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.

Radio & Podcasts

Michael Graves: The Patient Philosophy Of Audio Restoration

by Lawrence Peryer
March 14, 2026

Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Michael Graves, a five-time Grammy-winning mastering engineer and the founder of Osiris Studio in Los Angeles. Michael's work is restoration as archaeology--pulling performances off deteriorating tapes, damaged acetates, and obsolete formats, then deciding how much intervention is too much. He's done this for recordings by Hank Williams, Aretha Franklin, Stax Records songwriters, and field recordings from Cambodia, Sudan, and Mississippi. His most recent Grammy came in 2024 for Written in Their ...

Multiple Reviews

Jon Irabagon: Self-Motivated And Inner-Directed

by Doug Collette
March 13, 2026

Self-motivated and inner-directed as he is, saxophonist/composer Jon Irabagon has navigated his career path with his very own sense of logic. And, peculiar as that may seem to some, his body of work is like a memorable improvisation, resolving itself at various junctures, just when those various vagaries would seem to preclude such action. So it is with Focus Out and Saturday's Child--while the latter might seem to render the former too conventional for its own good, the duo title ...

Album Review

Marilyn Crispell, Anders Jormin: Memento

by Neil Duggan
March 13, 2026

US pianist Marilyn Crispell and Swedish bassist Anders Jormin filter their decades of musical experience and improvisational instinct into Memento, their debut duo recording. Combining original compositions with four freely created pieces, the album focuses on the universal themes of memory and loss. Crispell, recently honored with a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award, first met Jormin at a Stockholm festival in 1992. It left a lasting mark on her musical thinking. “When I heard ...

Play This!

KTU: Sumu

by Geno Thackara
March 13, 2026

Of all the offshoots on the King Crimson family tree, this may probably be the weirdest. Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto make a beastly rhythm section as ever, exploring somewhere between Miles Davis electric funk and the extensive groov-a-thons of prime Can. In this one-of-a-kind outfit they are put through the sampling/processing wringer by alchemist Samuli Kosminen and driven wild by accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen, who has to be either unhinged or possessed by the devil. ...

Album Review

Ingrid Jensen: Landings

Read "Landings" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
March 13, 2026

On Landings, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen convenes a quartet that thrives on speed and alertness. With organist Gary Versace, guitarist Marvin Sewell, and drummer Jon Wikan, she leads a band capable of sharp turns and open-road lyricism in the same breath. The music feels meticulously shaped yet gloriously unbound; an ensemble language forged in deep listening and shared risk. The album starts with a historic moment as 89-year-old tenor legend George Coleman joins in for his own composition “Amsterdam ...

Radio & Podcasts

The Symphonic Ellington

by Larry Slater
March 13, 2026

Pianist Ethan Iverson wrote, “Every Ellington record I've ever heard has a unique ambience. Thick harmonic complexity sits deep inside blues and swing. There are larger Ellington compositions where he is stretching the form and apparently putting his hat into the ring as a great composer."In this hour, you'll hear Duke Ellington's most impressive symphonic works. “The Harlem Suite" was originally commissioned by Arturo Toscanini and was performed by both the Ellington Orchestra and symphony orchestras. “A New ...

Radio & Podcasts

Alex Anest Organ Trio

by Daniel Peck
March 13, 2026

The Detroit-based Alex Anest Trio explores both original tunes and compositions from some of the greats on this organ trio performance. This is territory Alex knows well with appearances on over three dozen albums under his belt including a half dozen as a group leader. The next time you're lucky enough to see Alex live, take him up on his offer to buy you a drink if you're sitting in the front row. Alex anchors the group's sound ...

Album Review

Willy Rodriguez: In The Unknown (I Will Find You)

Read "In The Unknown (I Will Find You)" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
March 13, 2026

There are recordings that announce themselves with polish and calculation, and there are those born of necessity. In the Unknown (I Will Find You) by drummer Willy Rodriguez clearly falls into the latter category; a heartfelt reflection on absence, memory, and the unseen threads that connect us beyond time. Recorded at the esteemed Rudy Van Gelder Studio, the album carries the echoes of that room's storied history without relying on it. Rodriguez's choice to omit the bass is not just ...

Radio & Podcasts

Women in Jazz

by Monk Rowe
March 13, 2026

The role of women in jazz has come along way from the days when big bands featured their “chirper" or “chickadees" on a few brief songs per night. Vi Redd, Sherrie Maricle, Ann Rabson, Marian McPartland, and others share their experiences in what was traditionally a man's world. ...

Album Review

Five-Way Split: Modus Operandi

Read "Modus Operandi" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
March 12, 2026

Five-Way Split is a London-based quintet that builds its foundations on the music of bands such as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, the Max Roach Quintet and the Horace Silver Quintet. This throwback to the hard-bop groups of the 1950s and '60s is infused with the band's brand of contemporary charm as they swing through nine bright tracks that include original compositions and inventive covers. One thing--among several--that sets the album apart is the quality of the ...