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.

Live Review

TD Ottawa Jazz Festival 2017

by John Kelman
June 29, 2017

TD Ottawa Jazz Festival Ottawa, Canada June 23-26, 2017 Amongst the most significant challenges that face any festival is, as the gray and no-hair crowd continues to age, finding ways to cultivate and grow a younger audience. But when you're a Canadian festival, another major challenge is a simple fiscal fact: most artists--even those coming from farther afield like Europe and Asia--expect payment in American funds, and with the Canadian loonie currently resting at about 75 ...

Live Review

Jim Beard And Jon Herington At The Kennett Flash

by Mike Jacobs
June 29, 2017

The Herington / Beard Duo The Kennett Flash Kennett Square, PA June 15, 2017 Nestled in the small town of Kennett Square Pennsylvania, the Kennett Flash is a bit of an anomaly these days-- and a welcome one at that. It's a small non-profit venue for the arts, able to hold no more than 100 people, set up with family-style table seating. With its intimacy and solid turnout this night, it also seemed an ideal ...

Profile

Voices of the People: Philadelphia Jazz Project to Celebrate America’s Cherished Values

by Victor L. Schermer
June 29, 2017

The famed Philadelphia Jazz Project (PJP) has a tradition of organizing and presenting concerts in fresh, imaginative, and creative ways. It is a stimulus program whose mission is to generate interest in and responsiveness to the music and to locally-based musicians. The upcoming series, “Voices of the People," four concerts featuring Philadelphia vocalists, is designed for just such purposes. As PJP founder and director, Homer Jackson, told All About Jazz, “To stimulate musical interest, you must engage vocalists. ...

Album Review

Rotem Sivan Trio: Antidote

Read "Antidote" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 29, 2017

Heartbreak knows no true cure, but music can act as something of an antidote or coping mechanism to assist in dealing with it and suffering through it. That's what guitarist-composer Rotem Sivan discovered after a long-term relationship came to a swift and unexpected end. He turned to music to help him grapple with his demons and confront his new reality, emerging from the experience a year later with a newfound sense of emotional well-being and this powerful album.

Album Review

Samo Salamon Sextet: The Colours Suite

Read "The Colours Suite" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
June 29, 2017

Slovenian guitarist/composer Samo Salamon has built a diverse discography, with a wide range of instrumentation. He had always wanted to do a project with two drummers, and a 2016 show at the Jazz Festival Ljubljana finally presented the opportunity--this album documents that performance. Recruiting a sextet made up of a mix of longtime associates and players new to his music, he wrote new music specifically for the group--a departure from most of his previous recordings, which typically have a combination ...

Album Review

The New Vision Sax Ensemble: Musical Journey Through Time

Read "Musical Journey Through Time" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
June 29, 2017

Hailing from South Florida, this enterprising quartet was instigated by baritonist Melton R. Mustafa in 1999. There aren't actually that many saxophone-only quartets around, although 29th Street Saxophone Quartet and World Saxophone Quartet are two that spring to mind, and both had an influence on this quartet. Aside from the lively interpretation of Bobby Watson's “Conservation," from his album Tailor Made, the remaining eight numbers on this CD are standards or songs from the Great American Songbook. Dizzy ...

Album Review

Tal Cohen: Gentle Giants

Read "Gentle Giants" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
June 29, 2017

Surrounded by top-shelf support, pianist Tal Cohen makes a significant statement on Gentle Giants, his second album as a leader. Not content merely to demonstrate his formidable technique, he brings a unique compositional vision to his craft, pulling from his early exposure to Jewish folk music and an extensive immersion in classical composers like Chopin and Scriabin in the process of shaping a unique jazz vision. The result is a highly engaging and stimulating release, with surprises and intriguing choices ...

Under the Radar

Flame Keepers: National Jazz Museum in Harlem

by Karl Ackermann
June 28, 2017

On 129th Street, in the heart of Harlem, Loren Schoenberg emerges from a crowded back room with an unusual looking recording. Aluminum discs like the one he holds, were the first instant, electrical means of recording. Invented in 1929 they were a means of allowing radio stations to record and archive live programs that could be played on a delayed basis or used for promotional purposes. The discs made for more convenient recording, compared to the standard wax discs of ...

Interview

Randy Weston: Music of The Earth

by R.J. DeLuke
June 28, 2017

Pianist Randy Weston has long been known to be a student of his African heritage and proud of it. Born in Brooklyn, he has lived in Africa, been involved with musicians there--he has been involved with the entirety of its culture. An expert? “I've lived there for years, man, and I know nothing," he says with a bold, generous laugh that speckles many of his comments. “I'm no expert on anything because you're dealing with the magic ...

Live Review

Suoni Per Il Popolo 2017

by Mike Chamberlain
June 28, 2017

Casa del Popolo, Sala Rossa, La Vitrola Suoni Per Il Popolo Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 1-24, 2017 This year's edition of the Suoni per il Popolo, or Suoni as it is popularly known, was the 17th since the inception of Mauro Pezzente and Kiva Stimac's Casa del Popolo mini-empire, which also encompasses venues La Sala Rossa and La Vitrola on Montreal's St-Laurent Boulevard. For lovers of avant-garde musics, the Suoni has become a bucket list ...