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

Kris Berg - The Metroplexity Big Band: Time Management

Read "Time Management" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
June 12, 2014

In his liner notes, Dallas-based composer, arranger and bassist Kris Berg takes a good-natured poke at his less-than-stellar skills of the titled kind. While that may or may not be an accurate depiction, this superb recording certainly demonstrates that he and his Metroplexity Jazz Orchestra possess enormous and very admirable musical attributes. With Time Management, bassist Berg has once again gathered this stellar crew of Big D's best and sets them to cut loose on a series ...

Catching Up With

Magos Herrera: Rebirth in New York

by Gabriel Medina Arenas
June 12, 2014

New York City became the new jazz mecca during the 1920s, when many top jazz musicians from Chicago and the rest of the U.S. migrated to the Big Apple. Jazz musicians from around the globe moved there every decade, knowing New York has some of the top jazz venues in the world, a dozen jazz festivals, and numerous jazz record labels. Competition is tremendous, but “The City of Dreams" remains the best place for a jazz musician to gain exposure ...

Album Review

Roberto Magris Septet: Morgan Rewind: A Tribute To Lee Morgan Vol. 2

Read "Morgan Rewind: A Tribute To Lee Morgan Vol. 2" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
June 12, 2014

Hard-bop trumpeter Lee Morgan was the first jazz idol of Italian pianist Roberto Magris influencing his music to this day. Recording a homage to the late young icon was a natural evolution that culminated in the release of Morgan Rewind: A Tribute To Lee Morgan Vol.1 (J-Mood Records, 2011). Magris now presents an audacious follow up to the first session homage on Morgan Rewind: A Tribute To Lee Morgan Vol.2, completing a very special 'tip of the hat' to a ...

Live Review

Supersonic 2014

by Martin Longley
June 11, 2014

Supersonic The Custard Factory Birmingham, England May 30-31, 2014 Supersonic is dedicated to the aural extremes of electronica and guitar music, perhaps gradually tipping its balance towards the latter during the festival's decade of existence. This year's manifestation took place around five months earlier than its customary time, and was a 'limited edition,' deliberately harking back to its more contained roots in the Custard Factory cultural encampment, where the fest ...

Album Review

Itamar Borochov Quartet: Outset

by Dan Bilawsky
June 11, 2014

Israeli trumpeter Itamar Borochov landed on U.S. soil in 2006, eager and ready to start studying at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Now, eight years later, he's stepping out with his aptly-titled debut--Outset. While this marks Borochov's maiden voyage as a leader, he's already received some well-deserved attention for his work with Yemen Blues--a jazz-tinged world music outfit with an Afro-Arabian mindset that brings together musicians from Israel, Uruguay and the United States. Borochov's ...

Big Band Report

Buddy Rich: The Beat Goes On

by Jack Bowers
June 11, 2014

Was Buddy Rich really “the world's greatest drummer"? The answer to that speculative question is debatable, of course, and opinions may vary, as they no doubt do on what kind of a person (or persons) he was when not weaving his particular brand of magic behind a drum kit. Buddy's remarkable talents as a drummer and his ambivalent and often volatile nature were the twin focus June 1 of a spectacular Buddy Rich alumni reunion and concert at the KiMo ...

Album Review

George Gershwin: Gershwin Performs Gershwin: Of Rhythm and Constipation

Read "Gershwin Performs Gershwin: Of Rhythm and Constipation" reviewed by Marc Davis

by Marc Davis
June 11, 2014

Insert your favorite toilet joke here.I tried. I considered dozens of poop puns, then finally decided nothing could top reality. So here it is:In the 1930s, George Gershwin--already a huge star--hosted a radio show on which he played piano between laxative commercials.It's funny, really, when you hear it. And yet it doesn't detract from the music, which is sensational. Actually, the Feen-A-Mint ads are kind of charming.You can hear it yourself on ...

Extended Analysis

Jacob Young: Forever Young

by John Kelman
June 11, 2014

While all groups aim for the kind of collective chemistry that can make, for example, five people speak with a single voice, how they get there can vary significantly. In some cases there's instantaneous chemistry; in other cases, it comes from pre-existing relationships amongst various permutations and combinations of its members; in still other instances it is something that simply develops over time. On Forever Young, guitarist Jacob Young leverages both the relationships that have come before amongst the members ...

Album Review

Ralphe Armstrong: HomeBASS

Read "HomeBASS" reviewed by Steve Bryant

by Steve Bryant
June 11, 2014

There must be something in the Detroit water, because the Motor City has probably produced more bass players per capita than any other American city. Not only in sheer numbers and variety, but also in terms of musical style and innovation. While Paul Chambers and Ron Carter would suffice for a locale in terms of civic pride, the city can also claim Motown session man James Jamerson as well as second generation players Robert Hurst and Rodney Whitaker.

Album Review

David Andrew Moore: Personal Mythologies

Read "Personal Mythologies" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
June 11, 2014

The debut album of drummer David Andrew Moore, a collaborator of world music band Slavic Soul Party, clarinetist Andy Statman and drummer Ches Smith, attempts to match modern jazz with elements of chamber music and African and European folk traditions. Moore chose a unique instrumentation for this recording--soprano sax, viola, bass, keyboards and himself on drums and percussion--in order to emphasize the delicate atmosphere of his compositions. The four compositions in Personal Mythologies feature his quintet ...