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

U.S. Army Blues: Live At Blues Alley

Read "Live At Blues Alley" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
August 4, 2016

Times have surely changed since The U.S. Army Blues was founded in 1942 (as “Pershing's Own," the Army Dance Band) to entertain soldiers and civilians in combat zones during WWII. But this Blues band has managed to keep pace, and has performed at the Monterey and Montreux Jazz Festivals and at New York City's hallowed Birdland, sharing these and other stages with Dave Brubeck, James Moody, Dr. Billy Taylor and other jazz greats. Live at Blues Alley presents ...

Multiple Reviews

U.S. Jazz From Denmark: Six Recent SteepleChase Releases

by David A. Orthmann
August 3, 2016

The opportunity to listen to six recently released discs on the venerable SteepleChase label (and the SteepleChase LookOut branch) is a little like reading an anthology of short stories by distinguished authors from a particular year or period. You get a hearty helping of vital, mature voices, most of whom operate somewhere in the jazz mainstream, without too much of an overlap of the artists' values, proclivities, and preferences. By and large, each leader and his cohort make a legitimate ...

Getting Into Jazz

Let's Face the Music and Dance

by Mark Barnett
August 3, 2016

Getting Started If you're new to jazz, go to our Getting Into Jazz primer for some hints on how to listen. CD Capsule Stellar renditions of jazz standards by a wonderful singer who understands the songs and extracts genuine tenderness and excitement from them. To top it off, she's surrounded by a group of jazz musicians who share her sensibility. Background Amid the throng of moaners, shouters and chanteuses ...

Album Review

Kevin Hays New Day Trio: North

by Dan Bilawsky
August 3, 2016

The second album from the Kevin Hays New Day Trio does and doesn't follow in its predecessor's footsteps. On one hand you can argue that it's completely different, as Hays doesn't sing on this one and there are no guests to speak of here; on the other, you can certainly opine that the overt lyricism in this music, forged through Hays' fingers and enhanced by the extremely interactive and empathetic team of bassist Rob Jost and drummer Greg Joseph, is ...

Album Review

Anthony Branker & Imagine: Beauty Within

Read "Beauty Within" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
August 3, 2016

The two aneurysms that forced composer and musical director Anthony Branker to give up the trumpet in 1999 have done nothing to stem the tide of thoughtful and progressive music that he consistently delivers. Downsizing from his “Word Play" ensemble, Branker guides a quintet of new and long-time colleagues on Beauty Within. A regular Branker collaborator, saxophonist Ralph Bowen joins a consummate session man in guitarist Pete McCann who has worked with Maria Schneider, Lindsey Horner and many ...

Album Review

Slava Ganelin / Lenny Sendersky: Hotel Cinema

Read "Hotel Cinema" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
August 3, 2016

Back when electronics instruments entered the vanguard of jazz, rock and other genres, the old adage, man vs. machine became a proverbial response due to excessive gyrations and overly hectic interplay between conventional instrumentalists and synth performers. Thankfully, things settled down and a maturation process evolved over time. Fast forwarding to the modern era, well-travelled Russians, saxophonist Lenny Sendersky and legendary free-jazz keyboardist Slava Ganelin spin an articulately crafted extended work into a hybrid jazz improvisational--symphonic opus forum. Recorded live ...

Album Review

Jon Crowley: I Walk Amongst Humans

Read "I Walk Amongst Humans" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
August 3, 2016

There are recordings that seem to be made for the practice of looking out a window on a rainy day. “I Walk Amongst the Humans" by trumpeter Jon Crowley accurately fits that bill. It is a recording which exhibits a poetic nature through thought-provoking originals that are a platform for fine group interplay and superb improvisations. Crowley is an insightful player and composer who is all about textures here, as well as on his prior fine efforts. ...

Album Review

Various Artists: Tanbou Toujou Lou: Merengue, Kompa Kreyou, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore from Haiti (1960-1981)

Read "Tanbou Toujou Lou: Merengue, Kompa Kreyou, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore from Haiti (1960-1981)" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
August 3, 2016

For most listeners, Tanbou Toujou Lou: Merengue, Kompa Kreyou, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore from Haiti (1960-1981) will capture snapshots from a distant place--"the pearl of the Caribbean," Haiti. But for ALL listeners, it will capture snapshots from a distant, sometimes socially and politically turbulent, era. Tanbou Toujou Lou illustrates the different colors of music drawn by Haiti's unique geographic location amongst the rhythmic, melodic, and spiritual connections between the Caribbean and West Africa. Merengue danced in ...

Multiple Reviews

Jeremy Monteiro & Eugene Pao: To Paris With Love, A Tribute to the Genius of Michel Legrand / Jeremy Monteiro & Jazz Brazileiro: Brazilian Dreams

by Ian Patterson
August 2, 2016

Jeremy Monteiro, Singapore's aptly titled King of Swing, is celebrating forty years as a professional jazz pianist and composer in 2016. These two releases span the last twelve months and find Monteiro in two quite distinct settings. The first recording, To Paris with Love: A Tribute to the Genius of Michel Legrand finds Monteiro in a duo setting with the great Hong Kong guitarist Eugene Pao, reinterpreting the songbook of the prolific French composer/arranger. Brazilian Dreams, as the title intimates, ...

Live Review

Kurt Elling With The Keith Ganz Trio at Jazz Standard

by Dan Bilawsky
August 2, 2016

Kurt Elling With The Keith Ganz Trio Jazz Standard New York, NY July 31, 2016 If there's any genre of music that's truly built on the idea of spur-of-the-moment change, it's jazz. And so, in that very spirit, we had this performance. The audience that came down to hear the inimitable Kate McGarry on this cool and humid summer night was swiftly reminded of the fact that things don't always work out as ...