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.

Bailey's Bundles

Jazz Quanta January: Chris Kelsey and Tomas R. Einarsson

by C. Michael Bailey
January 6, 2016

There are two jazz traditions represented in Jazz Quant January, the freedom principle of saxophonist Christ Kelsey and cool complexity of Latin jazz by way of Icelander bassist Tomas R. Einarsson. Two traditions transplanted and allowed to flourish. Chris Kelsey Duets | NYC / Woodstock Tzazz Krytyk 2015 What happens with free jazz stalwarts saxophonist Chris Kelsey meets one Dom Minasi, the guitarist of the future past? A freedom ...

Album Review

Mike Moreno: Lotus

by Dan Bilawsky
January 6, 2016

A blooming lotus is like a magnet for the eyes, calling those who appreciate beauty, vibrancy, and shapeliness to gaze upon one of nature's small wonders. Guitarist Mike Moreno's Lotus has a similar draw, summoning the ears with its enchanting sonics and chimerical ideals. On this, Moreno's fifth album, the lyrical and the fanciful stand united. The music itself can be serene and surreal, filled with iridescent colors, attractive lines, broken grooves, and beautifully shaped melodies. In ...

Album Review

Omer Klein: Fearless Friday

Read "Fearless Friday" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
January 6, 2016

From Israel to Boston and then to New York, Omer Klein has followed the path of so many of his compatriots--up to a point. His debut as outright leader, Introducing Omer Klein (Smalls Records, 2008), announced a unique voice, one that blended folkloric, classical and contemporary colors quite seamlessly. Three further recordings cemented Klein's reputation as one of the most talented pianists of his generation. Then, with New York at his feet, Klein moved to Germany. The change, however, has ...

Album Review

Robin Eubanks Mass Line Big Band: More Than Meets The Ear

Read "More Than Meets The Ear" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
January 6, 2016

Trombonist Robin Eubanks is well known for his versatility and inventiveness. It is no surprise, therefore, that his first big band recording, More Than Meets The Ear, is an innovative and engaging work of mainstream jazz. Various influences, across genres, infuse the intricately crafted music that, despite its precise orchestration brims with energetic spontaneity. The cinematic “Cross Currents," for instance, features perfectly timed exchanges of intriguing phrases between the brass and the woodwinds. All the while an undercurrent ...

Album Review

The Peeled Eye: The Peeled Eye

Read "The Peeled Eye" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 6, 2016

Berlin, Germany-based Shameless Records is managed by seasoned and well-travelled multi-instrumentalist Boris Hauf who resides as a prominent Euro-jazz improviser and experimentalist while also recording with members of Chicago's fruitful improv circuit. No doubt, Hauf is known to trek into unchartered musical arenas, evidenced by the band Efzeg where micro-textures and minimalism often serve as a forum for expansion. But the plot thickens on the debut release of The Peeled Eye which is billed as a “noisecore/doomjazz quartet." Fans of ...

Year in Review

Mark F. Turner's Best of 2015

by Mark F. Turner
January 5, 2016

The number of artists that continue to produce quality jazz is not slowing and that's a beautiful thing. It's becoming more difficult to differentiate between so many varied releases but here are few that stood out in 2015. Kamasi Washington The Epic (Brainfeeder) Straight-ahead, hard swinging and Afrocentric, Los Angeles based composer/saxophonist Kamasi Washington delivers an epic adventure with his 172 minute opus that includes a jazz ensemble, choir, and ...

Year in Review

Nenad Georgievski's Best of 2015

by Nenad Georgievski
January 5, 2016

2015 was not an easy year. I became a dad for the third time while I was working on a Film festival for music documentaries. The festival itself was an uphill battle, but I managed to get it organized with astounding success. In the meantime I was writing constantly or was listening to music, as if my life depended on it. The Top 10 is actually a process of sifting through hundreds of records and panning for gold. Plenty of ...

Album Review

Eric Olsen ReVision Quartet: Sea Changes

Read "Sea Changes" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 5, 2016

Many classical-jazz crossover projects come off as half-baked exercises in compromise, uncomfortable in the attempt of marriage and painful to observe. This one doesn't. Pianist Eric Olsen put together a first-rate foursome--the aptly-named ReVision Quartet--to perform revamped takes on the music of Jean Sibelius, Frederic Chopin, Georges Bizet, and Olivier Messiaen, among others. His artful arrangements take note of the source material without simply recycling it, his band mates do a fine job of navigating their way through these pieces, ...

Album Review

Giovanni di Domenico / Peter Jacquemyn / Chris Corsano: A Little Bit Off The Top

Read "A Little Bit Off The Top" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 5, 2016

Three adept protagonists in the free improv arena assemble in a multinational gathering on A Little Bit Off The Top. Both Italian pianist Giovanni Di Domenico and Belgian bassist Peter Jacquemyn are active on the Brussels scene, while American drummer Chris Corsano shares experience with the pianist of hook ups with the likes of guitarist Jim O'Rourke and veteran Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata. The limited edition LP presents a threesome with an egalitarian outlook, manifest in the how the focus ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with Landry

by AAJ Staff
January 5, 2016

About Landry: Success is singlehandedly the greatest form of service ever invented by humankind. It is in our wellbeing that we can best serve others. It is in our abundance that we can best serve others. It is in our joy that we can best serve others. Ultimately, it is in our thriving that the world around us thrives. As such, our first duty to our family and friends is to be successful. It is the paradigm from ...