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

Tomo Jacobson: When the sleeping fish turn red and the skies start to sing in C major I will follow you to the end

Read "When the sleeping fish turn red and the skies start to sing in C major I will follow you to the end" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 2, 2016

Copenhagen-based bassist Tomo Jacobson--employing his musical vehicle, Moonbow--creates a musical ruckus with When the sleeping fish turn red and the skies start to sing in C-major I will follow you to the end (how's that for a CD title?). And it sounds like a ruckus in the blacksmith shop--metallic, slashing guitar, raucous, ragged-edged, tin/brass saxophones over a pumping-bellows bass and hammering drums. All this, and the sounds still has a feeling of structure--albeit a loose one--that allows the individual instrumentalists ...

Album Review

Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen & Mulgrew Miller: The Duo - Live!

Read "The Duo - Live!" reviewed by Chris Mosey

by Chris Mosey
October 2, 2016

After admiring each other's playing from afar for years, Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and American pianist Mulgrew Miller got together in 1999 to record a promotional album of Duke Ellington numbers for the hi-fi company Bang & Olufsen. They enjoyed it so much that the following year they got together again for a world tour. This included the North Sea Jazz Festival at the Hague in Holland where the nine tracks on this fine double album ...

Album Review

Ale Torriggino: Sureste

Read "Sureste" reviewed by Sacha O'Grady

by Sacha O'Grady
October 2, 2016

When it comes to blues, folk-rock and Americana, one may not necessarily think of South America. Such is the stereotype many in the West can place upon other non English speaking countries who think that it is only in England and North America where musicians are truly qualified to add to the great American songbook. But 27 year old singer-songwriter Alejandro Torriggino has managed to successfully break down those preconceptions on his debut Sureste (or Southeast), an album fraught with ...

Album Review

Jakob Bro: Streams

Read "Streams" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
October 2, 2016

Danish guitarist Jakob Bro's second ECM album as leader continues with the trio concept of his debut Gefion (ECM, 2015). That album was a low-key stunner, with drummer Jon Christensen frequently taking a role as much textural as rhythmic. Streams is a somewhat more extroverted affair. It's tempting to attribute the change to new drummer Joey Baron--who has proven himself to be a very adaptable musical partner--but credit must also be given to Bro's evolving interaction with bassist Thomas Morgan, ...

Album Review

Nate Wooley/Hugo Antunes/Jorge Queijo/Mário Costa/Chris Corsano: Purple Patio

Read "Purple Patio" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
October 1, 2016

From the perspective of release dates Purple Patio can be seen as a follow up to Malus (NoBusiness Records, 2014) by the core trio of trumpeter Nate Wooley, Belgium-based Portuguese bassist Hugo Antunes and celebrated drummer Chris Corsano. But in actual fact the limited edition LP was recorded two weeks previously, presumably during the same tour. Where it differs is through the inclusion of two of the bassist's fellow countrymen in drummers in Jorge Queijo and Mario Costa. Unsurprisingly a ...

Album Review

Satoko Fujii / Joe Fonda: Duet

by Budd Kopman
October 1, 2016

The story behind the creation of the miraculous album, Duet by pianist Satoko Fujii and bassist Joe Fonda is one of those things that makes one a believer in karma. Although both have played with reed man Gebhard Ullmann in various configurations, Fujii and Fonda had never met, and had not heard much, if any, of each other's music. Now, this might seem strange since both are acknowledged leaders of free/avant-garde jazz, and both have powerful musical personalities ...

Album Review

Chet Baker: Boston, 1954

Read "Boston, 1954" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 1, 2016

Is there any reason to write anything more about Chet Baker? Stuff of legend, subject of multiple books, focus of a classic documentary: Surely, someone, somewhere hadn't written a doctoral dissertation on him in American studies. Great player, not so great person, or, whatever kind of person, not so great player. You sort of get to choose which Baker you want. Whether it's an idiotic greeting to pianist Romano Mussolini (did he really say: “Sorry about your old man")?; or ...

Extended Analysis

Peter Case: Peter Case

by Doug Collette
October 1, 2016

The music on Peter Case's debut solo album is as pure and straightforward as the title of this eponymous work. And that's even taking into account the layered approach T Bone Burnett applied in one of his earliest production jobs. The seven bonus tracks illustrate how both this original material of Case's stands strong on its own terms, especially in his authoritative performances, as a foundation for a brilliant all-around collaborative work. Peter Case devotees as well as ...

Live Review

Punkt Festival 2016

by Henning Bolte
October 1, 2016

Punkt Festival Kristiansand, Norway September, 3-5, 2016 Punkt Festival in Kristiansand, Southern Norway, is a small, informal festival of internationally high artistic reputation and esteem. It takes place during the first week of September. Founded in 2005 its 12th edition as usual presented a wide range of musical performances and seminars plus a special sound installation in co-operation with the Kristiansand Kunsthal. It's one of the few festivals, that cuts through genres for purely ...

Live Review

Duncan Sheik and Suzanne Vega Sunset Concert at Sands Point

by Christine Connallon
October 1, 2016

Duncan Sheik and Suzanne Vega Sunset Concert Sands Point Preserve Conservancy Sands Point, NY September 25, 2016 On a perfect fall evening, the hallowed and pristine grounds of the Sands Point Preserve Conservancy served as the picturesque backdrop for a delightful evening of music. Duncan Sheik and Suzanne Vega's Sunset Concert, the inaugural concert of its kind at this iconic venue located on the North Shore of Long Island, was ...