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

Carlos Barba Trio: Lightyears

by Jim Olin
July 2, 2016

Stitching together a diverse blend of influences -classical, Latin, and experimental -the Carlos Barba Trio consistently engage and innovate on their new album Lightyears. While the Texas-based group is rooted in improvisation they never lose sight of accessible melodies, dynamic hooks, and emotional depth. This is cerebral jazz with a beating heart, introspective at times but never detached and incomprehensible. Barba is a gifted pianist with a poet's ear for instrumental dazzle. “Bluebird" opens with thumping avant-garde clatter ...

Album Review

Ricardo Bacelar: Concerto para Moviola

Read "Concerto para Moviola" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
July 2, 2016

Brazilian pianist and composer Ricardo Bacelar delivers his second album as leader on Concerto para Moviola, documenting his long-time interest in the jazz fusion music of the '70s and '80s presenting a varied selection of tunes by the Yellowjackets, Pat Metheny, Weather Report and Antonio Carlos Jobim among others. Also included in the expansive seventeen-piece repertoire, are five originals and jazz standards from the likes of Bob Mintzer, Benny Golson and Horace Silver making for an exceptional blend of contemporary ...

Live Review

Suoni Per Il Popolo 2016

by Mike Chamberlain
July 1, 2016

Suoni Per Il Popolo La Sala Rossa Montréal, Canada June 2-19, 2016 The final weekend of the 16th Suoni Per Il Popolo featured several notable performances by jazz-based artists: Myra Melford and Francois Bourassa; Luc Ex's Assemblee; and The Thing, with guest James Blood Ulmer. The program by pianists Melford and Bourassa at the concert hall of the Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal on Thursday, June 16 was divided into three parts: solo ...

Album Review

Nathan Hubbard / Skeleton Key Orchestra: Furiously Dreaming

Read "Furiously Dreaming" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
July 1, 2016

Sprawling. Massive. Unapologetically ambitious. All over the musical map. But, somehow, not excessive. Furiously Dreaming is a two-CD set by percussionist / composer / musical visionary Nathan Hubbard and his 50-member (for this recording) Skeleton Key Orchestra. The leader or co-leader of a dozen or so different small ensembles playing everything from modern jazz to contemporary classical music to free improvisation to funky jazz-rock fusion, Hubbard takes all of this--plus spoken word and choral music--and spins it up into a ...

Album Review

Allen Toussaint: American Tunes

Read "American Tunes" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
July 1, 2016

The mighty river of American songs flows in many different directions: blues, gospel, jazz and funk are part of the muddy water that makes up the music. Pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, Allen Toussaint, who sadly passed away in 2015, was an important part of the ongoing legacy of American music. He was one of the architects of New Orleans R & B, but his musical horizon was much broader than just a single genre. More ...

Album Review

Matthew Halsall: Matthew Halsall: On the Go (Special Edition)

Read "Matthew Halsall: On the Go (Special Edition)" reviewed by Phil Barnes

by Phil Barnes
July 1, 2016

Slipping under the radar this low-key reissue of Matthew Halsall's classic 2011 album should not be ignored. Why so? Well rather than just tweak the tapes for a first vinyl issue Halsall, who it appears was not completely happy with the original mix, has taken the opportunity to commission a full remix and remaster by George Atkins, and added a generous 3 previously unreleased contemporaneous tracks inspired by Miles Davis' soundtrack to Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold).

Album Review

Francis Monkman: The Long Good Friday OST

Read "The Long Good Friday OST" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
July 1, 2016

Not merely one of the best films of the 1970s, The Long Good Friday was arguably one of the best and most exciting British movies of the twentieth century. Aside from the acting, in which its stars, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Constantine, and Helen Mirren gave stellar performances, the soundtrack by ex-Curved Air keyboardist Francis Monkman was simply superb. As was common practice 45 years ago, the original soundtrack was released in mono, but up until now a commercial stereo version ...

Album Review

Guillermo Klein: Los Guachos V

Read "Los Guachos V" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
July 1, 2016

If a creator has a vision, being persistent in working to bring it to life is a requirement. This is true in life, for visions big and small, and not just for artists. Pianist, composer and band leader Guillermo Klein most definitely fits that bill. His group, Los Guachos (literally, The Bastards) has been in existence for around twenty years. Beginning in 1990 in Boston at the Berklee College of Music, where he met some of the musicians, ...

Live Review

The Hot Sardines at Central Park Summerstage

by Ernest Barteldes
July 1, 2016

The Hot Sardines Central Park Summerstage New York, NY June 25, 2016 On their Central Park Summerstage debut, the New York-based band led by Elizabeth Bougerol (vocals, washboard) and Evan Palazzo (piano, musical direction) kicked off their set with a selection of New Orleans-inspired adaptations of either jazz or show tunes, including a tango rendition of a number from the musical “Oklahoma!" One of the first thing that calls attention ...

Profile

Claude Nobs: We All Came Out To Montreux...

by Ian Patterson
June 30, 2016

Montreux Jazz Festival is fifty. It's a significant milestone and cause for celebration. No doubt there will be an added festive element to this year's edition of the festival, founded by Claude Nobs--along with pianist Géo Voumard and writer René Langel--in 1967. Yet for many, the celebrations will be tinged with sadness due to the absence of Nobs, who died in a skiing accident in 2013. Nobs may have passed, but his legend, his spirit, lives on, in the festival ...