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

Partikel: String Theory

Read "String Theory" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
May 6, 2015

A frenetic opening to the third album by Partikel augurs well for the rest of this hour-long recording and there's almost a reminiscence of Frank Zappa's Hot Rats in its intensity. Partikel here is augmented on this session by a string quartet. A jazz trio with strings? Yes, but not just any strings, these are strings on steroids. The quartet isn't a backing group but rather it plays an active role in providing vibrant harmonic and melodic counterpoint to the ...

Album Review

Marilyn Crispell -- Gerry Hemingway: Table Of Changes

Read "Table Of Changes" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 6, 2015

These distinguished artists performed together with pioneering saxophonist, composer Anthony Braxton's epic 80s ensembles amid other ensuing collaborations. Over time, drummer Gerry Hemingway and pianist Marilyn Crispell have gravitated towards the upper echelon of the so-called 'new jazz' outlook, as Table of Changes provides a glowing snapshot of their Europe 2013 tour. Moreover, the album extends various persuasions evidenced on their previous duo album Affinities (Intakt, 2011). Their nonpareil kinship is an underlying factor via spontaneous improvisation, structure ...

Interview

Andy Sheppard: Tales From the Bristol Underground Jazz Revolution

by Ian Patterson
May 5, 2015

"Jazz has always been an underground thing. It doesn't have the power and might of opera, but it should," says Andy Sheppard, shortly after the UK premier of Surrounded by Sea (ECM, 2015) at the Bristol Jazz & Blues Festival. “Everyone in the music industry has a respect for jazz music, and they should, I think, realize the value of what's come out of this thing called jazz and the echoes that run through all other genres of music now." ...

Live Review

Live From Birmingham: Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Mark Holub, George Clinton & Polar Bear

by Martin Longley
May 5, 2015

Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club Symphony Hall April 13, 2015 Rarely does a gig prompt such an ambivalent response as this 'adiós' show by the very veteran Buena Vista posse. Musical vibrations were typically very positive within their extensive set-list of Cuban songs, covering all moods, from up-tempo near-salsa grooving to sparse, melancholy ballads. On the other hand, the audience was recurringly reminded of the vast band death-toll that has understandably counted up ...

Album Review

Harvie S / Sheryl Bailey: Plucky Strum

Read "Plucky Strum" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 5, 2015

Two musicians, two acoustic string instruments, and ten original works recorded live in the studio with no overdubs, edits, or fixes of any sort. That's Plucky Strum in a nutshell, but that's also unfairly reductive in its explanation of the project. For when the two musicians under discussion are as special and seasoned as bassist Harvie S and guitarist Sheryl Bailey, even the simplest of concepts can turn into something special. While neither of these players is ...

Album Review

Andy Sheppard Quartet: Surrounded By Sea

Read "Surrounded By Sea" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
May 5, 2015

Saxophonist/composer Andy Sheppard has found a home in ECM. It's maybe not the perfect home for an artist as eclectic as Sheppard, for it's hard to see some of his other projects--notably the Scofield/Lovanoesque quartet Hotel Bristol--fitting in with the ECM aesthetic. Still, Sheppard's melodic improvisational approach and the airy lyricism on Movements in Color (ECM, 2009) and Trio Libero (ECM, 2012) fitted the ECM blueprint beautifully and rank among his most seductive recordings. With Surrounded by Sea Sheppard expands ...

Live Review

Jazz in Church Festival 2015

by Adriana Carcu
May 5, 2015

Jazz in Church Festival Bucharest, Romania Lutheran Church April 16-19, 2015 The Jazz in Church Festival reaffirmed its call of unconventionality by bringing together artists of most diversified styles and orientations. A subtly assorted lineup consolidated the nascent tradition of open dialog and transgender interplay set forth three years ago. For four days in April the cupola of the Lutheran Church in Bucharest echoed with the unobstructed creativity of the performers and reverberated with ...

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Album Review

Dave Stryker: Messin’ with Mister T

Read "Messin’ with Mister T" reviewed by Walter Atkins

by Walter Atkins
May 5, 2015

Veteran jazz guitarist Dave Stryker's history includes playing and recording with the inimitable Stanley Turrentine from 1986 to 1995.His Messin' With Mister T (Strikezone Records), showcasing Turrentine classics, is a timely testimonial to the accomplished tenor's long career and extensive legacy. The legacy begins in the 50's for Turrentine while performing with adept musicians like Lowell Fulson, Tadd Dameron, Max Roach and many others. Turrentine continues working throughout the 60's with numerous artists including Horace Silver and soul/jazz ...

Album Review

Roberta Piket: Emanation (Solo: Volume 2)

Read "Emanation (Solo: Volume 2)" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
May 5, 2015

The daughter of noted Austrian composer/conductor Fredrick Piket, New York native Roberta Piket took to the piano at an early age, later receiving a degree in jazz piano from New England Conservatory. Piket studied with pianist Richie Beirach, upon returning to New York and receiving an NEA grant. Years later, Beirach has demonstrated his sureness of Piket by serving as production assistant and writing the liner notes for Emanation (Solo: Volume 2). Piket's early jazz influences and an interest in ...

Album Review

Charles Evans: On Beauty

Read "On Beauty" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 5, 2015

Baritone saxophonist Charles Evans composed these pieces for his one-time teacher, eminent saxophonist David Liebman who performs exclusively on soprano saxophone during this drummer-less quartet date. Thus, Evans is on the heels of his highly praised solo outings on More Is More Records, The King of All Instruments (2009) and Live at St. Stephens (2009). The leader's polychromatic expressiveness and remarkable fluency shines once again with these often swirling and interconnected theme-building sprees, casting a semblance of perpetual ...