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

Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: Epicenter

Read "Epicenter" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
May 17, 2015

The closing track of bassist Chris Lightcap's muscular and vibrant Epicenter is a very intense and almost brutal version of Lou Reed's “All Tomorrow's Parties" from the 1967 release Velvet Underground & Nico. This tune, which is among Reed's most highly crafted works and which captures the essence of both the times and its subculture, is taken more slowly by Lightcap and the band, deepening its impact even further. It is the perfect ending for an album that ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Film Scores

by Nathan Holaway
May 17, 2015

Ah, the cinema. We know so many cliches, certain scenes, and can even quote entire passages of movies. Music in film works the same way. As people who are conditioned through a dominantly visual culture, we tend to remember certain themes alongside certain movie scenes. This subject deserves much more attention! Film composers are often underrated and overlooked, even though they must be versed in all styles of music, from jazz to rock, classical to country. Here are just some ...

Album Review

Serbian Jazz BRE: Serendipity

Read "Serendipity" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
May 17, 2015

What began as a multimedia jazz experience, a combination of straight ahead jazz music and series of photographs by the band's instigator and producer Ivan Grlić, soon evolved into a live video extravaganza with video projections that run in the background whenever the band is playing live. First there was a book with photographs, which were screened as well behind the band. But now, Grlić is sharing the stage with the band equally improvising on stage by manipulating various videos ...

Interview

Rich Keith: Pure Jazz Radio

by Chuck Anderson
May 16, 2015

As a jazz performer with a career spanning decades, I've seen the music industry and jazz scene continually evolve, embracing radio, television, the internet, and beyond to grow and interact with the audience. Rich Keith, part time on-air host at WBGO and, since 2009, owner and general manager of Pure Jazz Radio, is a champion of jazz. Keith has been on the radio in the New York Metropolitan Area since 1977, most of that time featuring jazz and songs ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Tag Team Jazz, Part 1-2

by Nathan Holaway
May 16, 2015

Part 1 | Part 2 Jazz has always celebrated rugged individuality, praising those who appreciate others but stay on their own path. So what happens when two (or more) intelligent and original musicians come together? Most of the time, pure magic. Stellar tag teams have made some of the finest records in jazz history. Louis Armstrong / Duke Ellington: The Great Summit: Master Takes (Blue Note, 2001) An absolute “must have" for any ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Tag Team Jazz, Part 2-2

by Nathan Holaway
May 16, 2015

Part 1 | Part 2 Jazz has always celebrated rugged individuality, praising those who appreciate others but stay on their own path. So what happens when two (or more intelligent and original musicians come together? Most of the time, pure magic. Stellar tag teams have made some of the finest records in jazz history. Lester Young: Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio (Norgran, 1954) One of Young's greatest sessions, with Prez in ...

Album Review

Jakob Bro: Gefion

Read "Gefion" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
May 16, 2015

Throughout his career, Danish guitarist Jakob Bro has continued to refine and improve his musical expression. It has been a constant search that has taken him in many different directions, from the refined chamber-playing and melodic purity on the Balladeering-trilogy to remix experiments with electronic musician Thomas Knak. Another way he has challenged himself is through the exploration of different musical formats. Gefion sees him returning to the trio-format that he has previously explored successfully with bassist ...

Album Review

Phil Robson: The Cut Off Point

Read "The Cut Off Point" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
May 16, 2015

With four albums already to his name and another four by the band Partisans which he co-leads with saxophonist Julian Siegel, British guitar phenomenon Phil Robson hardly needs any introduction, save that his new musical departure is realised by an organ trio offering a smörgåsbord of exciting and imaginative compositions. “Thief" hits the ground running, with Phil Robson's lithe fast guitar running alongside nimble Hammond lines to carve out the melody and a subsequent brief but enticing organ ...

Album Review

Jeff LaRochelle: Moonstone

Read "Moonstone" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
May 16, 2015

Canadian saxophonist and clarinetist Jeff LaRochelle fuses the orchestral complexity of the western classical tradition and the spontaneity of jazz on his debut Moonstone. With his band, Origins, LaRochelle interprets ten intimate pieces that he himself has penned. The music reflects his diverse influences but remains thematically cohesive primarily due to the exquisite balance of modernity and tradition and the dramatic ambience this creates. The Asian flavored “Stand Still" for instance opens with the band's stately phrases flowing ...

Interview

Katie Thiroux: Walking a Classy and Swinging Line

by R.J. DeLuke
May 15, 2015

Katie Thiroux, a young musician out of Los Angeles, plays the bass and sings with equal conviction. Her musical experiences began with classical, but a career in jazz is what she eventually focused on and Thiroux--who received several accolades while climbing the tricky stairway of such a career--is making good strides. A sideman on the contrabass with LA jazz groups going back to her days in high school, Thiroux is also a strong vocalist. Her study of voice ...