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

Joe Morris: Shock Axis

Read "Shock Axis" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
August 21, 2016

I am applying for a NEA grant to test my theory that you can judge an album by it's cover. For instance, The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St (RSR, 1972) and The Clash's London Calling (CBS, 1979) are two albums where you just knew what to expect by gazing at the covers. In the jazz world, Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin' (Blue Note, 1958) and John Zorn's Spy Vs. Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman give away the contents of ...

Extended Analysis

Levin Minnemann Rudess: From the Law Offices of Levin Minnemann Rudess

by John Kelman
August 21, 2016

It may look good on paper, but you can never really know how “super group" collaborations are going to work out until they actually get together and do something. In the case of the power trio named after its members--bassist/stick player Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Stick Men), drummer/guitarist Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani) and keyboardist Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment), all names familiar to progressive rock fans--it would seem a low-risk proposition, given ...

Album Review

Warren Wolf: Convergence

Read "Convergence" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
August 20, 2016

The paucity of jazz vibraphonists may be due in part to the complexity of mastering an instrument that's like a hybrid of drums, percussion and piano. Notwithstanding, one of the instrument's brightest stars is 36 year old Baltimore native Warren Wolf, a rising virtuoso whose form and technical abilities continue the lineage of great vibe players such as Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson and Stefon Harris. Convergence is outstanding and features Wolf's superb trio with longtime mentor bassist ...

Album Review

Perch Hen Brock & Rain: Perch Hen Brock & Rain/Live @ The Jazz Happening Tampere

Read "Perch Hen Brock & Rain/Live @ The Jazz Happening Tampere" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
August 20, 2016

When most couples get together, they play some tennis doubles, maybe card games, or go to dinner. When Ab Baars and Ig Henneman invite Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey over, it's to do some cooking. By that I mean to serve up some improvised musical delights. As with most busy couples, finding time for a get together must be difficult. Baars can be heard with the ICP Orchestra, in solo or in his trio and with Henneman, who ...

Album Review

Nico Chientaroli: Cada Fuego Es El Primero

Read "Cada Fuego Es El Primero" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
August 20, 2016

Argentinian pianist (by way of Amsterdam) Nicolás Chientaroli delivers a solo performance that demonstrates the piano's architectural sound beyond the usual demarcation points of its 88 keys. Cada Fuego Es El Primero opens with plucked strings, then a massage of the prepared insides of the instrument. “Fuego Hipnótico" reminds listeners the corpus of the piano is made up of wood, a soundboard, metal strings and is, in fact, a percussion instrument. Chientaroli demonstrates this with tappings, piano hammer blows and ...

Album Review

Steve Buscemi/Elliott Sharp: Rub Out The Word

Read "Rub Out The Word" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
August 20, 2016

You don't have to follow Beat literature to have some familiarity with writer William S. Burroughs, especially in his spoken word role. Performance artist Laurie Anderson collaborated with him several times, notably on You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With (Giorno Poetry Systems, 1981) and Mister Heartbreak (Warner Bros., 1984). Bill Laswell's Material featured Burroughs reciting passages from his book The Western Lands to musical accompaniment on the album Seven Souls (Virgin Records, 1989). Actor ...

Live Review

David Grisman Sextet at Chautauqua Auditorium

by Geoff Anderson
August 20, 2016

David Grisman Sextet Chautauqua Auditorium Boulder, Colorado August 12, 2016 Wag More, Bark Less. That's a popular bumper sticker, but it could also be a theme, a motto, a catch phrase or even the guiding philosophy for the David Grisman Sextet whenever it unleashes its very own “Dawg Music." Friday night at the Chautauqua auditorium in Boulder, there was no barking. And if the musicians had been lucky enough to have tails, the wagging would ...

Live Review

Blink-182 at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

by Christine Connallon
August 20, 2016

Blink-182 California Tour Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, New York August 13, 2016 On the hottest day of 2016 so far, with temps that felt like 110 degrees, Blink-182's California Tour rock and rolled into the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY. While the breeze helped provide some relief for the crowd at this sold out show, the palpable energy of the acts onstage and enthusiastic fans could have easily been ...

Live Review

Goo Goo Dolls & Collective Soul at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

by Mike Perciaccante
August 20, 2016

Goo Goo Dolls & Collective Soul with special guests Tribe Society Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, NY August 12, 2016 The Goo Goo Dolls came together in 1986 in Buffalo, NY when guitarist and vocalist John Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac along with drummer George Tutuska joined forces. The trio picked its name from an ad for a toy in True Detective magazine. In 1987, the Goo Goo Dolls released its first ...

Album Review

Peter Brötzmann / Heather Leigh: Ears Are Filled With Wonder

Read "Ears Are Filled With Wonder" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
August 20, 2016

Iconoclastic German reedman Peter Brötzmann has appeared in almost every conceivable combination and circumstance over the years, from the maelstrom of Last Exit to the austere horn choir of Sonore, via hook ups with almost everyone in between, counting such free jazz luminaries as Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker. However on Ears Are Filled With Wonder, recorded during the German's residency in Krakow during November 2015, he finds an unlikely accomplice in Glasgow-based American pedal steel guitarist Heather ...