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.

Book Excerpts

A Conversation with Mike Mainieri

by Anthony Smith
June 2, 2017

The following is an excerpt from the chapter “A Conversation with Mike Mainieri" of Masters of the Vibes by Anthony Smith (Marimba Productions, 2017). So you've been working on a new project this week? Yes, just finishing some overdubs... it's a project I'm involved in with some friends, but I really can't talk about it right now. Sure. Also, my daughter and I performed at her school this week. She's a harpist ...

Multiple Reviews

Two Sackville Gems: Abdullah Ibraihim's "Ancient Africa" and Oliver Lake and Joseph Bowie's "Live at A Space 1976"

by Hrayr Attarian
June 2, 2017

In 2011 Chicago's Delmark label acquired the defunct Sackville Records catalog, a Canadian imprint that specialized in mostly trad jazz and the Avant-Garde. Since then Delmark has systematically put out previously unavailable gems from the Sackville's vaults. In the first part of 2017 it reissued pianist Abdullah Ibrahim's solo outing Ancient Africa (Sackville, 1994) and trombonist Joseph Bowie and saxophonist Oliver Lake's duet, Live at 'A Space' 1976 (Sackville, 1976). Abdullah Ibraihim Ancient Africa Delmark ...

Album Review

Vadim Neselovskyi Trio: Get Up And Go

Read "Get Up And Go" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 2, 2017

In June of 2014, Pianist Vadim Neselovskyi was in his native Ukraine, eager and ready to bring his singular brand of energy to a crowd at that country's premier jazz gathering--the Alfa Jazz Fest. Minutes before his trio was set to take the stage, Neselovskyi learned that a Ukrainian military plane had been shot down by separatists. The audience he was due to perform for was in a downhearted state, reflective of the feeling(s) across the entire nation, and the ...

Album Review

Steve Davis: Think Ahead

Read "Think Ahead" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
June 2, 2017

Trombonist and composer Steve Davis has released his new album on Smoke Sessions Records, entitled, Think Ahead. The inspiration for the title comes from the art of reacting to the unpredictable, but thinking ahead can aid in preparing for whatever the future may bring. The trombonist is joined by saxophonist Jimmy Greene, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash, each are well-known in the jazz world, but this is not a session of strangers, Davis has a ...

Album Review

Theo Travis: Open Air

by John Kelman
June 2, 2017

It's been a very busy decade for Theo Travis. The British reed/woodwind multi-instrumentalist has appeared, to varying degrees, on literally every album that Steven Wilson has released since turning to a solo career in 2009--from Insurgentes and 2011's Grace for Drowning (Kscope), through 2013's best-selling The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories), 2015's commercial breakthrough Hand. Cannot. Erase. and 2016's interim EP, 4 1/2 (all on Kscope)--while touring the world for three years with the rising progressive rock ...

Album Review

Gato Libre: Neko

by Karl Ackermann
June 2, 2017

Any new release from Gato Libre is a welcome event and sure to be a transcendent musical journey of simple sophistication in an unconventional structure. Neko is all those things but with the added, palpable emotion driven by a sense of loss that the group has endured yet again. Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and life partner, pianist, and accordionist Satoko Fujii have been the mainstays of the groups since its 2005 debut, Strange Village (Muzak Inc). The original quartet included bassist ...

From the Inside Out

Jazz in Its Present Tents

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 1, 2017

Jazz sets up camp throughout different geographies--and centuries. Bossacucanova The Best of Bossacucanova Six Degrees Records 2016 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 ...

Album Review

Zero Times Everything: Sonic Cinema

Read "Sonic Cinema" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 1, 2017

Multi-instrumentalist Richard Sylvarnes encapsulates the trio's approach by stating: “In film making it is critical to create a sense of space; a world wholly imaginary that we can enter completely and without reservation. That is the first critical step in the creative process of Zero Times Everything." Therefore, it must be asserted that the musicians have conclusively accomplished their mission on this immensely compelling album that bridges progressive rock with ambient-electronica, noise- shaping processes and a host of other musical ...

Album Review

3Divas: 3Divas

by Geannine Reid
June 1, 2017

Sherrie Maricle is the leader and drummer for The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, FIVE PLAY, and The DIVA Jazz Trio, co-leader of the 3Divas, percussionist with The New York Pops, and a published composer/arranger. The other 2Ds of the 3Divas are pianist Jackie Warren and bassist Amy Shook. Warren is known for her abilities in jazz, Latin jazz, and salsa. She currently performs with Maurice Hines' Off-Broadway hit Tappin' Thru Life with Maricle and The DIVA Jazz Orchestra. Warren also leads ...

Album Review

Matthew Shipp & Mat Walerian Duo/The Uppercut: Live At Okuden

Read "Live At Okuden" reviewed by Matthew Aquiline

by Matthew Aquiline
June 1, 2017

Forming a duo in jazz can amount to a daunting task. There's simply no hiding; with arrangements so sparse, possibility is boundless and subtleties are fully exposed. This formless atmosphere requires able musicians who can immerse themselves in their instruments and in turn, feed off each other to eventually flourish on a singular wavelength. The innovators of the jazz duo--Anthony Braxton and Max Roach, Bill Evans and Jim Hall, Dave Holland and Sam Rivers--reaped these artistic benefits and effectively solidified ...