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

Pat Martino Trio at Mount Vernon Country Club

by Douglas Groothuis
March 7, 2016

Pat Martino Trio Mount Vernon Country Club Golden, Colorado February 18, 2016 Musical greatness and human fragility mixed uneasily on February 18, 2016, when Pat Martino and his trio worked their magic at the Mount Vernon Country Club high in Golden, Colorado. The performance was grand, but the conditions were unwelcoming. A strange drama unfolded. Martino, a jazz guitar virtuoso, has been a driving force in jazz since the middle ...

Album Review

Michael Spiro/Wayne Wallace: Canto América

Read "Canto América" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
March 7, 2016

The historical evolution of the Caribbean Basin and specifically the Greater Antilles, has been over five hundred years in the making. The triangular connections between Europe, Africa, and the New World with its ensuing social and economic constraints, established the conditions for an innovative culture in the region. The enculturation process led to the creolization of the music and the creation of hybrid religions as Santeria in Cuba, and Voudou in what was then Hispaniola (Saint-Domingue), adding an intriguing dimension ...

Album Review

Moppa Elliott: Still, Up In The Air

Read "Still, Up In The Air" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
March 7, 2016

In his usual role as bassist and leader of the jazz group Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Moppa Elliott focuses on composing and bandleading. So his first solo double-bass album represents a real departure. In many ways it resembles band mate Jon Irabagon's recent solo sopranino saxophone album Inaction is an Action: an often abstract exploration of sound using a single instrument. Elliott plays a series of improvisations which were consciously intended to be as nonlinear as possible.

Live Review

Kurt Elling at Bing Concert Hall

by Lily O'Brien
March 7, 2016

Kurt Elling Stanford Jazz / Bing Concert Hall Palo Alto, CA February 27, 2016 Kurt Elling is full of it--talent that is. As a vocalist, performer and writer/poet, he is just, simply--off the charts. His performance for Stanford Live at Bing Concert Hall, at Stanford University in Palo Alto on Saturday, February 27 made it clear that he is a major talent in the world of jazz today, though, surprisingly, outside of the jazz world, ...

Album Review

The Brothers Brown: The Brothers Brown: Dusty Road

Read "The Brothers Brown: Dusty Road" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
March 7, 2016

There is really only so much that can be done with the traditional 12-bar blues form. It was that limitation that helped give rise to rhythm & blues and soul music and cross-pollinated jazz and country & western. While fun to consider, it is a fool's endeavor to try and draw a straight line through these genres. Rather than draw a straight line, the Brothers Brown, on their debut Dusty Road pull a blade across these related tune categories, providing ...

Album Review

Richard Nant / Alan Plachta: Un Viaje

Read "Un Viaje" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
March 7, 2016

Things are happening right now in Argentina. There is a jazz scene that just seems to keep on growing and growing. Fortunately, international collaboration has also started to happen and Argentinian musicians are travelling around the world to share their special take on the jazz tradition. For instance, cutting edge pianist Paula Shocron has recently been to New York. Another musician that is familiar with the city is guitarist Alan Plachta. In fact, his sextet with pianist ...

Album Review

Charles Lloyd & The Marvels: I Long To See You

Read "I Long To See You" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 6, 2016

If ever there was an eternal explorer, it's Charles Lloyd. This inquisitive soul has made a career out of surveying new frontiers, both within himself and beyond the borders of his own being. He's taken every opportunity to peer and travel into the unknown, allowing only the sound and the spirits to serve as his guides. Yet somehow, each one of his albums also manages to feel like a homecoming of sorts. There's something that's just plain ...

Album Review

Atlantico: En Rouge

Read "En Rouge" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
March 6, 2016

Atlantico is a new band co-lead by French jazz pianist Sébastien Paindestre and U.S. reed and woodwind player Dave Schroeder (each contributes four compositions). Paindestre and Schroeder met in NYU Paris in 2012 during recording for the TV show “jazz rendez-vous" where they played together for the first time. In 2014 they reconvened in New York to record, joined by the stellar rhythm section of Martin Wind (double bass) and Billy Drummond (drums). The session kicks off with ...

Album Review

Jazz Funk Soul (Loeb, Harp & Lorber): More Serious Business

Read "More Serious Business" reviewed by Jeff Winbush

by Jeff Winbush
March 6, 2016

Let's get two things out of the way first. First thing is Jazz Funk Soul is an awful name for a band. It sounds like the way records were categorized in a record store back in the Dark Ages when such things as record stores existed. Second thing is the second Jazz Funk Soul joint, More Serious Business is a marked improvement over their uninspired 2014 debut. There's nothing happening here which hasn't happened on a thousand smooth ...

Album Review

The Andrew Allen Trio: Live! from the Cantina: A Star Wars Jazz Tribute

Read "Live! from the Cantina: A Star Wars Jazz Tribute" reviewed by Jim Olin

by Jim Olin
March 6, 2016

The universal appeal of the Star Wars soundtrack cannot be denied. It has become so iconic that any reimagining of its music is sure to be highly scrutinized. The Andrew Allen Trio took a big risk in putting a jazz spin to the Star Wars soundtrack but it has paid off significantly. Their new album Live! from the Cantina: A Star Wars Jazz Tribute is a testament to Allen's quirky creativity. The first track in the album is ...