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

Robert Glasper, Miles Davis: Everything's Beautiful

Read "Everything's Beautiful" reviewed by Asher Wolf

by Asher Wolf
July 18, 2016

Miles Davis birthed cool in 1949 and nearly took it to the grave with him 52 years later. His first venture into hip-hop and last studio album, Doo-Bop, represented the least cool moment for America's icon of coolness itself. By the '90s, Miles' prowess as a trumpeter had only waned from legendary to excellent, but younger musicians had supplanted his position on the stylistic frontier, so his bid at the “street music" of his time came off as corny.

Album Review

The Danny Fisher-Lochhead Large Ensemble: On Ceremony

Read "On Ceremony" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
July 17, 2016

Given his absorbing ensemble work on Tools of the Abstract (Fishkill Records, 2015) and his critical role on the Will Mason Ensemble album Beams of the Huge Night (New Amsterdam Records, 2015), composer/alto saxophonist/pianist Danny Fisher-Lochhead would neatly fit into the subjective category of progressive big band music. Fisher-Lochhead's ensemble work is comparable--if not as widely recognized--to that of Darcy James Argue. Fisher-Lochhead has worked in smaller settings as well, such as a solo piano album, Piano Songs (Fishkill Records, ...

Album Review

Ed Calle: Ed Calle 360

Read "Ed Calle 360" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
July 17, 2016

Miami-based Latin Grammy saxophonist Ed Calle follows up on his award-winning Dr. Ed Calle Presents Mamblue (Mojito Records, 2015) album, with the audacious Ed Calle 360 offering a dynamic selection of music presenting less of the Latin flavor and more of the contemporary side of jazz, with a touch of Nashville, fusion, Afro-Cuban as well as traditional material, tastefully performed with a decidedly boppish flair. A multi-Grammy nominee, who has graced the albums of such legendary artists as Frank Sinatra, ...

Album Review

Alessandro Bosetti: Stille Post (Radio Works: 2003-2011)

Read "Stille Post (Radio Works: 2003-2011)" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
July 17, 2016

Do you agree with Alessandro Bosetti, that there is art everywhere? A buena vista is a painting waiting to happen, the music of the wind through a stand of conifers, and even the familiar subway stops as they come past are a sort of poetry. The conductor calls out, “Montrose, Irving Park, Addison, Belmont, California, Western, Damen, Division...," and even though it's just information to other riders, you hear his song. Bosetti has been tuned into the musicality of spoken ...

Album Review

Kit Downes Tom Challenger: Vyamanikal

Read "Vyamanikal" reviewed by Duncan Heining

by Duncan Heining
July 17, 2016

This a beautiful and elegiac record but one that is not afraid to walk in the shadows. Other artists have utilised the combination of saxophone and organ--John Surman and Howard Moody's Rain on the Window and Jan Garbarek and Kjell Johnsen's Aftenland spring to mind. However, Kit Downes and Tom Challenger's Vyamanikal is quite different in its approach. This duo of church organ and tenor saxophone focuses less on form and more on the purity of sounds themselves. ...

Album Review

The Claudia Quintet: Super Petite

Read "Super Petite" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
July 17, 2016

For this widely acclaimed band's 8th album, drummer John Hollenbeck decided to compose concise pieces that get the job done in less time stating: “When the tunes are longer, there tend to be moments when not a whole lot is happening. If you have a really short tune, the whole thing has to be compelling." Hence, the drummer succeeds when abiding by that principle without sacrificing the quintet's famously tight rhythmic excursions, abetted by sinuous movements and buoyant dialogues. Hollenbeck's ...

Film Review

U2: Innocence + Experience: Live in Paris

by Nenad Georgievski
July 17, 2016

U2 Innocence + Experience: Live in Paris Interscope 2016 Music's soothing powers in times of tragedy and upheaval have proven to give comfort, inspire dialogue and open people's minds. Giving succor to victims of tragedies and terrorist attacks is in a way music's noble employment. Music always provides time and space for reflection. In the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris in November 2015, when terrorist squads attacked various locations in ...

Live Review

Rodrigo Amarante at Latin Alternative Music Conference

by Ernest Barteldes
July 17, 2016

Rodrigo Amarante Latin Alternative Music Conference at Central Park Summerstage New York, NY July 7, 2016 On his Summerstage debut, Brazilian singer-songwriter Rodrigo Amarante, backed by his own acoustic guitar and a band, kicked off his performance with an original low-tempo ballad sung in his native Portuguese. He followed that with a French-language tune. He acknowledged the audience in English, Spanish and Portuguese and continued with an up-tempo English-language song.

Album Review

Tony Banks: A Curious Feeling

Read "A Curious Feeling" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
July 16, 2016

UK-based Esoteric Recordings has compiled a treasure trove of prog rock gems from the past via top-notch remastering efforts, extensive liners, bonus tracks and / or DVDs that offer the same track list and film shorts processed in Surround Sound. Hence, an added benefit to this reissue by famed Genesis keyboard ace Tony Banks. Many consider him a stylist since he helped define Genesis' lifecycle, commencing with the late 60s, mid-70s Peter Gabriel era, through its more pop-ish sound of ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Lisa Dae

by AAJ Staff
July 16, 2016

About Lisa Dae: Lisa Dae's distinctive vocals have earned her a loyal and rapidly growing fan base. Classically trained she can sing what she hears. Considered the preeminent jazz vocalist in the NW, Lisa is well on her way to a long and successful music career. Look for an LP soon. Instrument(s): Vocal. Teachers and/or influences? Teachers were vast in the form of LP's! Kenny Rankin, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, ...