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.

Album Review

Morton Feldman: Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello

Read "Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
July 11, 2017

"Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello" (often abbreviated to “PVVC") was Morton Feldman's final composition, receiving its premiere on July 4th 1987, less than two months before the composer's death from pancreatic cancer on September 3rd. This recording of the piece dates from January 2017 at Henry Wood Hall, where it was recorded by Simon Reynell. The quartet of Mark Knoop on piano, Aisha Orazbayeva on violin, Bridget Carey on viola and Anton Lukoszevieze on cello had performed “PVVC" the previous September ...

Interview

Steve Swell: Appreciating the Avant Garde Today

by Victor L. Schermer
July 10, 2017

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 [This is the third of an All About Jazz series of interviews and articles on “The Many Faces of Jazz Today: Critical Dialogues" in which we explore the current state of jazz around the world with musicians, journalists, and entrepreneurs who give us their own unique perspectives. In the first interview of the series, saxophonist Bobby Zankel spoke about his efforts to maintain his creativity and independence in an increasingly ...

Live Review

Festival International De Jazz De Montréal 2017: July 5-6

by Mark Sullivan
July 10, 2017

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Montréal, Canada July 5-6, 2017 July 3-4 | July 5-6 | July 7-8 Two more days in the lovely city of Montreal, a paradise for music lovers of all sorts during the Festival. Or anyone who just loves a good street party, for that matter. Last night (Thursday) after the late show I attended the streets were still packed. July 5 John Pizzarelli Quartet ...

Album Review

Craig Taborn: Daylight Ghosts

Read "Daylight Ghosts" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
July 10, 2017

It is very difficult to describe or sum up pianist Craig Taborn's inimitable artistic vision, style of playing and compositions. He employs a wide range of stylistic means and concepts, and as a result his playing style and compositions, be it in a solo setting or with accompaniment, are very diverse and insistently exploratory. This improvising composer and pianist has been heralded as one of the foremost practitioners on his instrument. His own approach to the piano isn't as much ...

Album Review

Roger Davidson Trio: Oração Para Amanhã (Prayer for Tomorrow)

by Roger Farbey
July 10, 2017

Roger Davidson was born in Paris in 1952 to a French mother and American father. The family moved to New York when he was one and he started playing the piano when he was four. He took a Master's degree in composition in composition in 1980 and another in choral music in 1985. Initially he was steeped in classical music but twenty five years ago, as the result of attending the Stanford University Jazz Workshop, he started playing jazz and ...

In Pictures

Something Else! Festival Hamilton 2017

by Frank Rubolino
July 10, 2017

The Something Else! Festival of Creative Music in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada reached the four-year milestone in June 2017 by offering four days of exciting music by North American, European, and Asian musicians. Zula Music and Arts Collective presented the festival that played at three acoustically friendly venues with both afternoon and evening offerings. A unique feature of this festival was the use of ad hoc groups selected by curator Cem Zafir from various members of the regularly performing acts. These ...

Album Review

Jaimie Branch: Fly Or Die

Read "Fly Or Die" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
July 10, 2017

Since breezing in from Chicago, trumpeter Jaimie Branch has quickly become a major presence on the NYC scene, thanks not only to her instrumental chops but also her ceaseless organizing. However that influence has yet to translate into a commensurate discography. Fly Or Die (the name variously of the album, the band, the suite and a piece contained within it) represents her first appearance under her own name, and what will hopefully be the first of many. For her debut ...

Album Review

Bren Plummer: Moldy Figs

Read "Moldy Figs" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
July 10, 2017

Bassist/Composer Bren Plummer has been walking that fine line between classical music and modern jazz since he first introduced himself to the jazz world via piano trio with his debut recording, Nocturnal (Bren Plummer Music, 2015). His musical energies have been directed into two respected orchestras in Washington state, the Yakima Symphony, and Symphony Tacoma. His forward thinking vision is a sort of musical crossroads between the two musical forms. For his follow up recording Moldy Figs, Plummer ...

Live Review

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal 2017: July 3-4

by Mark Sullivan
July 9, 2017

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal Montréal, Canada July 3-4, 2017 July 3-4 | July 5-6 | July 7-8 It is a pleasure to be back in Montreal for what many have called “the best jazz festival in the world" (saxophonist Joshua Redman said so last night on stage). One of the nicest things about hearing such a concentrated group of concerts is the possibility of the unexpected. Artists you know may ...

Live Review

The Chick Corea Elektric Band at the Metropolis Arena, Macedonia 2017

by Nenad Georgievski
July 9, 2017

Chick Corea Elektric Band Metropolis Arena Skopje, Macedonia July 2, 2017 At 76, keyboardist and pianist Chick Corea is still a force to be reckoned with in any way creatively. He has been one of jazz's most prolific artists who have continued an upward trajectory with a plethora of projects. Some of those have existed simultaneously shoulder to shoulder with each other regardless if they were diametrically opposed to one another. Not ...