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

Wild Card: Organic Riot

Read "Organic Riot" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
April 7, 2015

Music can signal rebellion, initiate change, influence the thoughts of an entire generation. Or it can cause thousands of disparate individuals to get up and dance and generally have a good time. Organic Riot, the third album from London-based funksters Wild Card, may not signal incipient revolution but it's certainly got the good-time, get up and dance bit sorted. Guitarist and composer Clement Regert leads Wild Card: drummer Sophie Alloway and Hammond organist Andrew Noble complete the core ...

Album Review

Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me

Read "You've Been Watching Me" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 7, 2015

The music of saxophonist Tim Berne has invariably raised the question: where have you been? His early self-released sessions (collected in the Empire Box (Screwgun, 1999)) from the late-1970s and early 80s gave no quarter to the neo-conservative jazz movement. Signed by Columbia Records (what were they thinking?) he forged ahead with his incendiary vision, only to be dropped by the label. With no desire to be “discovered" only after he had died, he created the quartet, sometimes quintet, Bloodcount, ...

Album Review

Monty Alexander Harlem-Kingston Express Vol. 2: The River Rolls On

Read "The River Rolls On" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
April 7, 2015

Versatile pianist Monty Alexander has been around long enough, and played through a myriad of styles and ensemble configurations, in a constant quest to get it right. Since his foray back to his Jamaican roots in “Jamento" (1978 Pablo Records) there has been numerous reggae influenced recordings highlighted by his covering the Bob Marley catalog in his 1999 Telarc release “Stir It Up." This struck a nerve with a responding public and rejuvenated his approach and direction, taking it back ...

Album Review

Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: Epicenter

Read "Epicenter" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
April 7, 2015

"Nine South" from New York bassist Chris Lightcap's Epicenter ignites the rhythm sense with its undeniable influence from West African music. Written as part of a commissioned work granted by Chamber Music America New Jazz Works, the piece was inspired by Lightcap's routine drive into Manhattan. Propelled by contagious hooks, fiery solos, and powerful harmonies, the music is driven by Lightcap's Big Mouth, a dynamic band of jazz progressives who have performed sporadically together for over 10 years.

Extended Analysis

Julia Hülsmann Quartet w/ Theo Bleckmann: A Clear Midnight - Weill and America

by John Kelman
April 7, 2015

Given enough time, things in life often come around full circle. Julia Hülsmann's three recordings for Munich's ACT label were all vocal affairs, where the German pianist's core trio--with bassist Marc Muellbauer and drummer Heinrich Köbberling--were joined by singers ranging from Norway's Rebekka Bakken to Germany's Roger Cicero. Since moving to another Munich label, the more heralded ECM Records, Hülsmann has demonstrated a more careful approach to expanding and evolving her work. Her first two recordings for the label--2008's The ...

Live Review

Brilliant Corners Jazz Festival 2015

by Ian Patterson
April 6, 2015

Brilliant Corners Jazz FestivalBelfast, Ireland March 25-28 , 2015 Brilliant Corners may not be the biggest jazz festival in Northern Ireland--that accolade belongs to the City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival--but in just three editions it can already lay claim to being the best. Eschewing the populist acts that characterize Derry's sprawling jazz festival, promoter Moving On Music has quickly established Brilliant Corners as the home of new and cutting edge ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Piano Trio

by AAJ Staff
April 6, 2015

When one talks about “jazz piano music," it is almost taken for granted they are talking about jazz piano trio music. The trio is and has been most jazz pianists' favorite format, and with good reason: the jazz piano trio has been said at times to represent the essence of jazz in the most condensed yet effective way possible. A piano trio takes full advantage of swing, interaction, and dynamics. There have certainly been outstanding jazz piano trios ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Jazz for Kids!

by AAJ Staff
April 6, 2015

There is some kind of Jazz for everybody. And kids are no different. While the music presented here is by no means only for kids (Silly Rabbit, it's okay) it does happen to have the necessary qualities for kids to gravitate toward it. There's the fun factor; Horace Silver's music is undoubtedly FUN. There's the “head bob" factor, music that gets their heads a-boppin'; ditto Silver, but Monk is just as danceable in his own way. Finally, there are charismatic, ...

Album Review

Omar Sosa Quarteto AfroCubano: ilé

by Dan Bilawsky
April 6, 2015

"The word ilé, from the Lucumí tradition of Cuba, means home, earth." That single sentence, which gets the ball rolling for Omar Sosa's self-penned liner notes, says all that needs to be said about this return-to-roots project. Or does it? Ilé finds Sosa looking back to Camagüey, Cuba. He populates this album with musicians who hail from said locale--drummer Ernesto Simpson, multi-reedist Leandro Saint-Hill, and guests like Eladio “Don Pancho" Terry and Yosvany Terry--but listeners shouldn't be ...

Album Review

The Sirkis/Bialas International Quartet: Come To Me

Read "Come To Me" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
April 6, 2015

The Sirkis/Bialas International Quartet demonstrates how well a vocalist can work as the featured soloist in a quartet. Even better, they make you forget the instrumentation in the beauty and joy of the music they make. The group truly deserves the “International" part of their name. Drummer Asaf Sirkis is an Israeli living in England; vocalist Sylwia Bialas is a Pole living in Germany; keyboardist Frank Harrison is English; and bassist Patrick Bettison is from the United States.