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.

Live Review

T Sisters at SFJAZZ

by Asher Wolf
July 21, 2016

T Sisters SFJAZZ Summer Jazz Fest San Francisco, CA July 14, 2016 You don't often hear a banjo and washboard at the SFJAZZ Center, but the T Sisters were invited for a reason. Since their debut EP in 2012, Erika, Chloe, and Rachel Tietjen have busily ricocheted between Bay Area venues, propelled by a joyous stage presence and more than enough expertise to satisfy the lofty musicianship standards of San ...

Album Review

Peter Eldridge: Disappearing Day

Read "Disappearing Day" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 21, 2016

It wouldn't necessarily be inaccurate to refer to Peter Eldridge as a “singer-songwriter," but that tag definitely does not fit him. Such a label just undercuts the creative brilliance behind his music, diminishing the beauty, truth, strength, wit, and compassion in his work. The man is far more than a simple spinner of songs. His is the true voice of understanding, speaking on its own terms while also capturing and expressing the emotions that we all feel. If ever there ...

Album Review

Noah Preminger: Some Other Time

Read "Some Other Time" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
July 21, 2016

After several releases, tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger's uniqueness has become more evident. In large part, this curve is due to Preminger's own patient development of a creative process; part is an individual style but much of the appeal is in how he creates around the broader dynamics of his various groups. What has been consistent, from the modern post-bop/hard-bop of Dry Bridge Road (Nowt Records, 2008) through the raucous swing of Pivot: Live at the 55 Bar (Self-Produced, 2015), is ...

Album Review

Burning Ghosts: Burning Ghosts

Read "Burning Ghosts" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
July 21, 2016

Daniel Rosenboom has quickly become one of the leading voices in the West Coast jazz scene. The Los Angeles-based trumpeter recorded his formative work for Vinny Golia's esteemed Nine Winds label in the mid-2000s, but has since founded Orenda Records to document his hometown's burgeoning underground scene. Rosenboom's latest offering as a bandleader is the self-titled debut of Burning Ghosts, a dynamic electro-acoustic quartet that draws creative inspiration from the specter of social injustice.The City of Angels has ...

Album Review

Isaiah B. Brunt: A Moment In Time

Read "A Moment In Time" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
July 21, 2016

The road has been a long one for journeyman Isaiah B. Brunt, a triple threat songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, who has his own brand of blues. Brunt was born in New Zealand, paid his dues in Australia, and found common ground in New Orleans. After extensive studio work Down Under, which resulted in an EP in 2011, he self- produced “Nursery Rhyme Blues in 2013. Then it was off to New Orleans in 2015 to record “Just the Way It ...

Live Review

Montreux Jazz Festival 2016

by Ian Patterson
July 20, 2016

Montreux Jazz Festival 2016 Various Venues Montreux, Switzerland July 9-12, 2016 No matter at what point, or for how long you dipped into the Montreux Jazz Festival during the seventeen days of its 50th edition, the sense of history was palpable. Charles Lloyd was present, just as he was in 1967. Deep Purple and Dweezil Zappa formed a poignant double-header on MJF 50's final night, recalling the 1971 fire at the old Montreux ...

Album Review

Glauco Venier: Miniatures

Read "Miniatures" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
July 20, 2016

Italian pianist Glauco Venier presents a delicate program of “Music for piano and percussion" on his first solo album for ECM. The approach came out of music Venier made for a documentary film about sculptor Giorgio Celiberti, which involved piano plus playing on “sonorous sculptures" (metal sculptures designed to also have sound qualities). For this recording additional sculptures by Harry Bertoja were added, plus gongs and bells. The percussion is used in different ways. The soft metallic clanging ...

Album Review

Telmo Fernandez / Phil Wilkinson / Caspar St Charles: The Soul Jazz Beat Vol. 2

Read "The Soul Jazz Beat Vol. 2" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
July 20, 2016

The Telmo Fernández Organ Trio has already been on the soul jazz beat--as the title of The Soul Jazz Beat Vol. 2 makes clear. The Soul Jazz Beat Vol. 1 (Free Code Jazz Records, 2015) was delightful, Vol. 2 carries on in the same vein, this time giving each individual musician a name credit.For this album, recorded in Barcelona in December 2015, guitarist Fernández and Hammond organist Phil Wilkinson are joined by a new drummer. Caspar St Charles ...

Album Review

Gene Ammons: Boss Tenor

Read "Boss Tenor" reviewed by Matthew Aquiline

by Matthew Aquiline
July 20, 2016

Tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons' tone can be best described using the qualities of an ideally brewed cup of joe: rounded, bold, smooth, and exhilarating after first taste. Widely regarded as an original founder of the “Chicago school of tenor sax," Ammons' nonchalant, yet indelible sound--echoing the soft, breathy tone of Lester Young--drove him to a great deal of fame within the post- World War II jazz crowds of the '50s. Ammons, famously nicknamed “Jug," had an inherent ability ...

Album Review

resAUnance: Migration

Read "Migration" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
July 20, 2016

Highly emotional and ravishingly beautiful, Migration is a feast for the ears and heart. Performed by resAUnance, a cooperative quartet, which began as a trio comprised of vibraphonist/percussionist John Bacon, vocalist Esin Gündüz, pianist Michael McNeill with electric cellist Jonathan Golove added later, this combination of unique instrumentation and innovative musicians has created an astonishing multipart sonic poem. Each player brings their own identity to the group. Gündüz has one of those magical voices which can be completely ...