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.

Interview

Tom Lawton: Jazz and the Modern Art of Man Ray

by Victor L. Schermer
September 14, 2015

In his book, Jazz Modernism: From Ellington And Armstrong To Matissse And Joyce (Yale University Press 2004), author Alfred Appel depicts the numerous but easily overlooked parallels between jazz music and modern art and literature. Many jazz musicians are art aficionados, and many of the twentieth century's great artists loved jazz and often kept record collections. Jazz icons Miles Davis and Tony Bennett have exhibited their artwork at major galleries. There's only a small distance from the ears to the ...

Live Review

Terry Klinefelter Instrumental and Vocal Ensemble: Philadelphia Songbook Vol. 2

by Victor L. Schermer
September 14, 2015

Terry Klinefelter Instrumental and Vocal Ensemble Philadelphia Songbook Vol.2 American Philosophical Society Philadelphia, PA September 10, 2015 At the outset of a busy weekend of jazz events in Philadelphia, this concert directed by versatile pianist- composer-arranger Terry Klinefelter was an amalgam of two musical genres: straight-ahead mainstream jazz and rhythm-and-blues, with the instrumentalists emphasizing the former style and the vocalists the latter, in sets of standards, many of which were originally written and performed ...

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Album Review

Gabriel Vicéns: Days

by Mark F. Turner
September 14, 2015

A rising jazz guitarist who graduated from Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico and currently serves as a Professor at Universidad Interamericana in San Juan, Gabriel Vicens's sophomore release Days exuberantly articulates the soundtrack of his life. This follow up to his 2012 self-produced Point in Time shows personal growth and expression with its contagious hooks and spacious compositions brought by a gifted ensemble that includes talented Puerto Rican musicians and notables saxophonist David Sanchez, trumpeter/co-producer Alex Sipiagin, and Carlos ...

Album Review

Scottish National Jazz Orchestra/Makoto Ozone: Jeunehomme: Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9 K-271

Read "Jeunehomme: Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9 K-271" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 14, 2015

It's Mozart, so you expect genius to jump out of the speakers, and it does, on Jeunehomme: Mozart Piano Concerto No 9 K-271. And it's not just the genius of the composer, it's also a brilliant showcase for pianist Matsuko Ozone's arranging and conducting skills, and for the hearty magnificence of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was twenty-one years old when he wrote this piece, and it is often considered his first true masterpiece. Taking ...

Album Review

Various Artists: The Magic & The Mystery Of The Piano Trio: Ballads & Lullabies

Read "The Magic & The Mystery Of The Piano Trio: Ballads & Lullabies" reviewed by John Ephland

by John Ephland
September 14, 2015

It's rare that a collection of songs that stay the course with a theme from track to track can hold interest. Especially when the tunes are so spare in execution, essentially simple love songs, performed by a collection of trios who maintain distinct musical personalities. Such is the case with The Magic And The Mystery.Across thirteen tracks we hear 12 originals by performing members, the only cover being a wistfully surprising one of David Bowie's “Life On Mars." ...

Album Review

Laurie Antonioli & Richie Beirach: Varuna

Read "Varuna" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 14, 2015

There is a tuneful Constellation in the West and her name is Laurie Antonioli. Returning to her native Bay Area in 2006 after an expatriate period in Europe where she served as professor of voice at Austria's Kug University, she formed her “American Dreams" band recording, most recently, the well critically well-received albums, American Dreams (Intrinsic Music, 2010) and what is considered her breakout, the excellent Songs of Shadow, Songs of Light: the Music of Joni Mitchell (Origin Records, 2014) ...

Album Review

Irene Schweizer - Han Bennink: Welcome Back

Read "Welcome Back" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
September 14, 2015

Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer and Dutch drummer Han Bennink share a long and fruitful lineage within the Euro improvisation scene as Welcome Back marks the their second duo recording. However, the pianist has recorded duets with venerable drummers, Andrew Cyrille, Baby Sommer and others of note, while Bennink has participated in duets with pianists, Cecil Taylor and Myra Melford to cite a few. The musicians' respective legacies could in theory, populate a book. Yet, they're at it again with these ...

Album Review

Dee Dee Bridgewater, Irvin Mayfield & The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra: Dee Dee's Feathers

Read "Dee Dee's Feathers" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
September 13, 2015

Much has been said and written about the resilience of the people, culture, and spirit of New Orleans, but the music that continues to come out of NOLA confirms that truth better than any speech or essay ever could. For the story of that fair city--good, bad, and bruised as it has been--can only truly be told, understood, and felt through the notes, grooves, parades, ceremonies, and street performances that pour through it. The musicians--not the politicians, orators, lecturers, and ...

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Live Review

Linda Tillery at Freight and Salvage

by Walter Atkins
September 13, 2015

Linda Tillery Freight and Salvage Coffee House Birthday Celebration Berkeley CA September 4, 2015 Seasoned San Francisco Bay Area vocalist Linda Tillery assembled a fine lineup of local musicians, including some decades old friends and a recent new one, to help celebrate her birthday and musical life. Tillery presented a diverse repertoire of blues, jazz, soul, folk and gospel to an over flowing venue of friends and family. The sold out evening ...

Album Review

Misha Mullov-Abbado: New Ansonia

Read "New Ansonia" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
September 13, 2015

Bassist and composer Misha Mullov-Abbado may be a new name on the UK scene but he's already won the 2014 Dankworth Prize for jazz composition and was a 2014 City Of Music Foundation Artist. The 2014 Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize also came his way, with the release of debut recording New Ansonia forming part of that award. Mullov-Abbado may still be a relative youngster, but his upbringing ensured a wide exposure to music from an early age and ...