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
Believers: Hard Believer
by Dan Bilawsky
Belief--the cornerstone of conceptual development and the impetus for any pursuit, artistic or otherwise--is central to the shared mission binding guitarist Brad Shepik, bassist Sam Minaie and drummer/percussionist John Hadfield in this aptly titled trio. Through their eponymous 2020 debut--a strong album that flew under the radar due to its pandemic-era release timing--these three established an aesthetic reflective of global influences and wide-ranging interests. And with this sophomore date, they further that outlook by branching out in numerous directions and ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii GEN: Altitude 1100 Meters
by Dan McClenaghan
With over a hundred album releases in her discography, featuring solo outings and big band bashes and everything in between, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii could be thought to have “done it all." But there was a missing link. Strings. Though she had recorded in duet outings with violinists Mark Feldman and Carla Kihlstedt, she had never written for or worked with a string ensemble. Always (always, always always) up for a challenge, she convened a group she called GEN, Japanese for ...
Continue ReadingMichel Reis: For A Better Tomorrow
by Brian Morton
It's always possible to get hung up on definitions, or metaphors. In modern jazz terms the most famous description of a piano is probably Cecil Taylor's “88 tuned drums," a clever way of characterising the instrument's percussive power and of removing it from the strong gravitational pull of European art music. I've always preferred Leigh Hunt's lovely description of the piano as a harp in a box. It's not clear whether Hunt meant it seriously, or as a sly put-down. ...
Continue ReadingPetros Klampanis, Julia Hülsmann, Nomade Orchestra, Eugenia Choe & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
From Brazil to Korea, with a few European stops, a journey around today's jazz world.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Nomade Orquestra “Revolução Dos Cocos" Terceiro Mundo (NuBlu) 0:16 Host talks 5:50 Renee Rosnes “Trilhos Urbanos" Crossing Paths (Smoke Sessions) 7:44 Host talks 12:47 Julia Hülsmann “Trick" Under the Surface (ECM) 14:18 Petros Klampanis “Stenahoria" Latent Info (Enja) 19:59 Host talks 27:00 Elisabetta Antonini, Alessandro Contini feat. Nils ...
Continue ReadingSivan Arbel: Oneness
by Katchie Cartwright
Sivan Arbel's compositional practice is alternately “nerdy," as the singer-composer describes it, and “stream of consciousness." In her studio, she labors meticulously over the nuts and bolts: rhythmic patterns, harmonic changes, melodic turns. Once the fundamental elements are in place, though, she sits at her piano and “squeezes the sponge," improvising words and music freely, reaching into deeper levels of consciousness. She records everything and then listens back, editing and refining what she has created. Her scores for Oneness are ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dorf: From Knitting Factory To Patti Smith's Carnegie Tribute
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, the Spotlight shines On New York live music and venue impresario Michael Dorf. In addition to founding The Knitting Factory and City Winery, Michael has brought legendary artists together at Carnegie Hall for over twenty years, raising millions for music education while creating unforgettable tribute nights. He launched his first tribute show in 2004 after seeing how school music programs were vanishing. Now, he's put together what might be his most powerful lineup yet. Michael ...
Continue ReadingDena DeRose at The Buffalo AKG Art Museum
by Frank Housh
Dena DeRose Trio The Buffalo AKG Art Museum Auditorium Buffalo, NY February 2, 2025 Binghamton native Dena DeRose returned to upstate New York February 2, 2025 to kick off the 2025 “Art of Jazz" series at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. She and her trio heated up the newly renovated Lipsey Auditorium on a snowy Sunday with her unique take on the American Songbook. Dena DeRose is a pianist and vocalist in the ...
Continue ReadingZach Adleman: We Make: Stories For A New Day
by Jack Bowers
For someone not that long out of college, New York City-based drummer Zach Adleman has kept a full dance card, leading to the release of his impressive debut recording, We Make: Stories for a New Day, on which Adleman leads a nimble sextet through its paces on 11 charming and upbeat songs, nine of which he composed and arranged. In 2019, the New Jersey native won the Detroit Jazz Festival's annual J.C. Heard National Drum Competition. Two ...
Continue ReadingThe Macedonian National Jazz Orchestra at the Philharmonic Hall
by Nenad Georgievski
The Macedonian National Jazz Orchestra The Philharmonic Hall Cuban Fire! Skopje, Macedonia February 20, 2025 The National Jazz Orchestra delivered an electrifying evening at the Macedonian Philharmonic with Cuban Fire, a tribute to the influential composer/bandleader Stan Kenton. Under the direction of Austrian conductor Sigi Feigl, the orchestra transported the packed hall on a journey through jazz, swing and Latin rhythms, evoking the golden era of big band music. Over the course of an ...
Continue ReadingJon Irabagon: Server Farm
by Dan McClenaghan
"The times they are a-changin.'" Bob Dylan said that in 1964. He was right. In 2025, they are still changing, perhaps most notably with the emergence of artificial intelligence. That previously slow creep--outlined so accurately in Arthur C. Clarke's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968, paired with Stanely Kubrick's movie of the same name--will build to a tipping point leading to an implosion. The takeover is inevitable. The only way to address it is through the arts. This is ...
Continue Reading
