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

Martin Küchen / Mark Tokar / Arkadijus Gotesmanas: Live At Vilnius Jazz Festival

Read "Live At Vilnius Jazz Festival" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 22, 2017

Swedish reedman Martin Küchen made three appearances at the Lithuanian capital's annual jazz bonanza in October 2015 which included a solo concert and an outing with his group Angles 9. But the set which the NoBusiness label has chosen to release, as a limited edition LP, is his first time meeting with the Ukrainian pairing of bassist Mark Tokar, who may be familiar from Ken Vandermark's Resonance Ensemble, and drummer Arkadijus Gotesmanas, now based in the Baltic country. Each side ...

Album Review

Trichotomy: Known-Unknown

Read "Known-Unknown" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
January 22, 2017

It's been a while, four years to be precise, but Australian piano trio Trichotomy is back. Known-Unknown appears after a break during which the band's members have been busy with numerous other projects and sees the first appearance of a new bassist, but it takes just a few bars of “Five" to reassure fans that this cohesive, exciting trio is back and on track. Pianist Sean Foran and drummer John Parker are joined by bassist Samuel Vincent and ...

Album Review

Nick Finzer: Hear & Now

Read "Hear & Now" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 22, 2017

New York-based trombonist Nick Finzer has benefited from mentorships under trombone masters Wycliffe Gordon and Steve Turre; but his third CD release, Hear And Now also brings the original trombone master, J.J. Johnson to mind. One of Johnson's last CDs, the minor masterpiece, Heroes (Verve Records, 1995), featured a sextet configuration with an enormously-talented pianist, Rene Rosnes, in the mix. Hear & Now is a sextet outing with an up-and-coming, unlimited potential talent, Glenn Zaleski, sitting in front of the ...

Album Review

Hard Proof: Stinger

by Joe Gatto
January 22, 2017

Hard Proof tightly fuses sounds from sub-Saharan Africa with adventurous Jazz and deep Funk to stimulate your brain and move your feet. This Austin, Texas based ten-piece collective began by studying the blueprint of Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band, as well as Funk and Jazz from the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. And yet, they're a totally American band--raised on Jazz, Soul, Funk, and Rock music in the USA. You get to hear all these influences in full force ...

Album Review

Anna Webber's Simple Trio with Matt Mitchell & John Hollenbeck: Binary

by John Sharpe
January 21, 2017

If there were a prize for avoiding the obvious, then Brooklyn-based Canadian saxophonist and flautist Anna Webber would be a prime contender. In an effort to take the road less travelled, Webber has used internet-sourced inspiration, including a random binary digit generator, a website that turns words into drumbeats, and even her own IP address, to develop the 11 compositions on Binary, the sophomore outing from her Simple Trio. In a line up unchanged since their eponymous ...

Book Review

Slim Harpo: Blues King Bee of Baton Rouge

by C. Michael Bailey
January 21, 2017

Slim Harpo: Blues King Bee of Baton Rouge Martin Hawkins 416 Pages ISBN: # 978-0807164532 LSU Press 2016 James Moore, AKA, Slim Harpo, was a musician that existed at ground level. In his heyday, one was as likely to see him exiting the Excello Records in Nashville, TN one day and driving a truck in New Iberia, LA, the next, then walking into J.D. Miller's recording studio in Crowley, LA, while working on ...

Album Review

Matthew Shipp Trio: Piano Song

Read "Piano Song" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
January 21, 2017

The finest compliment you can pay an artist is that his music is instantly recognized in a blindfold test. Sure, back in the day most experienced listeners could identify a Bud Powell, Bill Evans, or Oscar Peterson recording. It's just, these days, there are so many Powell, Evans, and Peterson soundalikes, schooled in the art of emulation, that identity is no longer a prized commodity. That is, unless you value an original voice, one like that of Matthew Shipp.

Album Review

Troy Roberts: Tales & Tones

Read "Tales & Tones" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
January 21, 2017

Saxophonist and composer Troy Roberts continues to present music that retains a distinctive strength and originality, still vastly rooted in tradition, while firmly grounded in new perspectives. Hailing from the remote location of Perth, West Australia, Roberts has received numerous awards including 3 consecutive DownBeat Jazz Soloist Awards, a Grammy Nomination medal, and was the only Australian semi-finalist in the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. Graduating with a Bachelor of Music at the young age of 19, he ...

Album Review

Richie Cole: Have Yourself An Alto Madness Christmas

Read "Have Yourself An Alto Madness Christmas" reviewed by Rob Rosenblum

by Rob Rosenblum
January 21, 2017

Christmas music is a sort of sub genre of American pop, mostly maudlin and uninspiring in its lyrics, harmony and melody. Yet, it is a perennial magnet for jazz artists. On the other end of the spectrum is Richie Cole, a brash altoist and sort of a merry prankster bebop artist. Fans and critics alike have delighted in his ability to take the complex structures of the music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and mold them into ...

Album Review

Veryan Weston: Discoveries on Tracker Action Organs

Read "Discoveries on Tracker Action Organs" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
January 21, 2017

This new solo album from keyboardist Veryan Weston was recorded in May 2014 on tracker action organs in seven churches located around England. The recordings here document some of the preparatory research that Weston did ahead of a tour of churches with tracker action organs. That tour involved Weston plus violinist Jon Rose and cellist Hannah Marshall, so this album should be considered a companion piece to Tuning Out (Emanem, 2015), the album recorded on the tour. As ...