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

Katie Bull: All Hot Bodies Radiate

Read "All Hot Bodies Radiate" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
May 26, 2016

A raucous concoction, Katie Bull's All Hot Bodies Radiate bursts with energy, its verbal and musical contortions devoted to a deceptively cacophonous mix of levity, seriousness, playfulness, and avant abstractions. Artfully balanced, Bull merges spoken-word delivery and singing to deliver her poem-lyrics in a style that cleverly evokes the best coffeehouse traditions, without being overtly retro. The words themselves are evocative, often pointedly erotic, and when fused to her bandmates appropriately shifting styles, fashion clearly envisioned sound and ...

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

Texting on the Bandstand, Practicing, and Playing Each Note as if it's Your Last

by Mr. P.C.
May 25, 2016

Dear Mr. P.C.: I took my son to see his teacher play sax at a local club. In the middle of a song, on stage, his teacher pulled out a cell phone and started texting someone. What kind of message does that send? --Can't Explain Lackluster Lesson Dear CELL: Probably “Hey, I'm here on stage texting in the middle of a song, LOL." Dear Mr. P.C.: Why do people rehearse ...

Album Review

Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables

Read "The Inner Spectrum of Variables" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
May 25, 2016

Tyshawn Sorey has realized a career's worth of accomplishments, accolades and appointments despite a professional resume that--with the exception of Vijay Iyer's Blood Sutra (Artist House, 2003)--is not quite ten years in the making. On the verge of his doctoral degree in composition at Columbia University, he has composed almost two-hundred works, and received the 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award. He is now set to replace the retired Anthony Braxton as Professor of Music at Wesleyan University in 2017. One ...

Album Review

Michael Bisio: Accortet

by John Sharpe
May 25, 2016

A history of the accordion in jazz would be a slight volume. The accordion sits midway between horn and keyboard, and perhaps it's a surprise given its versatility that it doesn't have a higher profile. Klezmer influenced companies apart, the rollcall at the exploratory end of the spectrum would include Anthony Braxton (of course), The Claudia Quintet, and Gato Libre, but not too much else. To that roster must now be added Michael Bisio's Accortet. The bassist's outfit investigates the ...

Album Review

Ondrej Stveracek: Calm

by Edward Blanco
May 25, 2016

Veteran Chech-Republic hard-bop saxophonist Ondrej Stveracek, has been a mainstay of the European jazz scene and remains one of the finest proponents of the bop sound, now delivers another outstanding musical statement with the misleadingly titled Calm, since the meat of this date, is far more explosive and fiery than calm in texture. The album's repertoire--all originals (five from the leader, two from the bassist and one from Amsterdam saxophonist Emiel Wienholts)--can be more accurately described as sizzling modern bop ...

Album Review

Guinga: Porto da Madama

Read "Porto da Madama" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
May 25, 2016

Brazilian music is an immediately recognizable genre with a distinct sense of melancholy underlying its beautiful melodies and harmonies. Indeed, the poetic lyrics, the soft edges of the language itself and the particular chordal colorings chosen virtually define that which is “Brazil." Although this exceedingly attractive music has naturally been picked up by musicians all over the world, getting inside of it when one is not born and raised in that culture, is something that feels well-nigh impossible. ...

Live Review

Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville 2016, Part 1

by Mike Chamberlain
May 24, 2016

Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville Various Venues Victoriaville, Quebec May 19-20, 2016 Part 1 | Part 2 The 32nd edition of the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville began with a performance of new compositions by Norwegian guitarist/composer Kim Myhr with Montreal's Quatour Bozzini in the town's new cultural space, Carré 150, an impressive $28 million structure that stands on the site of the former Cinema Laurier, ...

Album Review

Rob Mazurek/Emmett Kelly: Alien Flower Sutra

Read "Alien Flower Sutra" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
May 24, 2016

It's nothing new for Rob Mazurek to travel the road less taken. What's surprising is that he continues to locate so many alternate routes of expression; his creative compass pointing in directions rarely seen by others. Alien Flower Sutra , a (mostly) duo outing with Emmett Kelly, explores yet another artistic set of elements that should be un-relatable but are rendered quite the opposite.The concept for Alien Flower Sutra has been a work in progress for some time ...

Album Review

Rebecka Larsdotter: Whirlwind

Read "Whirlwind" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
May 24, 2016

Finding a balance between original material and the great tradition of jazz classics and standards can be difficult as a singer. Sometimes, you end up with albums that merely replicate what has already been said, and other times you encounter music that cuts all ties to tradition and ends up being strangely anonymous. This is not to say that albums consisting of pure standard material or all original songs cannot be the right path to choose, but the most interesting ...

Album Review

Adrienne Fenemor: Mo' Puddin'

Read "Mo' Puddin'" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
May 24, 2016

Vocalist, Hammond B 3 specialist and educator, Adrienne Fenemor unveils a tasteful musical treat with the dynamic Mo' Puddin' presenting an explosive session of organ-based music offering a selection of six originals and three standards full of swing and swagger. A New York-based performer and educator since moving to the USA in 2008, Fenemor was born and raised in New Zealand and hailed from a musical family. With no jazz organ players in the country, in 2003 she imported a ...