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

Tamuz Nissim & George Nazos: Liquid Melodies

Read "Liquid Melodies" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 1, 2017

This meaningful title perfectly encapsulates the combined sonics of Israeli vocalist Tamuz Nissim and Greek guitarist George Nazos. When these two pair up they manage to develop a hydrous happening full of mellifluous designs, clear flowing thoughts, and dulcet tones. They're fluid in action, fluent in various dialects of the jazz language, and full of interesting ideas. In short, they deliver a solid performance through Liquid Melodies. The music that Nissim and Nazos create together is difficult ...

Album Review

Thelonious Monk: Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960

Read "Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
June 1, 2017

There's a purity and innocence in the music of pianist/composer Thelonious Monk. But a subtle complexity colored his tunes, masked by an enchanting approach-ability. You hear “Bemsha Swing," “Well You Needn't," “In Walked Bud," and the melodies won't leave your head; they soak into your neural circuitry, permanently. Monk emerged in the late forties with a series of 78 rpm discs collected into two volumes of The Genius of Modern Jazz (Blue Note Records, 1952). He recorded for ...

My Blue Note Obsession

My Fats Waller Obsession: Why Do We Collect Music?

by Marc Davis
May 31, 2017

The collector pauses to reflect. As a young pianist back in high school in the 1970s, I fell into the theater crowd. We put on shows and we went to shows on Broadway. One of my favorites was Ain't Misbehain', the tribute to pianist-composer Fats Waller. I was enthralled. This was music with verve and personality, and it swung like crazy. I bought the soundtrack record and wore it out. I bought the music book and taught myself ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with Sergio Pamies

by AAJ Staff
May 31, 2017

About Sergio Pamies Born in Granada, Spain in 1983, Pamies has published three albums under his name; Entre Amigos (PSM, 2008), Borrachito (Bebyne Records, 2011), and What Brought You Here? (Bebyne Records, 2017). Critics have acknowledged his talent for composition, the lyrical qualities of his playing, and his natural and spontaneous ability to fuse the traditional jazz language and flamenco music of his childhood. Pamies has performed at festivals in Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Colombia, Perú, China, ...

Album Review

Ariel Pocock: Living In Twilight

Read "Living In Twilight" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 31, 2017

When the sun rests below the horizon, the sky sits in a limbo state represented by a wondrous ambiguity in color, content, and intention. An intoxicating afterglow emerges, both wishing the day a fond adieu and ushering in the night. It's that variegated realm, an in-between locale that's neither here nor there, that inspires pianist-vocalist Ariel Pocock's musical musings and offers much satiating food for thought on this young talent's sophomore release. The gloaming state cited in ...

Album Review

Mike Westbrook Concert Band: Marching Song Volumes 1 & 2 Plus Bonus Tracks

Read "Marching Song Volumes 1 & 2 Plus Bonus Tracks" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
May 31, 2017

It's hardly surprising that Mike Westbrook reigned supreme in the latter quarter of the 1960s and early 70s. His big band was voted top of that category in the late-lamented Melody Maker British jazz polls for 1970 (and the two years either side of that). In the same year, his third album, Marching Song, recorded a year earlier came third in the category “LP Of The Year" (the number one album that year was John McLaughlin's seminal Extrapolation so there ...

Album Review

Andy T Band: Double Strike

Read "Double Strike" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
May 31, 2017

It's hard enough to find a contemporary blues record with a decent vocalist, so it is quite special to encounter one with two. As the title boldly states, Double Strike by the Andy T Band, features a pair of veteran blues singers, Nick Nixon and Alabama Mike (Michael A. Benjamin), though the circumstances surrounding the production is bittersweet. Guitarist Andy Talamantez aka Andy T has been around the blues circuit for over twenty years, and since 2011, his ...

Album Review

Ray Lyon: Trinity One

Read "Trinity One" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
May 31, 2017

Pianist and composer Ray Lyon has released Trinity One, his fifth release on his own label, Burning Blue Records. The eight-song project delivers a diverse collection of original compositions that are interesting in form and execution. Lyon is a master of storytelling through his music and he enlists the talents of bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Bill Berg. The trio's synergistic chemistry is immediately evident as they journey various styles, but above all, they deliver a musical project that is ...

Catching Up With

Kurt Rosenwinkel: Caipirinhas and Constellations

by Geno Thackara
May 30, 2017

"It's the busiest I've ever been," Kurt Rosenwinkel happily declares during a rare week of down time at home in Berlin between tour legs. This would seem like quite a statement for someone established as a jack of many trades--luminary guitarist, music teacher, technological experimentalist and bandleader in several genre-hopping ensembles. These recent months have seen him further expanding his resume to include lead singer, lyricist and label boss. He describes it as a crazy time, but couldn't be more ...

Profile

Gregg Allman: December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017

by C. Michael Bailey
May 30, 2017

“Well, I'll keep on moving. Things are bound to be improving these days. One of these days..." Gregg Allman recorded Jackson Browne's lament for his 1973 Capricorn release Laid Back. The song clung to him like smoke, the length of his career, surfacing here and there, until, finally he sang the song with its composer for the special, All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman (Rounder, 2014). That was a fine moment, one curiously ...