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.

Live Review

Live From Old York: Kathryn Tickell, Tom Brosseau, Breabach & Loudon Wainwright III

by Martin Longley
November 27, 2016

Kathryn Tickell & The Side National Centre For Early Music October 17, 2016 Folk and chamber classical collide, but it's not always clear how to untangle the parts, or whether we even want to, as another entity entirely is created. The Side ensemble is a half-and-half meeting between Northumbrian piper (and fiddler) Kathryn Tickell, accordionist Amy Thatcher (also from the north-east of England), both of them being hardcore traditional music practitioners, with Ruth Wall ...

Philosophisticated Lady

Glamour or Gloom? Fitzgerald's Jazz Age

by Marithe Van der Aa
November 25, 2016

Many names have been given to the 1920s: the Roaring Twenties, the Golden Twenties, Les Années Folles and, of course, the Jazz Age. It was a decade fuelled by innovation and change; a time of movement: cars were becoming the favoured means of transportation, commercial airline flights were on the rise, social dancing was energetic and popular music was “hot." Those who are familiar with the writings of the celebrated author F. Scott Fitzgerald, will know that his work is ...

Live Review

London Jazz Festival 2016

by Duncan Heining
November 25, 2016

The London Jazz Festival, now in its 24th year, straddles the capital--its noble aim, as ever, is the provision of musical succour for the diverse tastes that make up the larger British jazz audience. You want mainstream, you'll find it. Looking for fusion, then look no further. Free jazz, bebop, blues? Step this way. Postjazz? Postjazz? I'm sure I saw it here somewhere. The first Sunday caught James Blood Ulmer at the East End's Rich Mix. Backed by ...

Album Review

Frank Kimbrough: Solstice

Read "Solstice" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 25, 2016

A stellar interlude of three-way instrumental interplay can be found on composer/conductor Maria Schneider's first masterpiece, Concert In The Garden (ArtistShare, 2004), on the set's title tune, beginning about five and a half minutes in. Ben Monder lays down a ghostly guitar solo that climbs to an eerie climax, as a handoff to pianist Frank Kimbrough, who weaves a glistening, dew drop-beaded web of a story, soon to be joined by the accordion of Gary Versace, his instrument sighing, singing ...

Album Review

Haakon Graf/Erik Smith/Per Mathisen: Sunrain

Read "Sunrain" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
November 25, 2016

Digging into the staggered groove of “Santa Monica" during an end-of-2014 performance in Oslo's Olsen Bar, Haakon Graf glides along the keys in an easygoing manner to begin building the show's energy. The electric trappings of '70s Jeff Beck come to mind--albeit without the guitar--alongside the sound of classic outfits like Weather Report and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. His bandmates keep up at a mid-tempo trot. Erik Smith's drumming coasts steadily with plenty of splashes to avoid going anywhere near static. ...

Album Review

Lee Fields & The Expressions: Special Night

Read "Special Night" reviewed by Jim Trageser

by Jim Trageser
November 25, 2016

Pop culture often gets ahead of itself in writing off styles no longer in vogue among the younger set--even when tremendous music is still being made by the original creators. So while big band swing was considered hopelessly dated by the 1970s, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Harry James, and Les Brown were still turning out some stellar sides--as good as their younger selves were making in the music's heyday, and markedly better than the neo-swing combos that came ...

Album Review

Richie Cole: Richie Cole Plays Ballads & Love Songs

Read "Richie Cole Plays Ballads & Love Songs" reviewed by Jim Trageser

by Jim Trageser
November 25, 2016

Alto saxophonist Richie Cole has made quite the career with his brand of hard bop, generally coming at melody almost as an unintended consequence of his heavy focus on improvisational interpretation. On his latest release--itself an unintended consequence of a recording date arriving without half the scheduled musicians able to attend--Cole taps into his inner Johnny Hodges. Caressing, gentle, lush, it is a side of Cole that's never been explored over a full album before. The ...

Album Review

Keith Tippett Octet: Nine Dances Of Patrick O’Gonogon

Read "Nine Dances Of Patrick O’Gonogon" reviewed by Duncan Heining

by Duncan Heining
November 25, 2016

The Nine Dances of Patrick O'Gonogon is a solid gold delight. I have no idea, who Paddy O'Gonogon is or even if he exists outside the minds of Keith Tippett and Julie Tippett but I'd love to have a drink or eight with him. Seems like he knows how to have a good time. The record was inspired by Tippett's memories of Irish folk music and song, albeit filtered through jazz and improvisation. I had never thought of ...

Album Review

Lucas Rochaix Quinteto: Manovuotometro

Read "Manovuotometro" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
November 24, 2016

Argentinian guitarist Lucas Rochaix leads a quintet through his strong debut recording on Manovuotometro. Rochaix composed the entire program, making an impression as both composer and performer. He favors a clean jazz guitar tone--reminiscent of someone like Peter Bernstein--but his music is more about making complete compositional statements than showcasing his guitar playing. His quintet is completed by saxophonist Andrés Tarditti, pianist Francisco Sokolowicz, contrabassist Ivana Traboulsi, and drummer Mauricio Cardona. They are all team players, and Rochaix's arrangements give ...

Album Review

Billy Jenkins: True Love Collection

Read "True Love Collection" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
November 24, 2016

A few facts to dispense with first. True Love Collection now reissued as a download-only release, coincided with this album, originally released in 1998, being voted number 36 in BBC Music Jazz's 50 greatest jazz albums, announced in mid-November 2016 to coincide with the start of the London Jazz Festival. It's also been re- mixed and consolidated into seven discrete tracks as opposed to the 16 tracks on the original CD release. However, the order and music is identical.