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

Carrera Quinta Big Band: Untitled

by Jack Bowers
May 15, 2016

The future of big bands, it seems, may be trending southward. Exhibit A, submitted in 2014, was the superb SpokFrevo Orquestra from Brazil, and now comes the similarly impressive Carrera Quinta Big Band from Bogota, Colombia, of all places. Yes, amigos, it's clear that big-band jazz is alive and well south of the Equator. More than that, it encompasses a unique new perspective that interweaves the best of two worlds: contemporary American jazz and traditional harmonies and rhythms from South ...

Album Review

Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family: Beginning of A Memory

Read "Beginning of A Memory" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 15, 2016

It's easy to imagine the phone calls, drummer Matt Wilson made, using his best imitation of Elwood from the 1980 Blues Brothers movie, “We're putting the band back together, we're on a mission from God." And like that, current members and alumni of the drummer's bands: the Matt Wilson Quartet, Arts & Crafts, and Christmas Tree-O assembled to commune and revisit the music Wilson's late wife Felicia loved.This recording was Wilson's first since he lost his wife to ...

Album Review

Fabrizio Sotti Trio: Forty

by James Nadal
May 15, 2016

As jazz guitar continues to evolve with the introduction of modern influences, some of the more distinguished players are going back to basics. Acknowledged as a remarkable accompanist who can cross genres at will, Fabrizio Sotti has also established himself as genuine guitar stylist. Forty is his fourth release as leader, which represents not only a milestone in his age, but a continuous dedication to refining his craft. This is a departure from previous recordings on which Sotti ...

Live Review

Chris Isaak at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury

by Mike Perciaccante
May 15, 2016

Chris Isaak NYCB Theatre at Westbury Westbury, NY May 5, 2016 After over 30 years, Chris Isaak continues to appear as though he bathes regularly in the Fountain of Youth. With his 60th birthday looming, the musician looks decades younger than his birth certificate reveals. His high-energy performances rival those of much younger performers. Isaak, whose breakthrough and biggest hit, “Wicked Game" was released in 1989 on the Heart Shaped World album (Warner ...

Extended Analysis

Jasmine Power: Stories and Rhymes EP

by Phil Barnes
May 14, 2016

There's something wonderful about watching a major talent emerge blinking into the harsh spotlight of the public gaze for the first time. Of course, some find the experience so traumatic that they are never heard of again, others are unlucky finding themselves in the clutches of the unprincipled sharks that inhabit the arts every bit as much as, say, investment banking. On the strength of “Stories and Rhymes," the classy debut release from Lake District born, Welsh bred, singer Jasmine ...

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Album Review

Jeremy Warren: I Can Do All Things

Read "I Can Do All Things" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 14, 2016

If the title of drummer Jeremy Warren's debut album sounds a tad hyperbolic, that's because Warren has faced and overcome more than his share of adversity en route to living his dream. As a child, Warren was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare and sometimes deadly disorder of the skin and mucous membranes. Told he might not live to adulthood, or could be blind, Warren underwent four corneal transplants while battling the disease. Not only did he survive SJS, Warren ...

Extended Analysis

Holger Czukay: Movie!

by Nenad Georgievski
May 14, 2016

Undoubtedly, one of the most potent expression of German experimental music came from the band Can, a group of highly experienced composer-musicians formed in Cologne in the year of 1968. The band had a totally unique approach towards everything it created. Its music had its own basis from an ethnically derived rhythm section, tape collages and keyboards that was directed into a mix that nodded towards influences such as composers Stockhausen, Cage, Schaeffer, the Minimalist composers or bands such as ...

Album Review

Jane Ira Bloom: Early Americans

Read "Early Americans" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
May 14, 2016

Saxophonist/composer Jane Ira Bloom is one of the few jazz players to concentrate solely on the soprano saxophone. In 35 years she has recorded sixteen albums as a leader, most often in a quartet with piano. This is her first trio album, in the company of longtime playing partners bassist Mark Helias and drummer Bobby Previte. Their high level of communication is evident on a tune like “Singing the Triangle," which features a recurring theme that is clearly stated by ...

Film Review

Grateful Dead Meet Up at the Movies 5-11-2016

by Doug Collette
May 14, 2016

Grateful Dead Meet Up at the Movies: Sullivan Stadium, July 2, 1989 Palace 9 Cinemas South Burlington, VT May 11, 2016 The sixth annual Grateful Dead Meet Up at the Movies constitutes the third 're-run' of a sort within the series. The previous five yearly film showings of the iconic band traversed their fifty-year history, finding them in locales as divergent as a German television studio, the grounds of Ken Kesey's creamery in ...

Album Review

Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Buoyancy

Read "Buoyancy" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 14, 2016

In baseball it's called “small ball." That might be the best way to describe the improvising duo of saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey. Small ball baseball teams win, not by home run blasts, but by putting runners in scoring position, bunting, and stealing bases. Flamboyant rarely wins the series. Confident, often understated play, is what connoisseurs of both baseball and improvised music seek. The partners in music here are also partners in life. Maybe that explains ...