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

Wolfgang Schalk: From Here to There

Read "From Here to There" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
September 11, 2016

Guitarist Wolfgang Schalk continues to bring that soulful swing which might label him as an acolyte of hard-bop jazz. Yet there's much more to his story as proven in his seventh release as leader From Here To There unveiling fresh material delivered by commanding musicians. This deference to the art-form also proves Schalk's exceptional talent and passion as a leader and performer. Schalk supplies rapid-fired riffs and blistering solos in the appropriately titled “Wow Wow What" but ...

Album Review

Ashleigh Smith: Sunkissed

Read "Sunkissed" reviewed by Jeff Winbush

by Jeff Winbush
September 11, 2016

Summer 2016 was hot, sticky and not a lot of fun. Many big name Hollywood blockbusters tanked. The presidential election has been a long slog. Television ratings for the Summer Olympics were off and every time you turned on the TV there were plenty of reasons to turn it back off. Then along came Ashleigh Smith to save the summer with Sunkissed as welcome as coming across brightly sparkling gem in the sand. Blessed with maturity beyond her ...

In The Biz

Carol Albert: Going for the Finish Line

by Kathy Sanborn
September 11, 2016

The new single release by Carol Albert, “Mas Que Nada," has achieved critical acclaim. The recent Global Peace Song Award winner says a jazz musician is like a marathon runner who needs to stay the course in order to win. Here she chats about her own musical path to success, and offers readers tips on how to elevate their own jazz journeys. All About Jazz: Please tell us how you decided to record your very engaging “Mas ...

Book Review

Jazz Festival: Jim Marshall

by Nenad Georgievski
September 11, 2016

Jazz Festival: Jim Marshall Jim Marshall 336 Pages ISBN: 978-1-909526-32-7 Reel Art Press 2016 The act of taking photographs of any kind is usually associated with the popular adage of “being at the right place at the right time." But in truth, you have to be the right person at the right place at the right time. In order to capture an enduring photograph, the photographer goes through a delicate process of trial ...

In the Studio

Three Days At The Barber Shop, Part 3

by David A. Orthmann
September 10, 2016

Rehearsal | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 When I walk into the live room, a little early, on Day 3, Gillespie has already swapped out the piano for a Hammond B-3 organ and Leslie speaker. Three boom mics are positioned in the area closest to the window to the control room. Each one looms over a music stand. Nick and Leonieke discuss some fine points of the Hammond B-3 while she warms up. They decide ...

Extended Analysis

Radical Action (To Unseat The Hold of Monkey Mind)

by John Kelman
September 10, 2016

Plenty has already been written about King Crimson's surprise reemergence in 2014 at All About Jazz, beginning when the now 47 year-old progressive/art rock band commenced its first tour since 2008 (and its first extensive one since 2003) with a new, expanded lineup featuring a front-line of three drummers and a back-line of two guitarists (one, also, a vocalist), a bassist/stick player and a reed/woodwind multi-instrumentalist. From reviews of two nights at San Francisco's Warfield Theater in the fall of ...

Album Review

Madeleine Peyroux: Secular Hymns

Read "Secular Hymns" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
September 10, 2016

Remarkably, Madeleine Peyroux's Secular Hymns comes twenty years after her debut release, Dreamland (Atlantic, 1996), which catapulted her into the public eye and garnered heaps of praise. Since then her voice has often been compared to mid-career Billie Holiday, and that comparison remains valid on Secular Hymns. Some singers would find that a millstone around their neck, but Peyroux continues to wear it well. It is surprising that, two decades since Dreamland, this is only her seventh solo album release. ...

Album Review

Franklin Kiermyer: Closer To The Sun

Read "Closer To The Sun" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
September 10, 2016

Sooner or later every human being has to come to terms with their inner self. Quite often it is later, on one's deathbed, that one's life is questioned. Those who do live an examined life while young (and healthy) often choose to live a more challenging life. Same for musicians, but their challenge is often the music of John Coltrane. His music is a perfect model because, especially in his later years, it was intertwined with his inner journey.

Live Review

Culture Club at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury

by Mike Perciaccante
September 10, 2016

Culture Club NYCB Theatre at Westbury Westbury, NY August 30, 2016 Culture Club was formed in 1981 when lead vocalist Boy George, who had been a member of Bow Wow Wow (where he was billed as Lieutenant Lush), enlisted guitarist and keyboard player Roy Hay, bassist Mikey Craig and drummer Jon Moss. With the band members in place, the musicians realized they had gay Irish lead singer, a black British bassist, a Caucasian guitarist, and ...

Album Review

Marie Kruttli: What Do I Miss

Read "What Do I Miss" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
September 10, 2016

There's a usual time-tested path so many musicians go through in their early phases: learn how to play, take examples from one's favorites or influences, continue absorbing the elements and mechanics of what they do, then take some time processing all those things and (hopefully) eventually spinning them into one's own voice or style. At the same time there's the concurrent matter of developing technical skills in order to decide how much or little to use them. Marie ...