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.

Multiple Reviews

Five Women IV – Linda Carone, Gunilla Törnfeldt, Polly Gibbons, Angie Wells, Jeannie Tanner

by C. Michael Bailey
May 28, 2017

Linda Carone Black Moonlight Self Produced 2017 Canadian singer Linda Carone's debut recording, Black Moonlight is an intentional period piece. It is a collection of ten pieces given an organic swing workout. Carone possesses a mature, sensual instrument that when combined with her period support makes for irresistible listening. The singer and support establish a light-as-feather touch, maintaining it with solid creative momentum for the duration of the recording. There are no bumps in this ...

Multiple Reviews

Margrete Grarup: Denmark's jazz secret is out

by Chris Mosey
May 28, 2017

The Copenhagen daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende in 2015 called Margrete Grarup “the best kept secret in Danish jazz." In 2017, with two albums released in rapid succession on Storyville, that secret is out... and a star is born. Grarup has a wonderfully rich and expressive voice. She comes to jazz via the Scandinavian blues and gospel scene. There she would sing “down in Mississippi where I come from" like she meant it. She's actually from Aalborg in ...

Album Review

Andrew Hartman: Compass

Read "Compass" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
May 28, 2017

New York-based jazz guitarist Andrew Hartman offers his second album as leader with the modern jazz-like Compass featuring nine originals and a newly-arranged rendition of the Paul Simon classic “America." The music is decidedly modern with a taste of the Brazilian and Indian musical influences. Originally from Cincinnati, OH, Hartman moved to London, UK in 2011 where he worked as a freelance musician and teacher and during that time, the guitarist began working on a handful of compositions and arrangements ...

Album Review

Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington Bicoastal Collective: Chapter Five

Read "Chapter Five" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 28, 2017

Chapter Five is the fifth recording by Paul Tynan / Aaron Lington's Bicoastal Collective, which derives its name from the fact that trumpeter Tynan lives in Nova Scotia, saxophonist Lington in San Jose, CA. What sets this CD apart from the others is that the Collective has morphed from a smaller version to a full-fledged eighteen- piece big band. The music remains essentially the same with four compositions by Tynan and four by Lington, all of which ...

Album Review

Common Quartet: The Hive

Read "The Hive" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
May 28, 2017

The Common Quartet is a relatively unknown group of players from the Brooklyn, NY jazz community presenting their debut album entitled The Hive delivering an audacious set of modern jazz original tunes from members of the band and stellar interpretations of two standards. Performing in the culturally-rich neighborhood environment of Bedford-Stuyvesant for over three years every Monday, the four friends forged a musical bond that have led them to the recording studio to document much of the music they have ...

Album Review

Ahmad Jamal: Marseille

Read "Marseille" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
May 28, 2017

There are few true jazz legends left alive now let alone still recording albums of the calibre of Marseille. Ahmad Jamal is one such venerable figure and the octogenarian (born July 2, 1930) has recorded an album of consistent brilliance. Jamal prefers to refer to his playing as American classical music rather than jazz and he's been regarded as a “mainstream" pianist but to stylistically stereotype him in this fashion is to do him an injustice. The title ...

Album Review

The Como Mamas: Move Upstairs

Read "Move Upstairs" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
May 27, 2017

It is said, good things come to those who wait. Gospel singing trio, The Como Mamas, were quietly going about their lives, when in 2005, producer Michael Reilly, stumbled upon them in their hometown of Como, in Panola County, Mississippi. The Como Mamas are Ester Mae Wilbourn, Della Daniels, and Angela Taylor. They first appeared on the gospel compilation Como Now, in 2008, for Daptone Records, which in 2013 released Get An Understanding, recorded acapella in the Mount Mariah CME ...

Album Review

Mike Levine: Star Gazing

Read "Star Gazing" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
May 27, 2017

Pianist and keyboardist Mike Levine unveils his third solo project Star Gazing providing another laid back, Smooth- styled gem of a recording containing a little of everything, from the obvious relaxing mellow melodies, to some swinging sizzling funky material. An artist who has performed with some of the finest musicians on the planet, during his long-distinguished career, Levine is a mainstay, a fixture in Miami's vibrant Latin music and exploding jazz scene. A man of many talents who has delved ...

Album Review

Cuong Vu/4-Tet: Ballet: The Music Of Michael Gibbs

Read "Ballet: The Music Of Michael Gibbs" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 27, 2017

It sounds as if Seattle-based trumpeter Cuong Vu is in the early stages of lining up the jazz guitar gods and recording and releasing an album with each. The year 2015 saw him offer up Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny (Nonesuch Records), and 2017 finds him bringing Bill Frisell into his orbit, with Ballet: The Music Of Michael Gibbs. These are two distinct guitar voices, joining in the crafting of two distinctly different sounds. The Metheny collaboration featured--like much ...

Album Review

Larry Newcomb Quartet with Bucky Pizzarelli: Living Tribute

Read "Living Tribute" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 27, 2017

New York-based guitarist Larry Newcomb's latest album, Living Tribute, isn't directed toward a single honoree but several, some of whom are living and some of whom are not. One of them, fellow guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, even bolsters Newcomb's regular quartet, playing with the sort of bounteous energy that makes it hard to believe he would be celebrating his ninety-first birthday a month after the studio date was held in December 2016. Newcomb opens with the standard “I ...