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

Vinnie Zummo: The Coyote

Read "The Coyote" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
September 5, 2016

Guitarist Vinnie Zummo is best known for his long association with singer/songwriter Joe Jackson. He appeared on every Jackson album from Body and Soul (A&M, 1984) through Blaze of Glory (A&M, 1989), returning for The Duke (Razor & Tie Recordings, 2012). The Coyote is mostly original compositions (several of them new arrangements of tunes from earlier Zummo albums), and it's bebop all the way...although his old boss does make a guest appearance. The core sound comes from Zummo's guitar with ...

Album Review

Various Artists: Celestial Blues: Cosmic, Political and Spiritual Jazz 1970 to 1974

Read "Celestial Blues: Cosmic, Political and Spiritual Jazz 1970 to 1974" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
September 4, 2016

When saxophonist and composer, Kamasi Washington, released his tripple album, The Epic in 2015, it was celebrated widely, not only in the spheres of jazz, but also in rock magazines. Washington was clearly on to something, forging a new spiritual sound that married world music, orchestral funk and free jazz. However, new sounds do not come out of nothing. Music is always born out of or into a tradition. The compilation Celestial Blues: Cosmic, Political and Spiritual ...

Album Review

The Reykjavik Big Band: Innri

by Jack Bowers
September 4, 2016

Speaking of cool jazz . . . It doesn't get much cooler than Iceland, where the remarkably talented Reyjkavik Big Band makes its home. According to the most recent available evidence, Innri is either the fifth or sixth album recorded by the RBB, which was formed in 1992 and is composed of professional musicians living and working in Iceland. All of the music on Innri was written by tenor saxophonist Joel Palsson and arranged (and conducted) by ...

Extended Analysis

Garcia Live Volume Seven: Sophie's, Palo Alto, November 8, 1976

by Doug Collette
September 4, 2016

The openness and vulnerability within Jerry Garcia's singing voice is an often-overlooked virtue among all the others for which he's distinguished, including his ever-so-precise (acoustic and electric) guitar playing as well as his songwriting collaborations with lyricist Robert Hunter. Nevertheless, those vocal qualities also resonate in the best of his solo work and Garcia Live Volume Seven is a prime example.A palpable sense of comfort radiates from this show, recorded at Sophie's in Palo Alto in November of ...

Album Review

John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Paco DeLucia: Friday Night in San Francisco

Read "Friday Night in San Francisco" reviewed by Sacha O'Grady

by Sacha O'Grady
September 4, 2016

On 5th December, 1980, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco De Lucia were two months into what had so far been an extremely successful and creative tour. Even just the concept itself was intriguing--three guitarists, and acoustic to boot! With not a drummer, percussionist, or bassist in sight. The sheer novelty of it all. Recorded at the Warfield Theatre, California, Friday Night in San Francisco manages to capture this triumvirate trio of instrumentalists at the apex of their abilities. ...

Album Review

Trygve Seim: Rumi Songs

Read "Rumi Songs" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
September 4, 2016

Norwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim may lack the marquee status of countryman (and fellow ECM artist) Jan Garbarek. But he is no less adventurous, and has recently been popping up all over on 2016 ECM releases: on Mats Eilertsen's Rubicon; with Sinikka Langeland and the Trio Medieval on The Magical Forest; with Iro Haarla and symphony orchestra on Ante Lucem; and now on his own Rumi Songs. Seim composed his first settings of the poetry of 13th century poet and mystic ...

Extended Analysis

The Traveling Wilburys Collection

by Doug Collette
September 4, 2016

It's very safe to say there's never been a band like the Traveling Wilburys and equally fair to state no such band has been regarded as they have, either at the time of their inception or with the benefit of hindsight as afforded by the comprehensive package that is The Traveling Wilburys Collection. Yet even this composite of audio and video can't fully detail the nuances of the Wilburys' interpersonal dynamics or the perception of them by the ...

Extended Analysis

Van Morrison: It's Too Late to Stop Now - Volumes II, III, IV & DVD

by Doug Collette
September 3, 2016

The announcement of the archiving of Van Morrison's considerably lengthy discography through Legacy Music no doubt generated cautious optimism among his fans and musiclovers in general. Previous reissue initiatives consisted of straight remasterings with minimal bonus additions in any form, while the retrospective of thirty unreleased recordings called The Philosopher's Stone (Polydor, 1998) seemed like a concession to the inevitable in the CD age. But the release of The Complete Them 1964-1967 ( Legacy, 2015) augured well for ...

Extended Analysis

Buddy Guy: Can't Quit The Blues

by Doug Collette
September 3, 2016

The absolutely splendid Buddy Guy box set Can't Quit the Blues is worth (re)visiting on a number of fronts, the most immediate of which is that this icon of the blues has once again elevated his contemporary profile opening for Jeff Beck on tour during the summer of 2016 . But El Becko is only one of Guy's most devout admirers: Keith Richards and Gary Clark Jr. span generations to offer props to him for fashioning the course of their ...

Album Review

Daniela Schachter: Vanheusenism: A Tribute To Jimmy Van Heusen

Read "Vanheusenism: A Tribute To Jimmy Van Heusen" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
September 3, 2016

Anybody who's ever adoringly listened to a large number of Frank Sinatra's hits or Bing Crosby's classics is a fan of Jimmy Van Heusen's work, even if they're not familiar with his name. Van Heusen, working alone or with top notch lyricists like Sammy Cahn or Johnny Burke, penned some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century--vehicles of various style and substance that were often immortalized through one of the two aforementioned voices. Italian-born pianist-vocalist Daniela ...