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.

Album Review

Bruno Råberg Quartet with Phil Grenadier, Allan Chase and Austin McMahon: Hot Box

by Budd Kopman
September 9, 2015

With Hot Box, bassist/composer Bruno Råberg and his quartet (Phil Grenadier on trumpet and flugelhorn, Allan Chase on saxophones and drummer Austin McMahon) have created a very, very cool and quite attractive modern jazz album that will stay in the ear for a long time. “Cool" here means burning on a low heat, with lots of space, long lines and a silky, soft spoken delivery. Rather than demanding attention, this music requests it; but when attention is given ...

Interview

Michael Ricci: A Modern Day Jazz Messenger

by Ian Patterson
September 8, 2015

All About Jazz is celebrating its twentieth anniversary but for founder Michael Ricci it's business as usual. For the Philadelphian that means dedicating huge amounts of time and energy to giving jazz musicians everywhere a platform, promoting the music globally, providing numerous services and encouraging debate around the key issues facing jazz today. This is pretty much what Ricci has been doing daily since 1995 and his efforts haven't gone unnoticed. All About Jazz has reached a peak ...

Album Review

Sands Fonnesbæk Riel: Take One

by Chris Mosey
September 8, 2015

In October 2014 pianist Christian Sands, a protégé of Billy Taylor, known mainly for with his work with bassist Christian McBride's trio, played two nights to remember at Copenhagen's legendary jazz club Montmartre. The highlights are captured on this Storyville double album. Sands plays with (rather than is accompanied by) phenomenal local bassist Thomas Fonnesbæk, nowadays often compared to the legendary Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. On drums and not getting too much of a look-in, solowise: Alex Riel. ...

Extended Analysis

Stuart McCallum: City

by Phil Barnes
September 8, 2015

Much of what passes for progressive radio programming, whether that be traditional live to air or internet stations, has been pushed into genre ghettos in recent times--where a record can be enormous within a particular scene but invisible to 99.9% of the world at large. Even in Europe, where the genre constrained formats common in the USA didn't take hold until relatively recently, it feels as if anything that does not fit a mainstream pop template has been farmed out ...

Album Review

Jesse Fischer: Day Dreamer

Read "Day Dreamer" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
September 8, 2015

If there is a recognition for a musician in perpetual engagement to his craft, Jesse Fischer would certainly be in the running. The versatile pianist, arranger, engineer, and producer has been on a creative tear since 2011 when he released “Homebrew" with his group Soul Cycle. This was quickly followed in 2012 by “Retro Future," under his own name as leader. Since then he has been involved in numerous side projects with a myriad of artists, prominently in the role ...

Album Review

Michael McNeill Trio: Flight

by Budd Kopman
September 8, 2015

Michael McNeill and his trio (bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Phil Haynes) return after Passageways with the marvelous Flight. The first notes of “Placid Ruffled" indicate McNeill's classical background and compositional intent. The album is extremely well recorded, allowing, at least with headphones, for every overtone and their interactions to be heard clearly (especially in “Land"). This sound world envelopes the ear and prepares the way for music that lies between the purely abstract, tunes and sound paintings. ...

Album Review

Eugenie Jones: Come Out Swingin'

Read "Come Out Swingin'" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 8, 2015

The last we heard from Seattle-based Renaissance woman Eugenie Jones was on her quite excellent debut recording Black Lace Blue Tears (Self Produced, 2013). On that recording Jones demonstrated great accomplishment as a vocalist, composer, and arranger. She was in the process of transitioning from a successful marketing career to a singer. That kind of change is not for the faint of heart. Jones returns with Come Out Swinging, a collection of tunes as different from those ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Clarinet

by Bob Bernotas
September 7, 2015

When you hear the phrase, “New Orleans jazz," what three instruments immediately come to mid? That's right: cornet, trombone, and clarinet. In those early jazz combos, the clarinet provided a soaring, high register obbligato that enhanced, and, in the hands of the amazing Sidney Bechet, challenged, the cornet's lead line. A decade or so later, the clarinet occupied a rightful place as one of the signature instruments of the big band era, serving as a distinctive tone color in the ...

Album Review

Dave Liebman: Expansions: The Puzzle

Read "Expansions: The Puzzle" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer

by Victor L. Schermer
September 7, 2015

NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Dave Liebman has kept his music alive and generative for five decades with a prolific recording output, forming signature groups that push the musical envelope, and advancing new ideas within time-tested parameters. His current group, Expansions, allows him to interact with younger musicians, both as a mentor and as a way of exposing his creative impulses to new influences. “Young" in jazz doesn't always mean newcomers-- these guys are consummate and seasoned players, and they love ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Tenor Saxophone

by Bob Bernotas
September 7, 2015

Invented in the early 1840s, the saxophone was a relative latecomer to music--and to jazz. But starting in the mid-1920s, with the rise of the big bands, the instrument slowly but steadily evolved from a vaudeville novelty into a staple in the mainstream of jazz. Of the different varieties of saxophone, the tenor and the alto have been the most widely used, the baritone and soprano somewhat less so. During the decade, Coleman Hawkins appeared as the first important tenor ...