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

Joachim Kühn/Chris Jennings/Eric Schaefer: Beauty & Truth

Read "Beauty & Truth" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
March 13, 2017

German born pianist/composer Joachim Kühn is not without a global following though it's a shame that he is not more widely recognized in the US. Having spent much of his professional life in Paris, he did occupy some time between, residing in California. His musical interests are as broad as the roster of top-tier artists he has worked with in his earlier career, including Archie Shepp, Ornette Coleman, Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson and the recently departed Larry Coryell. Showing his ...

Album Review

Rose Ellis: Like Songs Like Moons

Read "Like Songs Like Moons" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
March 13, 2017

After a promising beginning in the Netherlands--success with the Dutch pop group, Roos, prestigious schooling and prestigious awards--vocalist/songwriter Rose Ellis came to New York, with a scholarship from the Dutch government and jazz on her mind. She earned her master's degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music, a solid start. And now her jazz debut: Like Songs Like Moons. It's an obvious labor of love, beginning with Rose's own composition, “Satellite," that opens with pianist Glenn Zaleski ...

Album Review

Bandit 65: Bandit 65

Read "Bandit 65" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
March 13, 2017

It's not unheard of for groups to include drums without a bass as rhythmic partner, though the rest of the players may sometimes be surprised how much they miss that anchor (which is easy to take for granted after all). A small combo has a couple basic options for working around that absence. They can have some other instrument fill the role, or else leave things loose, trust each other's timing and allow for the possibility of getting lost. The ...

Bailey's Bundles

Trios – Free Nelson Mandoomjazz, Organic Trio, Ben Rosenblum, Peter Erskine; Julia Hulsmann

by C. Michael Bailey
March 12, 2017

Jazz Trios. A variety of flavors... Free Nelson Mandoom Jazz The Organ Grinder RareNoise Records 2016 Free Nelson Mandoomjazz is not exactly your posterchild for traditional jazz trios, nominally comprised of wind player Rebecca Sneddon, bassist Colin Stewart and drummer Paul Archibald. <em>Organ Grinder</em> is a recording happily in the mode of UB40's completely mood-altering <em>Signing Off</em> (Graduate Records, 1980). Mood altering" in the sense that the music's effect is hypnotic ...

Album Review

Desert Foxx: Kill Together

Read "Kill Together" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
March 12, 2017

There's music intended to be pleasant or listenable--probably most of it out there, all told--and then there's the kind that's more about provoking or challenging the person who's listening. The more abstract something is, the harder it can be to discern just what the purpose or message is, and a brief fifteen-minute recording can only give so much of a hint. Nonetheless, the Brooklyn-based trio Desert Foxx paints a couple preliminary pictures with Kill Together to poke at the ears ...

Album Review

Tim Armacost: Time Being

Read "Time Being" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
March 12, 2017

Tim Armacost may not be the most well-known jazz musician on the planet but he's certainly one of the best. His early life was spent in Tokyo, and Washington, then moving to Los Angeles at the age of 18. He travelled to Amsterdam and India where, in the spirit of The Beatles and John McLaughlin he assimilated much of that country's music. Finally he moved to New York in 1993 where he made his debut recording Fire. For this debut ...

Album Review

The Mark Masters Ensemble: Blue Skylight

Read "Blue Skylight" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 12, 2017

California-based composer / arranger Mark Masters, who has already recorded salutes to Clifford Brown, Jimmy Knepper, Dewey Redman, Steely Dan, the Gershwin brothers and even the Duke Ellington saxophone section, directs his attention and considerable talents this time around to the music of a pair of legendary jazz trend-setters who were in many respects polar opposites: bassist Charles Mingus and saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. To amplify his purpose, Masters made two pivotal decisions, each of which serves to ...

Album Review

Lucerne Jazz Orchestra: Oaktree

by Budd Kopman
March 12, 2017

Although the Lucerne Jazz Orchestra was formed in 2007 and has had five releases to its credit, it is virtually unknown on this side of the pond, being overshadowed by the NDR Big Band and the WDR Big Band. This state of affairs ought to be corrected with Oaktree, a marvelous release in every aspect. First, the quality of the recording is superb, allowing for the precision of the ensemble, as well as the quality of the arrangements, ...

Hi-Res Jazz

Charles Mingus and Miles Davis: Changing Moods

by Mark Werlin
March 11, 2017

The recordings of Charles Mingus in the mid-1950s document a musical voice so distinctive that they are immediately recognizable today. But Mingus' obsessive commitment to the primacy of the composition was not always shared by his peers, nor understood by his critics. A public feud between Mingus, who was struggling unsuccessfully to win critical recognition and financial rewards, and Miles Davis, then poised for prominence and commercial success, contains clues to the musical conundrum that both sought to ...

Album Review

Phronesis; Julian Argüelles; Frankfurt Radio Big Band: The Behemoth

Read "The Behemoth" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
March 11, 2017

Julian Argüelles needs no lessons on how to arrange for a big band since cutting his teeth with the 1980s jazz phenomenon Loose Tubes, later joining Chris McGregor's legendary Brotherhood Of Breath. He also has recorded over a dozen albums under his name and subsequently leading several line-ups including his latest quartet Tetra. This is the fifth album by the Scandinavian/British band Phronesis since 2010. Argüelles already had history with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band since their joint recording of ...