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

Larry Dickson Jazz Quartet: Summergold Promises

Read "Summergold Promises" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 10, 2016

Cincinnati-based baritone saxophonist Larry Dickson's new album, Summergold Promises, is almost a companion piece to his previous enterprise, Second Springtime, which was appraised favorably here less than a year ago. The word “almost" is necessary because Dickson's front-line partner on Springtime, tenor saxophonist Brent Gallaher, has been replaced by trombonist Bill Gemmer, lending the quartet a moderately dissimilar but no less pleasing sound. The rhythm section remains intact, with bassist Michael Sharfe and drummer Jim Leslie tending to business without ...

Multiple Reviews

Latin Jazz Roundup: Mike Freeman ZonaVibe, Terceto Kali, Will Jarvis, Livio Almeida, & Sergio Pereira

by Mark Sullivan
August 9, 2016

A wide variety of recent Latin jazz releases. Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and flamenco influences are all represented. Mike Freeman ZonaVibe Blue Tjade VOF Recordings 2015 Vibraphonist Mike Freeman leads his ZonaVibe group through an exciting program of Latin jazz originals on his sixth album as leader. The title tune acknowledges the great Latin jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader--but he is only one of the forebears referenced. “Dance of the Dead" was influenced by a ...

Album Review

Manu Katche: Unstatic

Read "Unstatic" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 9, 2016

French drummer Manu Katche always seemed something of an odd man at ECM Records on his four solo discs--warm, groove-centric, gregarious sets competing with the Nordic cool of Tord Gustavsen, or the thoughtful melancholy of trumpeter Tomas Stanko and pianist Marcin Wasilewski. And--like few artists in the ECM stable--he crossed successfully into the rock world via work with Peter Gabriel, Sting, Robbie Robertson and many more. So it's not a surprise to find him on Unstatic (Anteprima Productions) ...

Album Review

Lajos Dudas: Brückenshlag

Read "Brückenshlag" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
August 9, 2016

Clarinetist Lajos Dudas is a vector talent, having both a fixed direction and potent momentum associated with it. His music is descendant of Jimmy Giuffre's early '60s recordings with bassist Steve Swallow and pianist Paul Bley. Dudas' music is an evolution into a freer, yet more structured performance form. Both his vertical and horizontal improvisations possess a certain synergy with one another, neither being dominant. These attributes can be detected on Dudas' recent recordings, Jazz and the City (JazzSick Records, ...

Album Review

Peter Eldridge: Disappearing Day

Read "Disappearing Day" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
August 9, 2016

Pianist, songwriter and Grammy Award-winning singer Peter Eldridge unveils his fifth solo album with Disappearing Day, presenting a varied mix of styles from jazz and alternative to a country-tinged piece, on seven original tunes and five covers offering arrangements from Paul McCartney, Leonard Bernstein to Frank Sinatra. This is not your typical jazz vocal album where the artist is backed up by a trio or quartet and voices standards like so many other vocalists often do. This album showcases different ...

Album Review

Jason Roebke Octet: Cinema Spiral

Read "Cinema Spiral" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
August 9, 2016

Bassists leading mid-size bands inevitably bring to mind the trail-blazing precedent established by Charles Mingus. Others like Dave Holland, Barry Guy and Adam Lane followed. To that roster can be added bassist Jason Roebke, one of the stalwarts of the productive Chicago scene. Cinema Spiral constitutes the sophomore effort by his Octet, following on from High/Red/Center (Delmark, 2014). He reunites the same raft of Windy City flair as on the debut outing for a continuous suite demarcated into seven parts ...

Live Review

Michele Hendricks at Sunset Jazz Club

by Patricia Myers
August 9, 2016

Michele Hendricks Quintet Sunset Jazz Club American Jazz Festiv' Halles Paris, France July 29, 2016 Jazz singer Michele Hendricks showcased a stunning combination of genetics and decades of performance experience, her energized sounds replicating horn solos via inventive vocalese and hip scat segments. She led a European-based quartet during two nights of the 25th annual summer “American Jazz Festiv' Halles" in the narrow low-ceilinged Sunset Jazz Club that has presented live jazz ...

Album Review

Scott Hamilton-Harry Allen Quintet: Scott Hamilton / Harry Allen: live!

Read "Scott Hamilton / Harry Allen: live!" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
August 9, 2016

What do you get when you have two great tenor saxophonists displaying their immeasurable musical chops on the same stage? Tenor madness of course, and that's exactly what is featured when you hear Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen together on Scott Hamilton/ Harry Allen: Live! , recorded in concert in 2014 at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA. While the selection of tunes numbers only six, this is no EP because each of the pieces measure from eight ...

Album Review

Behn Gillece: Dare to Be

Read "Dare to Be" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan

by C. Andrew Hovan
August 8, 2016

When it comes to jazz vibraphone, the names of Stefon Harris and Warren Wolf are most likely to be found on a list of contemporary leaders. Add to that now the name of Behn Gillece, a gentleman who has been honing his skills on the New York scene since 2006. His talents first came to the attention of this reviewer having been a spirited voice on Walt Weiskopf's most recent albums, Overdrive and The Way You Say It. Last year, ...

Album Review

Nate Wooley: Argonautica

Read "Argonautica" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
August 8, 2016

Trumpeter Nate Wooley is among the most exploratory and esoteric players/composers in creative improvisation along with fellow trumpeter/cornetists Rob Mazurek and Peter Evans. Wooley's catalog ranges from the wildly free The Nows (Clean Feed Records, 2011), a quartet that included Ken Vandermark and Paul Lyton, to the Bojan Vuleti composed chamber work, Atemwende (Ignoring Gravity Music, 2013) with the Mivos String Quartet). But Wooley's real eclecticism has shone in his works as a leader--particularly in recent years--with the minimalist solo ...