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

The Jeremy Lyons Ensemble: The Promise Of Happiness

Read "The Promise Of Happiness" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
December 7, 2016

Saxophonist Jeremy Lyons took a degree in jazz studies from Leeds College of Music, later decamping to London where he undertook further study at Middlesex University and subsequently forming his own quartet and trio with fellow Middlesex alumni Hans Koller and Dave Whitford. He now leads his own London-based quartet, playing original charts and lesser-known modern standards, with Ben McDonnell on guitar, Vicky Tilson on double bass and Buster Birch on drums. This quartet recorded his 2013 debut album Vestige, ...

Album Review

David S. Ware & Matthew Shipp Duo: Live In Sant'Anna Arresi, 2004

Read "Live In Sant'Anna Arresi, 2004" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
December 7, 2016

Saxophonist and composer, David S. Ware (1949-2012), was one of the most original voices in modern jazz and his uncompromising approach to his art was deeply connected with a spiritual understanding of life. To Ware, playing and listening to music were different aspects of the essence of life. Ware left behind a rich discography and, fortunately, new musical treasures are still coming. One of them is a live recording from Sant'Anna Arresi with his long-term-collaborator, the pianist, ...

Live Review

Quentin Baxter Quintet at Simons Center Recital Hall

by Rob Rosenblum
December 6, 2016

Quentin Baxter Quintet Simons Center Recital Hall Charleston, SC December 5, 2016 Pianist Tommy Gill was a much-beloved member of the Charleston, South Carolina jazz community and a significant influence on percussionist, Quentin Baxter. Gill's untimely death in August of 2014 at the age of 49 left a hole in the hearts of his many fans and fellow musicians. Baxter gathered his crew of top area musicians--saxophonist Mark Sterbank, trumpeter Charlton Singleton, pianist ...

Multiple Reviews

NendoDango Records: Reinventing Tradition

by Jakob Baekgaard
December 6, 2016

Argentinian jazz is in a very good state. Young musicians are gathering in collectives, trying to spread the word. They primarily use platforms such as bandcamp to release their music digitally, although physical formats are also occasionally available. Kuai Music is one of the major new players on the field, but new labels arrive all the time. One of them is called NendoDango Records. The people behind the label are the drummer Pablo Díaz, saxophonist Miguel Crozzoli and the pianist ...

Album Review

Kurt Elling: The Beautiful Day

Read "The Beautiful Day" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 6, 2016

Forget the standard old tidings of good cheer, the same old set of swinging Christmas standards, and the sugary holiday treats that lack vitality and real sustenance. Kurt Elling certainly paid little mind to them when he was putting together this gem of a program. Instead of taking the road more traveled when it comes to holiday trips, Elling takes back roads and detours. And as with most of his projects, that makes all the difference. For his ...

Album Review

Hank Mobley: Hank Mobley

Read "Hank Mobley" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
December 6, 2016

During the 1950s and '60s Hank Mobley was an especially prolific musician. In addition to many dates as a sideman, his string of 26 or so records under his own name for Blue Note certainly makes him the one of, if not the label's productivity champion. Most of his dates are excellent performances, yet somehow his name has faded from the public conscious. Jazz people know him of course--we thrive on even the smallest esoteric historical details, after all--but Mobley ...

Album Review

Billie Davies - A Nu Experience: On Hollywood Boulevard

Read "On Hollywood Boulevard" reviewed by Sacha O'Grady

by Sacha O'Grady
December 6, 2016

From Buddy Rich to Billy Cobham, jazz drumming (as opposed to pop-rock) has been a predominately masculine affair, and something which perhaps remains so even to this day -which isn't to say that women are excluded from the club entirely. Drummer Billie Davies began her career in Europe, performing extensively across the continent, before immigrating to America, until eventually she made her way to New Orleans in 2014, teaming up with IRIS P (vocals), Evan Oberla (electric piano, ...

Album Review

Mike Neer: Steelonious

Read "Steelonious" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
December 6, 2016

Early in his musical career, pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was ordained the “Hight Priest of Bebop." This sounds more like a disingenuous pronouncement by an overeager period critic than any credible music reportage. Monk's essential musical approach owed more to stride, blues, and swing than to Charlie Parker's and Dizzy Gillespie's bebop. Monk's technical brilliance, if one could call it that, was not geared toward the “technique" of rapid and complexly rendered chord changes. Monk's brilliance lay somewhere much ...

Album Review

Jason Klobnak: Hark The Herald

Read "Hark The Herald" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 6, 2016

Sleigh bells, synths, slick layers of sound, and a forthright trumpet are making seasons bright here. Colorado-based trumpeter Jason Klobnak dips his toe into Christmas music with a contemporary spin on “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" that's both fun and ripe. It's a work that's seriously produced but lighthearted in tone. While Klobnak's recordings thus far have focused on quintet-based dynamics, he moves in a new direction for this one-off holiday single. It only took three men ...

Live Review

The Power Quintet at Jazz Standard

by Dan Bilawsky
December 5, 2016

The Power Quintet Jazz Standard New York, NY December 3, 2016 The age of the collective-minded outfit in jazz is upon us. While the concept of democratically-driven bands is hardly new or unique, more and more artists seem to be taking to the idea with gusto, pooling their talents and resources for the greater good. Such artistic and business arrangements give everybody an opportunity to share in the responsibility load, play multiple ...