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

John Yao: Flip-Flop

Read "Flip-Flop" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
June 11, 2015

The trombone is one of jazz's secret weapons. Not as ubiquitous as the saxophone or as iconic as the trumpet in the popular imagination, it nonetheless holds a powerful position as one of jazz's defining instruments. It's also the case that the trombone appears to be currently experiencing a renaissance--one which trombonist, composer, and bandleader John Yao's sophomore effort Flip-Flop is clearly a part. Comprised of ten compositions for his 17-piece big band, Yao demonstrates how when properly ...

Live Review

David Torn at Streamside Concerts

by Mark Sullivan
June 10, 2015

David Torn Streamside Concerts Arden, NC June 6, 2015 Experimental electric guitarist David Torn was touring to support his album only sky (ECM, 2015), a collection of solo performances done in real time using looping and other electronic processing. But there was no attempt to play selections from the recording: as Torn explained during the Q&A after the concert, all of the performances on the tour were completely improvised. Anyone who has followed Torn's career ...

Album Review

Connie Evingson: All The Cats Join In

Read "All The Cats Join In" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 10, 2015

Were it not for her decision to remain in Minnesota, Connie Evingson would surely be a better-known jazz vocalist. Over the course of her previous releases she's proven herself to be a prepossessing singer capable of getting to the marrow of a lyric without pretense or posturing. And she's remarkably good at putting together programs, be it a salute to The Beatles, a trip through the work of Norman Gimbel, a tribute to Peggy Lee, or a collection of well-organized ...

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Album Review

Better Than TV: Late

by Roger Farbey
June 10, 2015

Five students from Cambridge (UK) recorded this debut album over two sessions, six months apart. The first session from 10 June 2013 opens with “1000 And One" on an ostinato bass figure and relaxed McCoy Tyner-esque piano. This is a relatively straightforward modal piece but with some engaging solos from the brass section and some. By contrast, “Standing With Sally" introduces some memorable funky rhythms and ensemble passages. “Elliulogy" opens just with the horns, New Orleans style; a bluesy number ...

Album Review

Aimee Allen: Matter of Time

Read "Matter of Time" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
June 10, 2015

Aimée Allen has a wonderful ear for beauty; fluent in two romantic languages, French and Portuguese, Allen's warm timbered voice also is fluent in conveying passionate phrases that seem to be wholly heart felt. Matter of Time (Azuline Music) is her latest musical offering that contains highly original music and lyrics penned by Allen dealing with subjects of love and the many changes that life brings to each of us. Allen also has a collection of renewed arrangements on familiar ...

Album Review

Scott Henderson: Vibe Station

Read "Vibe Station" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 10, 2015

Guitarist Scott Henderson is one of a select few artists who raised jazz fusion from the embers in the 80s, namely with the band, Tribal Tech. Indeed, this unit proffered a much needed uplift via a far-reaching perspective and armed with a torrential improvisational credo on numerous fronts. Since then, the guitarist has performed with other high-flying units but as a solo artist, he often kicks out the jazz rock, fusion and blues rock jams within the power trio format. ...

Extended Analysis

Luther Thomas: In Denmark

by Jakob Baekgaard
June 10, 2015

Denmark has a long tradition of jazz immigration and in the land where the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen was born, it is truly a musical fairy tale that such great artists as saxophonists Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon and Stan Getz have lived and worked in the country, along with pianists like Kenny Drew and Horace Parlan, trumpeter and arranger Thad Jones, and drummer Ed Thigpen. It is a musical legacy to be immensely proud of, and its story has ...

Genius Guide to the Good Life

Struttin' With Some Barbecue

by Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
June 9, 2015

The contributions the South has made to America are innumerable and varied. My beloved Virginia, for example, gave such priceless gifts as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and seven presidents (I do not count William Henry Harrison, because he was a dumbass). We gave the nation Smithfield ham, Virginia peanuts, Eskimo pies, and the first truly American cookbook. And that's just a tiny portion of gifts from one part of the South. On the whole, we've given this country ...

My Blue Note Obsession

George Braith: The Complete Blue Note Sessions - 1963-64

by Marc Davis
June 9, 2015

Playing two saxophones at once is a gimmick, and not a very good one. It can be done, and maybe if your name is Rahsaan Roland Kirk, you can even sell a few records doing it. But it's not a great artistic achievement, and the sound you get is mostly tinny and obnoxious. Which brings us to George Braith. In 1963 and '64, Braith recorded his first three albums as a band leader, all for Blue ...

Album Review

Gary Peacock Trio: Now This

Read "Now This" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
June 9, 2015

On some level it must be daunting to play in a piano trio with bassist Gary Peacock. He's a longtime member of the Keith Jarrett Standards Trio (with drummer Jack DeJohnette), arguably the definitive contemporary piano trio. Before that, he worked with the great Bill Evans, and with iconoclast Paul Bley (often in the company of drummer Paul Motian). But this group has its own history: he and pianist Marc Copland have an extensive discography together since 2008, ...