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.

Live Review

Gent Jazz Festival 2015: Part 1

by Martin Longley
July 30, 2015

Gent Jazz Festival Bijloke Gent, Belgium July 10-12, 2015 Part 1 | Part 2 A bold beginning was made with the festival's opening night, perhaps concentrating on some of director Bertrand Flamang's personal favourites. This evening was never destined to be a sell-out session, but its programming featured some of the most innovative, creative and, well, best exponents of the music worldwide. Earlier in the running order were a ...

Live Review

Steve LaSpina Quartet at William Paterson University

by David A. Orthmann
July 30, 2015

Steve LaSpina Quartet William Paterson University Summer Jazz Room Wayne, NJ July 23, 2015 At William Paterson University, jazz is taken seriously. Undergraduate and graduate courses are taught by some of the most distinguished names in the business, and the music is presented to the public with care and attention to detail. The past, present, and future are all part of the experience of pursuing a degree or attending a jazz concert at ...

Album Review

Joe Magnarelli: Three On Two

Read "Three On Two" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 30, 2015

The majority of trumpeter Joe Magnarelli's leader dates have been no-nonsense, straight ahead quintet outings, so on the surface, it might appear that he's settled into something of a rut. But appearances can be deceiving. Only those who haven't heard Magnarelli's albums would think such a thing. For with each one, he's managed to peel back another layer, revealing new aspects of his artistic persona while also building on his previous work. Magnarelli is living proof that you don't need ...

Album Review

Nick Finzer: The Chase

Read "The Chase" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
July 30, 2015

Trombonist Nick Finzer distinguishes himself as horn player, composer, and bandleader on this exciting sextet date. It's upbeat modern jazz just about all the way, aided by creative arranging. This is bop-based music, but Finzer avoids the trap of having all of the tunes follow the same head-solos-head format. There's plenty of solo space, but not everyone solos on every piece, or in the same order. This is a group of players who know each other very well, which can ...

Album Review

Jeff Miguel: Perseverance

Read "Perseverance" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
July 30, 2015

Armed with a recently-received Master's degree in Music from the University of Iowa, young tenor saxophonist Jeff Miguel enters the world of recorded jazz with an impressive debut album entitled Perseverance, an offering of eight originals forged in the mainstream, straight ahead fashion containing elements of the smooth, Latin and other flavors. Originally from northern Illinois and currently residing in Iowa City, IA, Miguel is an educator and former co-director of the University of Iowa Hawkeye Big Band as well ...

Album Review

RelativE ResonancE: RelativE ResonancE

Read "RelativE ResonancE" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
July 30, 2015

With RelativE ResonancE, composer and drummer Devin Gray has staked out new, exciting and different territory than that explored in his highly acclaimed previous album, Dirigo Rataplan. Whereas the earlier band (saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, trumpeter Dave Ballou and bassist Michael Formanek) emphasized improvisation within group and compositional boundaries, the music for the new group (Chris Speed, saxophone and clarinet, pianist Kris Davis and bassist Chris Tordini) is both a natural reflection of Gray and could be said to ...

Book Review

Giving Birth to Sound: Women in Creative Music

by Jakob Baekgaard
July 29, 2015

Giving Birth to Sound: Women in Creative Music Renate Da Rin (ed.) and William Parker (coed.) 294 Pages ISBN: 978-3-00-049279-2 Buddy's Knife 2015 Every time a book about music is written, the history of music is also rewritten and musicians are included or left out, and old and new myths rejected or confirmed. This is something that many authors are conscious about, but seldom an issue that is addressed. Therefore, it is ...

Album Review

The Don Braden Organix Quartet: Luminosity

Read "Luminosity" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 29, 2015

Saxophonist Don Braden is all about positivity and sharing the joys of jazz. His ebullient music speaks to his intelligence yet he never falls prey to the jazz-as-intellectual-exercise trap that seems to snare younger musicians and a good amount of his peers. Over the course of his previous albums, Braden's managed to create accessible music built atop the pillars of wit, honesty, swing, and heart. He does it once more on this satisfying date. The aptly-titled Luminosity ...

Album Review

Indigo Kid II: Fist Full Of Notes

Read "Fist Full Of Notes" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
July 29, 2015

The self-titled debut album of guitarist Dan Messore's UK-based quartet was credited to Indigo Kid. Album number two, Fist Full Of Notes, is credited to Indigo Kid II--a nod, presumably, to the personnel changes that have occurred between releases.For this second album, Messore is joined once again by bassist Tim Harries. The experienced Iain Ballamy is now a guest player, his place as a full-time band member taken by tenor player Trish Clowes. Martin France, Ballamy's band mate ...

Album Review

Bryan Bowman: Like Minds

Read "Like Minds" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
July 29, 2015

Drummer and composer Bryan Bowman creates his recording debut with Like Minds, a well-executed set of eleven original compositions falling into the contemporary jazz category with a strong foundation of post-bop. Bowman's quintet is comprised of: Bob Kenmotsu on tenor saxophone, Ian Carey on trumpet and flugelhhorn, Matt Clark on piano and Doug Miller on bass. Opening with an up-tempo, be-bopish number entitled “Pick You Up," Bowman shows his chops with a style that is a cross between Jeff Tain" ...