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

Jonathan Kreisberg: Wave Upon Wave

Read "Wave Upon Wave" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
November 21, 2014

Wave upon wave of praise has followed the release of each one of guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg's leader dates--small group affairs that are typically built with equal parts energy and taste; Wave Upon Wave, balancing fire with heart, stealth movement with direct engagement, and power with grace, is likely to garner some more. The fleet-fingered Kreisberg focuses on originals here, shifting between the mellow ("Being Human") and the charged ("Until You Know"). And through it all, regardless of ...

Live Review

November Music 2014

by Henning Bolte
November 21, 2014

November Music s' Hertogenbosch November 8-9, 2014 November Music is a festival of contemporary music, new music in the broadest sense, held in the medieval town of s'-Hertogenbosch in the southeast of The Netherlands and home of painter Jheronimus Bosch (1450-1516). Besides the core of contemporary composers' music there are neighboring branches such as experimental pop, sound art/sound installations, as well as jazz and free improvised music presented during five days in the first week of ...

Album Review

Samo Salamon: Ives

by Hrayr Attarian
November 21, 2014

In addition to being a prolific recording artist, each one of guitarist Samo Salamon's projects is uniquely inventive. Quantity with Salamon is never at the expense of quality. Ives, his fourth release as a leader for the year 2014 is a collaboration with two other guitarists, each with his own distinct style.Their individualities contrast and complement one another in delightful and elegant patterns in these fourteen, intensely poetic tracks most of them Salamon compositions. On the impressionistic “Seagulls ...

Album Review

Holograma: Origen

by James Nadal
November 21, 2014

The idea for anchoring an ancient theme to music and producing a conceptual record can be challenging as well as rewarding. The experimental jazz trio Holograma, blended Sumerian mythology with a revision of primal rhythms throughout Origen to create a courageous statement of authentic innovation. Though there are superb performances by guest artists, the trio of guitarist Raul Romero, bassist Bermudo, and drummer Efrain Martinez are in charge here and carry the brunt of the load. Opening with ...

Live Review

Tampere Jazz Happening 2014

by Henning Bolte
November 21, 2014

Tampere Jazz Happening Tampere, Finland October 30--November 2, 2014 On the way from the airport to the city of Tampere you pass by Nokia, situated fifteen kilometres west of Tampere, the Scandinavian city famous for its gumboots and cables, and famous for its mobile phones. For a while 'Nokia' was synonymous with mobile phone. When you arrive in Tampere you can immediately recognize the industrial character and history of the town. The Finnish territories were ...

Live Review

Arturo Sandoval Quintet at the Annenberg Center

by Victor L. Schermer
November 20, 2014

Arturo Sandoval Quintet Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Zellerbach Theater Philadelphia, PA November 15, 2014 The excitement about any Arturo Sandoval performance builds from the time you see his name on an events list and think of his affiliation with Dizzy Gillespie, his tenure with the group Irakere, his stunning career trajectory with ten Grammy awards, films, TV appearances, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom award, and his well-known virtuosic trumpet playing ...

Album Review

Majamisty TriO: Love

by Bruce Lindsay
November 20, 2014

"Maja" refers to pianist and composer Maja Alvanović, “misty" is a nod to Errol Garner, one of her influences. Love is the second album from the trio, based in Novi Sad, Serbia. The trio--Alvanović, bassist Ervin Malina and drummer Istvan Cik--are superb players. Alvanović is melodic, crafting single note runs that are gentle, percussive, romantic in turn. Cik is a positive, economical, drummer and the imaginative Malina is particularly strong on arco bass. The combination of their playing and the ...

Album Review

Rich Halley 4: The Wisdom of Rocks

Read "The Wisdom of Rocks" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
November 20, 2014

Portland-based saxophonist Rich Halley mines a rich seam, despite plying his wares away from the limelight. Halley has been fortunate to overcome the plight of anyone working outside the main centers of jazz activity by finding a coterie of like-minded talents to sympathetically explore his inside/outside conundrums. As a result his discography contains a stream of solid, timeless dates that ignore current fashion, of which Wisdom of Rocks is just the latest installment. An easy interplay pervades a program of ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with Jonathan Curtis

by AAJ Staff
November 20, 2014

Meet Jonathan Curtis: Jonathan is a drummer from Nottingham, England, and one of the most exciting young talents to emerge onto the music scene. Involved in most things to do with the drums, Jonathan runs an educational YouTube channel, writes and records music, plays with lots of bands, and teaches the drums privately and in schools around Nottinghamshire. Jonathan began learning the piano aged 7, but switched to the drums at 11. Since then, he has studied ...

Album Review

Leon Alvarado: 2014 - Music From An Expanded Universe

Read "2014 - Music From An Expanded Universe" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
November 20, 2014

Texas native, keyboardist Leon Alvarado is a true student of the progressive rock genre, citing the customary troupe of icons such as ELP, Yes, and Jethro Tull as influences, paired with his previous Independent and well-received album, Plays Genesis and Other Original Stuff (2009). On this EP, Alvarado employs bassist, Warr guitarist Trey Gunn who rose to promise as a member of latter day King Crimson. During his plan of action with Gunn, Alvarado sought to impart a ...