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.

Year in Review

Doug Collette's Best of 2015

by Doug Collette
December 29, 2015

It didn't take much thought to compose this list, perhaps because the inclusions run the gamut from finely-produced studio sessions to equally inspired live recordings (and much in between). And more so than in recent years, the playability of all these albums will surely equal their durability as time marches on, which is not necessarily a direct reflection of the intensity of hearing them (though they appear to be in descending order of same). Brad Mehldau

Album Review

Gianni Marinucci: Live @ Bennett's Lane

Read "Live @ Bennett's Lane" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
December 29, 2015

Those aware will tell you that to listen to Gianni Marinucci's tonal expressions is to hear poetry of the heart. It is no different here with Live @ Bennett's Lane. From the first few pitches on this vividly unique performance--vulnerable, yet filled with emotional depth--to the joyous last few, the Australian trumpeter and his sidekicks, Colin Hopkins and Frank DiSario provide an enthralling near hour of gorgeous, thought-provoking balladic material. And, given that this is a live effort, any warts ...

Album Review

Octaveleven: This Hyperlink

Read "This Hyperlink" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
December 29, 2015

Hailing from Santa Fe, New Mexico, the all-instrumental keys-- bass--drums trio Octaveleven presents a dynamic blend of old-school progressive rock, math-rock, metal, fusion, and electronica on their debut EP, This Hyperlink. The result is highly appealing; catchy and tuneful in ways that one doesn't normally associate with progressive rock of any sort. Drummer Ben Durfee and bassist Paul Wagner keep the complicated rhythms funky, loose, and--despite the preponderance of odd and compound time signatures--dance-able. Viewed from afar, Octaveleven's sound bears ...

Album Review

Ken Silverman: Parallel Man

Read "Parallel Man" reviewed by Graham E Peterson

by Graham E Peterson
December 29, 2015

A modern guitar trio led by New York City guitarist Ken Silverman comes out of the gate burning with rhythmic intensity on the title track “Parallel Man." Silverman develops a motif of parallel guitar lines while a powerful rhythm sections support his development. He enters into a glistening glissando section bringing to mind sounds of sitar that build a drive so hard that his tone reminds one of a Charles Mingus solo, ready to explode. There is no doubt an ...

Album Review

Brutter: Brutter

Read "Brutter" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 29, 2015

Brutter is an electronic duo featuring Norwegian brothers. Pianist Christian Wallumrød is known for his acoustic ensemble and the quartet Dans Les Arbres. Both groups released acclaimed albums on the ECM label. Drummer Fredrik Wallumrød is known primarily as a rock or metal musician. On Brutter, Christian abandons the piano and plays on drum machines, synthesizer and electronics while Fredrik adds further electronics to his sonic palette. They are joined on this recording by their sister, the vocalist Susanna Wallumrod. ...

Jazzin' Around Europe

Ensemble Denada in Pisa

by Francesco Martinelli
December 29, 2015

Ensemble Denada Pisa, S. Andrea Theatre December 10, 2015 I encountered the music of Helge Sunde several years ago, with his wonderful “Denada" Cd on ACT. I was impressed by the quality of the writing and by the seamless fusion of composition and improvisation, so I was especially happy to have the chance to hear the Ensemble a few meters from home, in the wonderful location of the S. Andrea Theatre—an 12th ...

Album Review

Ray Vega & Thomas Marriott: Return of the East-West Trumpet Summit

Read "Return of the East-West Trumpet Summit" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
December 28, 2015

Seattle-based trumpeter Thomas Marriott plays well with electricity. Specifically, with the Hammond B3 organ. The most memorable of his now nine CDs on Origin Records feature either the Hammond B3 or some serious Moog synthesier/Fender Rhodes work: Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson (2007 ), with Ryan Burns on electric keys; Human Spirit (2009), featuring Gary Versace on B3; and now Return of the East-West Summit, with the versatile George Colligan sitting in on the Hammond B3, and Marriott's mentor, ...

Extended Analysis

Everyone's Buzzin': The Complete Bee Hive Sessions

by David Rickert
December 28, 2015

The idea behind Jim and Susan Neumann's Bee Hive label was simple: gather together a bunch of great musicians for recording dates and let them play whatever they wanted. The sessions were led by talented musicians who may not have received the recognition they deserved in the jazz heyday of the fifties and early sixties -names like Sal Salvador, Ronnie Mathews, and Dizzy Reece to name a few--but who still had plenty to say. And for sixteen recording sessions, the ...

Album Review

Alex Pinto: Unconditional

Read "Unconditional" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
December 28, 2015

Now resident in Seattle, guitarist Alex Pinto has shifted his musical focus somewhat from his previous recordings, All India Permit (Pursuance Records, 2014) and Inner State (Pursuance Records, 2011). Whereas All India Permit was, as one may gather from the title, a synthesis of jazz, rock, and the music of India (Pinto's ancestral homeland), and Inner State dealt more directly with modern jazz, Unconditional finds Pinto working in an overtly rock-derived milieu. There's a casual, indie-rock lope to Unconditional, a ...

Album Review

Evan Woodle: Nth

by Dave Wayne
December 28, 2015

An integral part of the fecund and fascinating Pacific Northwest jazz scene, percussionist Evan Woodle is a charter member of several of the region's most innovative bands: Heatwarmer, Chemical Clock, and Operation ID to name a few. Each of these groups plays a sort of hybrid music that's difficult to describe without using hyphens and multiple catchphrases. Chemical Clock mixes high energy jazz- rock fusion with electronica and contemporary classical music. Operation ID has a rawer sound, coming off a ...