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

Neil Ardley & The New Jazz Orchestra: On The Radio: BBC Sessions 1971

Read "On The Radio: BBC Sessions 1971" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
June 6, 2017

An hour's worth of archival Neil Ardley and the New Jazz Orchestra is always a welcome event since it features the cream of British jazz from the late 1960s, early 70s. But this CD is split into two half hour programmes. The first is a live recording of Neil Ardley conducting the New Jazz Orchestra for the BBC Jazz Club programme, which was first broadcast on February 14th 1971. The second half is also a BBC recording, but for Radio ...

Album Review

Ignacio Berroa Trio: Straight Ahead From Havana

Read "Straight Ahead From Havana" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
June 6, 2017

While it appears normal to perform Cuban music in its natural rhythmic state, in a reversal of the rules of engagement, drummer Ignacio Berroa has re-imagined the popular songbook of his homeland, into Straight Ahead From Havana, shaking up established traditional elements to form a new jazz perspective. Joining Berroa in the trio are Martin Bejerano on piano, and Josh Allen on bass. Bejerano hails from Miami, where he is piano jazz director at the University of Miami, Allen attended ...

Album Review

Bossacucanova: The Best of Bossacucanova

Read "The Best of Bossacucanova" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 6, 2017

Few bands have built upon the legacy of their chosen field the way that Bossacucanova has advanced the music of their native Brazil. Their story begins about two decades ago, when three amigos--DJ Marcelinho DaLua, Alex Moreira and Marcio Menescal, son of bossa nova pioneer Roberto Menescal--began remixing classic 1960s bossa nova just for the fun of it. Five albums later, their Best of compilation presents “our best arrangements, most original beats, and top performances," Marcio explains, plus two new ...

Big Band Report

A Big Band Spectacular? You Bet Your Brass!

by Jack Bowers
June 5, 2017

On May 23, Betty and I flew to Los Angeles to attend the L.A. Jazz Institute's semi-annual ode to swinging, this one labeled Big Band Spectacular and slated for Thursday through Sunday, May 25-28. We rearranged our schedule to arrive a day early, even before Wednesday's “bonus" event, to attend the funeral of a longtime friend and colleague. As the service was held mid-afternoon Wednesday in Inglewood, we returned to the Westin LAX Hotel, scene of the week's events, around ...

Live Review

Jeff Lorber Fusion at Nighttown

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 5, 2017

Jeff Lorber Fusion Nighttown Cleveland, Ohio May 26, 2017 One of the pioneers of the fusion movement of the early '80s that ultimately morphed into the smooth jazz craze, keyboard man Jeff Lorber made his initial mark with the five albums he cut between 1977 and 1981. Leading an ensemble billed as the Jeff Lorber Fusion, the last few albums he recorded for Arista even featured the budding saxophonist Kenny Gorelick, who later dropped ...

Album Review

Terry Gibbs: 92 Years Young: Jammin' At The Gibbs House

Read "92 Years Young: Jammin' At The Gibbs House" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 5, 2017

"92 Years Young." Sometimes that's an exaggeration. On the other hand, when applied to vibraphonist Terry Gibbs it may well be an understatement. Gibbs was indeed a mere six months shy of his ninety-second birthday when “Jammin' at the Gibbs House" was recorded in his living room in April 2016. Close your eyes, however, and it's the 1940s again, and Gibbs is jammin' with Woody Herman's Second Herd, or the '50s, and he's presiding over his high-powered Dream Band in ...

Album Review

Mike Westbrook: Live 1972

Read "Live 1972" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
June 5, 2017

Mike Westbrook Live 1972 captures a fleeting snapshot of the transitional group Westbrook assembled in between hisMetropolis era big band and the jazz rock venture Solid Gold Cadillac featuring Phil Minton's irrepressible vocals. This quintet lasted only a few weeks but the line-up boasted Gary Boyle, guitarist of the legendary band Isotope. Also, George Khan on tenor saxophone and drummer Alan Jackson both stalwarts of Westbrook's previous ensembles were present along with newcomer Roger 'Butch' Potter on bass guitar, who ...

Album Review

Club d'Elf: Live at Club Helsinki

Read "Live at Club Helsinki" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 5, 2017

Club d'Elf and their sprawling live records present a unique challenge to folks who write about them. This double Live at Club Helsinki set reveals every modern style and multiple Moroccan rhythms (except for opera and bluegrass--maybe). But often we want so much to relate or explain these sounds, and there's so much going on in so many different combinations, that our explanations eventually grow so complicated that they lose their soul. Soulless is no way to address this music. ...

Album Review

Dewa Budjana: Zentuary

Read "Zentuary" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 5, 2017

Indonesian composer, guitarist and bandleader Dewa Budjana's tenth release (and his first on guitarist Steve Vai's label Favored Nations in association with Budjana's usual label, MoonJune) reviews, consolidates and advances his sound. Budjana's three decades of performing and recording, including collaborations with jazz A-listers as Peter Erskine, Joe Locke and Larry Goldings, are worth the retrospective. Even better, Budjana celebrates this milestone release with most likely his best band ever--drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist/stickman Tony Levin and drummer and keyboardist Gary ...

Live Review

Like A Jazz Machine 2017

by Ian Patterson
June 4, 2017

Like A Jazz Machine Centre Culturel Regionel Opderschmelz Dudelange, Luxembourg May 25-28, 2017 Size, as Like A Jazz Machine knows, isn't everything. The audience in the Centre Culturel Regionel Opderschmelz amounts to just four seated rows downstairs, with a small standing section to the rear, and ten rows of seats upstairs. Yet this intimate setting is the arena for an international jazz program that would be the envy of much bigger towns ...