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.

Talking 2 Musicians

Keyboardist Matt Slocum

by Alan Bryson
July 23, 2016

Matt Slocum is a prominent keyboardist on the Southern music scene, best known for his work with Oteil Burbridge, the Lee Boys, and Susan Tedeschi and his role as Jimmy Herring's go-to keyboard player. Last year he was recruited by Bruce Hampton to join the Aquarium Rescue Unit's 30 year anniversary tour. He's also a member of the band King Baby, who just finished recording their first album. It will be released this fall on Abstract Logix. He ...

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Interview

Dominic Duval: Follow Your Melody

by Maxim Micheliov
July 22, 2016

In memory of Dominic Duval: 1945-2016. This article was first published in October 2010. Bassist Dominic Duval is a mystery to many—even to those interested in free music. Seemingly emerging out of nowhere in the mid-1990s, over the course of 15 years he has built a formidable discography, firmly establishing him as one of the most original and prolific bassists alive today. His career is well-documented on more than one hundred recordings, including collaborations with Cecil ...

Mr. P.C.'s Guide to Jazz Etiquette and Bandstand Decorum

Background Gigs, Small Fonts, and Incestuous Quotes

by Mr. P.C.
July 22, 2016

Dear Mr. P.C.: When we're playing a “background music" gig and the crowd is so loud there's no way they can hear us, and we can't even hear ourselves, does it matter what we play? --Invisible Dan Dear Dan: Jazz is all about responding, in the moment, to the sounds around you, right? To do otherwise is dishonest and untrue to the art form. So of course it matters what you play; ...

Live From New York

Hal Willner, Ex Eye, Bill Laswell, Zion 80 & Brandon Seabrook

by Martin Longley
July 22, 2016

Hal Willner The Stone June 14, 15, 17, 2016 Hal Willner spent six nights in residence at The Stone, presenting two sets each evening. This Philadelphian producer has immaculate taste, as illustrated by his greatest achievements: a series of conceptual albums that feature a host of carefully selected artists, assigned with the task of addressing the music of a chosen composing giant. There was That's The Way I Feel Now (Thelonious Monk), Lost In ...

Album Review

University of Missouri Concert Jazz Band: Open Window / Flying Colors

Read "Open Window / Flying Colors" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 22, 2016

Here are two recent studio recordings by the well-disciplined University of Missouri Concert Jazz Band under director Arthur White, the first (Open Window) from 2014, the second (Flying Colors) from 2016. Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene and trumpeter Sean Jones are special guests on Window, vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and trumpeter Randy Brecker on Colors. White composed and arranged Window's tricky opener, “Great Plains," which the ensemble navigates with ease, as it does every other number. Band members wrote ...

Album Review

Dida Pelled: A Missing Shade of Blue

Read "A Missing Shade of Blue" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
July 22, 2016

Guitarist and vocalist Dida Pelled previous Red Records release, Dida Pelled: Plays and Sings (Red Records, 2011) was one of my pics for Best-of-the-Year in 2011). That recording was so refreshingly organic that it has remained in my listening rotation since that time. Pelled snuck in a self-produced Modern Love Songs (2015) between Plays and Sings and the present A Missing Shade of Blue. It is as exceptional as the first recording. That said, expectations for A Missing Shade of ...

Album Review

Merzbow/Keiji Haino/Balazs Pandi: An Untroublesome Defencelessness

Read "An Untroublesome Defencelessness" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 22, 2016

The often repeated refrain to a complaint about music is, “If it's too loud, then you're too old," doesn't apply to An Untroublesome Defencelessness by Merzbow, Keiji Haino, and Balázs Pándi. You probably should just agree, it is too loud. With any Merzbow record, it just seems to never gets old. Of late, Merzbow's, aka Masami Akita, collaborations with other artists have focused more attention on his sonic panoramas. He can be heard with Boris, Gareth Davis, Akira ...

Album Review

Brian Groder Trio: R Train On The D Line

Read "R Train On The D Line" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 22, 2016

An album like R Train On The D Line is what separates jazz listeners from non-jazz listeners. The Brian Groder Trio plays the kind of composed yet improvised music that portends to go off the rails at any time, yet never does. And that may be the true definition of jazz. Consider the audiences' double-take when Louis Armstrong put a trumpet to his lips to open “West End Blues." Satchmo broke all the musical commandments with his improvised ...

Album Review

Rich Halley 5: The Outlier

Read "The Outlier" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
July 22, 2016

Veteran Oregon saxophonist Rich Halley has assembled here a CD that combines the volcanic force of the 60's avant-garde with a modern fealty to rhythm. On these ten tracks Halley and fellow Pacific Coast veterans, saxophonist Vinny Golia and trombonist Michael Vlatkovich storm and rumble wildly while bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Carson Halley contain all their fire within recognizable musical boundaries. “Recipe For Improvisers" and “Reciprocity" have rhythmic grooves based in swing and R&B while “Green Needles" ...

Building a Jazz Library

Jazz From Around the World: Africa

by Hrayr Attarian
July 21, 2016

There is no doubt that African heritage, particularly that of west Africa is at the root of jazz. This is simply factual and is not meant to belittle the contributions of other cultures to its growth and development. In addition, as a genre, it has proven to have a wide universal appeal. For both reasons jazz was adopted easily on the continent, particularly in post-independence West African nations who put their own unique spin on it. A giant ...