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.

In Pictures

Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival 2017

by Richard Conde
July 9, 2017

Celebrating it's 40th anniversary the 2017 Freihofer Saratoga Jazz Festival taking place at Saratoga's Performing Arts center in Saratoga Springs N.Y June 24th and 25th, had a great lineup of musicians performing a wide range of music for everyone's listening pleasure. Musicians who came to join the celebration included Jean-Luc Ponty, Cecile McLorin Salvant and the Gipsy Kings just to name a few. I have included several photos that captured the spirit and sounds of this venerable festival.

Album Review

Andrew Schiller Quintet: Tied Together, Not to the Ground

Read "Tied Together, Not to the Ground" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
July 9, 2017

Andrew Schiller may be fairly young and only starting his recording career, but he's already learned some very good lessons. His debut as a leader demonstrates a level of compositional smarts that's impressive at any age, quietly building a series of coolly thoughtful quintet pieces, boasting an excellent ensemble and arranging each part in service of a well-constructed whole. From listening alone, you wouldn't guess that his earliest musical experiences came with playing electric bass in a punk ...

Album Review

Sestetto Internazionale: Aural Vertigo

Read "Aural Vertigo" reviewed by Daniel Barbiero

by Daniel Barbiero
July 9, 2017

The Sestetto Internazionale is a truly international group of European musicians, having been put together by Finnish soprano saxophonist Harri Sjöström for a September 2015 tour of Finland. In addition to Sjöström, the sextet includes fellow Finn accordionist Veli Kujala; the masterful Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo; UK violinist Alison Blunt; and the Germans Achim Kaufmann and Ignaz Schick on piano and turntables, respectively. This exciting live recording captures the ensemble's concerts at Helsinki and Turku, each of which is ...

Album Review

Feefifofum Quartet: Feefifofum Quartet

Read "Feefifofum Quartet" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
July 9, 2017

As Spain continues to produce quality jazz in its purest form, the Feefifofum Quartet is the latest Spanish band to release a commendable record worthy of further appreciation. Based out of Madrid, and taking their unusual name from a Wayne Shorter tune, the quartet is a no-nonsense, straight-ahead ensemble that hits on all cylinders. All four members have extensive education and training behind them, as well as accumulated credits on a number of projects by a myriad of artists.

Album Review

Trio Heinz Herbert: The Willisau Concert

Read "The Willisau Concert" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
July 9, 2017

Youthful ingenuity and meritorious technical aspects mark this Swiss trio's cunning live release at a Willisau venue, enhanced by a crystalline soundstage that spawns great depth amid the highs and lows. Moreover, their ability to multitask while generating a polytonal consortium of EFX-based treatments, while effortlessly sliding across numerous genres makes for a irrefutably compelling listen. From the onset of the 18-minute opener “Granulare Liebe / LEI," it became clear that the trio was meticulously assembling a piece ...

Live Review

Lila Downs at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn

by Ernest Barteldes
July 9, 2017

Lila Downs BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn at Prospect Park Brooklyn, NY June 29, 2017 Backed initially by an eight-piece band directed by saxophonist (and husband) Paul Cohen, singer, songwriter and activist Lila Downs began her set with an up-tempo rendition of “Mezcalito," a tune that talks about mezcal, Mexico's lesser-known cousin of tequila. She kept things up-tempo until she got to the classic ballad “Cucurrucu Paloma" written my Mexican songwriter Tomás Méndez in ...

Live Review

Moers Festival 2017

by Phillip Woolever
July 8, 2017

Moers Festival Moers, Germany June 5, 2017 Most questions and concerns regarding the present or future state of the Moers Festival could probably be answered just a few steps inside the staging grounds by looking at the smiling swarms. At the same time last year, such a scenario was much farther from reality. After a doubtful political environment in 2016 led to funding insecurities and subsequent major personnel changes, there was rampant speculation that ...

Album Review

Refraction: Reimagined

Read "Reimagined" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
July 8, 2017

Melbourne-based piano trio Refraction follows up Inerrant Space (Rare Colour Records, 2016) with another collection of mostly original music. Drummer Chris Broomhead again composed most of the selections, with one contribution from bassist Jordan Tarento (nothing from pianist Brenton Foster this time out) and a surprise cover of Joni Mitchell's “Amelia" from her album Hejira (Asylum, 1976). Opener “Provenance" eases in slowly with an unaccompanied ostinato pattern, joined by bass, then cymbals. Once the tune gets going it ...

Album Review

Steve Davis: Think Ahead

Read "Think Ahead" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan

by C. Andrew Hovan
July 8, 2017

Composer and trombonist Steve Davis found a home for his muse starting in the late '90s with Criss Cross Jazz. Over the course of seven dates as a leader and many times more as a sideman, he established his voice as a writer and performer. For the past ten years, his releases elsewhere have been few and far between. It is with much fanfare then that fans should greet his second date for Smoke Sessions, a label that ...

In Pictures

Sardinia 2016: Ai Confini tra Sardegna e Jazz

by Frank Rubolino
July 8, 2017

Since 1986, the small town of Sant'Anna Arresi on the large island of Sardinia off the western coast of Italy has been home to the festival Ai Confini tra Sardegna e Jazz (On the Border Between Sardinia and Jazz), presenting an array of International innovative jazz artists. The September 2016 edition was no exception, when 20 performances occurred over a 10-day period featuring musicians from numerous countries, including many noted New York and Chicago players. The amphitheater-style venue, Piazza del ...