in the wings. Originally based in Indianapolis, Ballantine moved to Baltimore in 2022 to reestablish himself on the East Coast. His aim was simple: get out there, meet musicians, play more, and build something real. By any measure, ...

Album Review

Roy Hargrove: Bern

by Pierre Giroux
April 18, 2026

The appearance of Bern, a previously unreleased recording from May 4, 2000, at the International Jazzfestival in Bern, Switzerland, is the kind of archival find that reminds listeners how electrifying Roy Hargrove could be live. Released by Time Traveler Recordings on LP for Record Store Day, with CD and digital download versions to follow later. This set captures the late trumpeter in a moment of confident maturity, blending respect for tradition with the restless creativity that defined his career.

Radio & Podcasts

Lea Maria Fries, Gary Versace, Amalie Dahl, Ingrid Jensen & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
April 18, 2026

No matter its origins--European or American, live or recorded in the studio, from the '30s or today--this playlist brings together music that is not only recent or upcoming, but destined to stay with you.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Ingrid Jensen “Many Homes, Many Places" Landings (Newvelle) 0:16 Host talks 4:41 Gary Versace “Darn That Dream" Three Track Mind (Sunnyside) 6:09 Host talks 11:45 Lea Maria Fries “Just ...

Album Review

Cecil Taylor Unit: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts

Read "Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
April 18, 2026

Cecil Taylor, a pioneer of free jazz, pared down his Cecil Taylor Unit ensemble for a trip through Europe to partake in a 15-date tour in late 1969, in support of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Miles Davis Quintet. This foray was billed as the Newport Jazz Festival In Europe. Taylor's Unit of the day--Taylor on piano, Sam Rivers on reeds, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax and Andrew Cyrille in the drummer's chair--sounded nothing like the elegance and swing ...

Radio & Podcasts

Ben Wendel: Assembling The Mallet Avengers

by Lawrence Peryer
April 18, 2026

Today, The Tonearm's needle drops on saxophonist and composer Ben Wendel.Ben is a Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer, and co-founder of Kneebody, with a discography that covers post-bop, chamber jazz, and electronic music. He's worked with Bill Frisell, Tigran Hamasyan, Terence Blanchard and yes, Prince.His album BaRcoDe (Edition Records, 2026) is built around a concept that's hard to pull off: four of the most in-demand vibraphonists working today--Joel Ross, Simon Moullier, Patricia Brennan, and Juan Diego Villalobos--surrounding one ...

Album Review

Michel Petrucciani: Kuumbwa

Read "Kuumbwa" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
April 18, 2026

Michel Petrucciani's Kuumbwa is the type of release that reminds us why live jazz recordings still matter. This is not a vault-cleaning exercise, nor just a historical note. Recorded at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, California, in 1987, it is now released by Elemental Music, first as an exclusive two-LP Record Store Day set, with CD and digital editions to follow. This excellent recording captures Michel Petrucciani in one of his most exciting trio settings, alongside longtime drummer ...

Album Review

Joe Henderson: Consonance: Live At The Jazz Showcase

Read "Consonance: Live At The Jazz Showcase" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
April 18, 2026

Some live recordings capture a set. Others capture a feeling. Joe Henderson's Consonance: Live At The Jazz Showcase, Resonance Records' newly discovered limited edition 3LP Record Store Day release, followed shortly by a 2CD version, is more than just another archival find. It feels vibrant from the very first notes, reminding us how Henderson could turn a club date into a lively conversation. Henderson is a gravitational force here, with his tenor's sound that is warm, muscular, slightly ...

Radio & Podcasts

Tunes, Titles & Intent

by Monk Rowe
April 18, 2026

Your host, Monk Rowe, directs the spotlight on himself and speaks about licks, riffs, bumper music, inspiration and the creative process. ...

Live Review

Dar Williams at The Freight

by Harry S. Pariser
April 18, 2026

Dar Williams The Freight Berkeley, CA April 9, 2026 Dar Williams has been creating powerful, popular, poignant, and sometimes humorous tunes and performing, acoustic guitar in hand, for decades. A doyenne among singer-songwriters, Williams is blessed with a gorgeous voice as well as with a gift for poetic, ethereal lyrics. Given the moniker Dar in her childhood (she was born Dorothy), the precocious Williams took up the guitar at age nine and penned ...