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

LE POT: Hera

by Glenn Astarita
September 25, 2016

This Swiss ensemble maximizes the pristine sonic qualities of a church --St. Romain in Raron --that combines a pure, organic soundstage with the complexities of highly expressive jazz and improvisational overtures, including impressionistic interpretations of choice works by famed British classical composer Benjamin Britten. There are occasions when the ensemble projects a thought-provoking ideology of an avant-garde spin on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew jazz fusion era, which of course was groundbreaking yet quite unconventional for its time. Every ...

Album Review

Erik Sondhy: Abbey Road Sessions, Vol 1

Read "Abbey Road Sessions, Vol 1" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 25, 2016

Joey Alexander, the young piano phenom from Bali, has caused quite a splash in the jazz world, a player who is ridiculously talented for one so young. But there's another masterly young piano guy from the Indonesian island: Erik Sondhy. The sessions resulting in Sondhy's debut, Recorded At Abbey Road, Vol. 1, also known as Abbey Road Sessions, Vol. 1, came about on Sondhy's trip to visit his wife's family, where he was able to seize the opportunity ...

Extended Analysis

Ultimate Collectors' Edition

by John Kelman
September 25, 2016

Well, there's certainly been a wait for this one, but for fans of what may be the last high profile progressive rock group to emerge in the 1970s, U.K.'s Ultimate Collectors' Edition proves well worth it. What began as an already sizeable 16-disc box for a group that, during its relatively brief tenure, released just two studio albums and one live recording, has become an 18-disc set with the addition of a recording of the group's final show in Nijmegen, ...

Extended Analysis

Jack Tempchin: One More Song

by Doug Collette
September 25, 2016

Jack Tempchin's name may not elicit immediate recognition, but chances are his songs will. He contributed to the composition of “Peaceful Easy Feeling" on the Eagles' eponymous debut album in 1972 and also helped write “Already Gone" from On the Border (Elektra, 1974). As a member of the Funky Kings in 1976 (along with another estimable composer, Jules Shear), he wrote and recorded “Slow Dancing," made a bonafide hit by Johnny Rivers the very next year/ Yet that was just ...

Book Review

Altamont: The Rolling Stones, The Hell's Angels and The Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day

by Doug Collette
September 24, 2016

Altamont: The Rolling Stones, The Hell's Angels and The Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day Joel Selvin 368 Pages ISBN: # 0062444255 Dey Street Books2016 The best books on rock and roll have invariably been comprised of layer upon layer of information interwoven with insight and Joel Selvin's Altamont is exactly that kind of book. Formally and informally ensconced in the San Francisco scene for decades, he brings his knowing perceptions to ...

Album Review

Protean Reality (feat. Chris Pitsiokos, Noah Punkt & Philipp Scholz): Protean Reality

Read "Protean Reality" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
September 24, 2016

An increasing presence on the downtown NYC circuit, alto saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos has worked with a number of free jazz luminaries such as Joe Morris, Nate Wooley, Peter Evans and Paul Lytton. He and Tyshawn Sorey joined the promising bassist Brandon Lopez as the Undermine Trio for a number of recent NYC performances. What stands the twenty-something Pitsiokos apart as a saxophonist is his broad range of virtuoso-like skills whether playing in a lyrical or free mode. Both ends of ...

Album Review

David Dower and Matt Fisher: The Frog, The Fish and The Whale

Read "The Frog, The Fish and The Whale" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
September 24, 2016

The young London-based duo of pianist David Dower and percussionist Matt Fisher makes its debut with The Frog, The Fish & The Whale. It's a striking set of Dower's compositions (with arrangements by him), influenced by the duo's love of jazz, classical and contemporary musics. Additional musicians join the pair on three tracks, with vocalist Lauren Lucille coming in on “Big Balloons."By Dower and Fisher's own admission, this is ..."original music with a cheeky grin." Thankfully the cheekiness ...

Album Review

Taeko Kunishima: Iridescent Clouds

Read "Iridescent Clouds" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
September 24, 2016

There is an atmospheric element which Japanese musicians inherently weave throughout their compositions, giving their music a singular dimension which is readily identifiable. Acknowledged for her trademark lyricism, pianist Taeko Kunishima reflects upon the wonders of nature on Iridescent Clouds, offering elegant improvised passages encased in a meditative concept. Accompanied again by Clive Bell, recognized master of the shakuhachi flute, and secured by the steady bass of Paul Moylan, the ensemble is augmented by percussionist Camilo Tirado. Additional ...

Multiple Reviews

Paul G. Smyth: Weekertoft downloads

by John Eyles
September 24, 2016

The Weekertoft label was set up jointly by English improvising guitarist John Russell and pianist Paul G. Smyth of the Irish rock band The Jimmy Cake. Their partnership dates back to September 2001 when they played as a duo at Project Arts Centre in Dublin, followed in December 2001 by a duo at Mopomoso, the London-based improv club that the guitarist has hosted every month since 1991. (YouTube footage of the duo, filmed by Helen Petts, in 2010, can be ...

Live Review

ZZ Top with special guests Gov't Mule at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

by Mike Perciaccante
September 24, 2016

ZZ Top with special guests Gov't Mule Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, NY September 9, 2016 ZZ Top, known as the Little Ol' Band From Texas, has for the past forty-some-odd years been bringing its own special brand of rock 'n' roll with a boogie woogie, southern, bluesy flair (as well as facial hair) to the masses since its formation in Houston, TX in 1969. The band originally featured Billy Gibbons ...