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

Fred Hersch Trio: Floating

Read "Floating" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
June 13, 2014

There's no arguing the considerable merits of pianist Fred Hersch's Alive at the Vanguard (Palmetto Records, 2012) or his Alone at the Vanguard (Palmetto Records, 2011), trio and solo efforts respectively, both recorded live at the legendary Village Vanguard, home of so many classic live sets. Hersch is at the height of his artistic powers in the place. It seems a consensus opinion that “Live" is better, an idea that has picked up credibility with the technical evolution resulting in ...

Album Review

Ken Husbands Trio: Keepin' it Going

Read "Keepin' it Going" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
June 13, 2014

When your PhD dissertation targets jazz in French culture, it might not be the most logical hypothesis that you would musically favor funk-fusion. For the northern California-based guitarist Ken Husbands and his trio, the fusion route is based in personal histories within the sub-genre. The results of the players' collective musical journeys are documented on the trio release Keepin' it Going. Bassist Aaron Germain had featured French fusion guitarist Nguyen Le on his imaginative world beat album Chance (Origin Records, ...

Extended Analysis

Nat Birchall: Live In Larissa

by Phil Barnes
June 13, 2014

This limited double vinyl and download collection is a wonderful document of two nights that Birchall and his band played at the Duende Jazz Bar in Larissa during May 2013. The trip appears to have made an enormous impression on Birchall who commented shortly after returning that “I think our visit will become one of the defining experiences of my life..." drawing inspiration from people who were “the most spiritual, warm-hearted and generous I have ever met...." The ...

Album Review

Jeppe Zeeberg: It’s The Most Basic Thing You Can Do On A Boat

Read "It’s The Most Basic Thing You Can Do On A Boat" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
June 13, 2014

The debut album of Danish pianist Jeppe Zeeberg, member of local groups Dødens Garderobe and Bird Alert, expands the concept of piano trio with two double bass players and two drummers, known for their versatility and improvisational skills. Furthermore, Zeeberg's compositions emphasize a common vein through all genres, demonstrated by his and his co-conspirators strong and highly original, personal approach. True to this bold aesthetics, Zeeberg's compositions are inspired from early, swinging jazz, the advanced compositional ...

Album Review

Joe Morris & Jamie Saft: Plymouth

Read "Plymouth" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 13, 2014

Guitarist Joe Morris and keyboardist Jamie Saft follow-up the 2013 Rare Noise Records release Slobberpup in a similar vein by locking into another improvisational fest. Once all the audio processing equipment is ready to roll, it's time for instantaneous compositional forays, as they let the chips fall where they may. Morris' former student, guitarist and rising star Mary Halvorson, along with the prominent rhythm section of bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Gerald Cleaver steer an asymmetrical rhythmic course. However, the ...

Book Review

ART: Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman by Laurie Pepper

by C. Michael Bailey
June 13, 2014

ART: Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman Laurie Pepper 358 Pages ISBN: # 978-1494297572 Art Pepper Music Corporation 2014 About two-thirds the way through her memoir, ART: Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman Laurie Pepper plants her spear in the dirt and declares the obvious: “A question I ask myself is if Art hadn't had me there constantly assessing his mood, taking his aesthetic temperature, would he ...

Album Review

Brian Charette: Square One

Read "Square One" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
June 12, 2014

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but that can be a double edged sword with respect to self-expression and individuality. Reverence to past influences such as the pioneering organists Larry Young and Jimmy Smith is commonly heard in many contemporary jazz organ players including New York based Brian Charette who breathes originality in 2014's The Question That Drives Us (SteepleChase) and particularly 2012's Music for Organ Sextette (SteepleChase). Both feature that iconic Hammond B3 sound ...

My Blue Note Obsession

My Blue Note Obsession: A Ridiculous Quest Begins

by Marc Davis
June 12, 2014

Two years ago, I bought 31 Agatha Christie novels--all at once. Then I wanted more. It didn't seem nutty at the time. My local library sells used books. One day I was in the store and there they were: a set of blue-covered, leatherette books. It was the Agatha Christie Mystery Collection by Bantam Books. I like Agatha Christie; I used to like her a whole lot. I had a notion that someday I would read all her ...

Album Review

Andrew Downing/Jim Lewis/David Occhipinti: Bristles

Read "Bristles" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 12, 2014

A painterly approach to standards and a not-so-standard approach to portraying painters are the two themes of Bristles. Bassist Andrew Downing, trumpeter Jim Lewis, and guitarist David Occhipinti visit in on six classics--five of which were recorded live in January of 2013 at the Jazz Room in Waterloo, Canada--and create six miniature canvases that honor boundary-pushing artists. The standards, save for a fragmented, cross-talking take on “Solar," prove to be the more substantial offerings. This trio manages ...

Book Review

Bathed in Lightning: John McLaughlin, the 60s and the Emerald Beyond by Colin Harper

by John Kelman
June 12, 2014

Bathed in Lightning: John McLaughlin, the 60s and the Emerald Beyond Colin Harper 480 Pages ISBN: 978-1908279514 Jawbone 2014 Few guitarists in the history of jazz have leapt onto the scene the way John McLaughlin did when the relatively new British expat made two very different appearances on albums by seminal American artists in 1969: first, with drummer Tony Williams' then-new group, Lifetime on the dense, intense and intentionally supersonically loud Emergency! (Polydor); ...