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.

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Live Review

Euge Groove At Yoshi's

by Walter Atkins
February 14, 2016

Euge Groove Yoshi's Oakland, CA February 5, 2016 Eclectic saxophonist Euge Groove (Tower of Power, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt) and his fantastic group performed to a capacity house during Friday's second show at Yoshi's Oakland. EG's outstanding band included: Randy Jacobs guitar, Cornelius Mims bass, Chris Miskel drums, and Colin Clausen on keyboards. During the artist's warm introduction, Yoshi's proudly announced this fabled Jack London Square location had showcased live music in Oakland for 40 ...

Album Review

William Hooker: Light

by John Sharpe
February 14, 2016

Light constitutes another welcome instalment from the back pages of NYC free jazz by the Lithuanian No Business imprint, following on from Jemeel Moondoc's Muntu Recordings (2009), Commitment's Complete Recordings 1980/1983 (2010) and William Parker's Centering: Unreleased Early Recordings 1976-1987 (2012) box set, among others. The label has released some of drummer William Hooker's most accomplished work in recent years, such as Bliss -Earth's Orbit (2010) and Live At Vilnius Jazz Festival (2014) as well as previous documents from the ...

Album Review

JD Souther: John David Souther

Read "John David Souther" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
February 14, 2016

JD Souther may be regarded as the unsung hero of the Los Angeles country rock axis including Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and the Eagles. He collaborated to no small degree with the latter, on the ambitious Desperado (Asylum, 1973) album as well as other numbers through their entire their career, including their first number one hit “Best of My Love." And it's even arguable his eponymous solo debut is superior to that iconic group's first record, especially as heard in ...

Album Review

Avishai Cohen - Trumpet: Into the Silence

Read "Into the Silence" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
February 14, 2016

Israeli-born trumpeter and prodigy Avishai Cohen was already touring with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra as a teenager. He attended Berklee College of Music, and later, placed highly in the Thelonious Monk jazz trumpet competition. A progressive-thinking artist, he hasn't looked back musically. With his highly regarded group, Triveni, Cohen challenged his own resourcefulness and creative process in a trio without a chordal instrument. ECM Records founder, Manfred Eicher, had taken note of Cohen's performance and unique sound on ...

Album Review

The Stryker/Slagle Band: Routes

by Edward Blanco
February 14, 2016

Long-time friends and collaborators, guitarist Dave Stryker and saxophonist Steve Slagle have been developing their sound for almost two decades and have led their band on several recordings. Throughout their enduring association, The Stryker/Slagle Band has produced some of the best contemporary jazz heard anywhere. On the audacious Routes, their sixth album as a group, the band continues their journey through a landscape of bop, hard-driving grooves and swinging rhythms of the kind that have often defined their unique sound. ...

Album Review

Ferit Odman: Dameronia With Strings

Read "Dameronia With Strings" reviewed by Jim Olin

by Jim Olin
February 14, 2016

In his latest album Dameronia With Strings, Ferit Odman pays tribute to the great Tadd Dameron. He treats listeners to a smorgasbord of Dameron jazz--a sparkling kind that soothes the soul but pumps the heart. Accompanied by an outstanding group of musicians, namely trumpeter Terell Stafford, composer and guitarist David O'Rourke, pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Peter Washington, and a string sextet, the Turkish jazz drummer made Dameron relevant to young jazz artists today. In “Just Plain Talkin,'" Odman ...

Multiple Reviews

Steven Wilson: Maintaining Momentum with Transience & 4 1/2

by John Kelman
February 13, 2016

He is undeniably one of the hardest working men in music. In addition to ongoing work as surround sound and new stereo remixer for bands including King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, XTC, Hawkwind, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, Roxy Music and Caravan, with more groups being added on a regular basis, Steven Wilson has, since 2009--when he placed his flagship group Porcupine Tree on indefinite hiatus- -built a solo career that has grown at a remarkable ...

Multiple Reviews

Warren Haynes: Ashes & Dust Deluxe Edition & Bonus CD

by Doug Collette
February 13, 2016

It's a left-handed compliment of no small proprtion to state guitarist/composers Warren Haynes' Ashes & Dust (Concord Records, 2015) album only scratches the surface of his recent solo endeavors in the studio and on the stage. Certainly, the erstwhile Allman Brother and titular leader of Gov't Mule has done more than his share of musical exploration during the course of his career, yet he's never delved into the acoustic-based likes of his self-produced record with Railroad Earth This nouveau bluegrass/folk ...

Album Review

Moppa Elliott: Still, Up In The Air

Read "Still, Up In The Air" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
February 13, 2016

The founder and bassist of Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Matthew “Moppa" Elliott, has kept his own solos to a minimum on MOPDtK recordings, giving the spotlight over to trumpeter Peter Evans, saxophonist Jon Irabagon and now pianist Ron Stabinsky. However, his very recent participation as one of the Big Five Chord quintet, on guitarist Jon Lundbom's Make Magic Happen (Hot Cup Records, 2016) featured an eye-opening solo on Ornette Coleman's “Law Years." That performance made for a perfect ...

Album Review

Greg Abate & Phil Woods: Kindred Spirits: Live at Chan's

Read "Kindred Spirits: Live at Chan's" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
February 13, 2016

Alto saxophonist Greg Abate is a man who has built a career as a powerhouse reed man and a proponent of the mainstream bebop style, earning the nickname “the prince of bebop." One of the kings of the genre, is unquestionably the legendary Phil Woods who blazed that trail before Abate and others followed. Captured live at Chan's Jazz & Blues Music Club in Rhode Island, Kindred Spirits documents two royals of the alto saxophone joining forces for, what would ...