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.

Inside AAJ

AAJ Magazine, Number 2, Spring 2014

by Michael Ricci
May 12, 2014

Welcome to the Spring 2014 edition of All About Jazz magazine. Our maiden issue eclipsed 100,000 readers, which kicked off a series of raucous celebrations that lasted throughout Jazz Appreciation Month. And the party continues... We're all in, and we're doing our part to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Blue Note Records with a special issue. Over 150 pages focused solely on Blue Note, spanning the label's storied past up through the present day and ...

Album Review

Peter Epstein Quartet: Polarities

Read "Polarities" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 11, 2014

Polarity, depending on the usage of the word, can reference opposites, the carrying of positive and negative charges, or attraction to a specific point, object, or idea; saxophonist Peter Epstein's Polarities deals with all of that. Epstein, a notable player on the New York scene in the '90s, has kept a lower profile since moving to Nevada, where he now serves as director of the jazz studies program at University of Nevada, Reno. His playing, thankfully, hasn't ...

Bailey's Bundles

Jazz Vocals May

by C. Michael Bailey
May 11, 2014

Simin Tander Where Water Travels Home Jazzhaus 2014 German-Afghani vocalist and composer Simin Tander follows up her well-received debut recording Wagma (Neuklang, 2011). She again prefers the company of her trio: pianist Jeroen van Vliet, who also provides judicious electronic effects; stand- out bassist Cord Heineking; and drummer Etienne Nillesen, with augmentation by Alex Simu on clarinet and Niti Ranjan Biswas on tabla. Polyglot in the extreme, Tander sings in English, French ...

Album Review

Bill Cote: Where Do You Start

Read "Where Do You Start" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
May 11, 2014

Sometimes preconceived notions about recordings can be smashed to smithereens in the most wonderful way. What, yet another GAS-and-jazz-standards recording--this one a debut from a middle-age male vocalist whose main gig is law? Well, quoting TV Land's “Gomer Pyle," “Surprise, surprise!" And, a most enjoyable musical discovery in the Cracker Jack® box it is. Right from the Start featuring vocalist Bill Coté and backed by the Tamir Hendelman Trio, delivers a whopping 16 excellently presented selections drawn ...

Album Review

Holly Hofmann: Low Life: The Alto Flute Project

Read "Low Life: The Alto Flute Project" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 10, 2014

Holly Hofmann, one of the jazz world's premier flutists, explores a deeper-toned territory with Low Life: The Alto Flute Project. Primarily a conventional C flautist--with an impressive discography--Hofmann has broken out the lower tone of the alto flute in her concerts, and occasionally on record. Now it's time for a full length CD featuring her expertise on the instrument. The range of the alto flute is limited, requiring an artist to say more with less. Hofmann and her ...

Extended Analysis

Glenn Zottola: Reflections of Charlie Parker

by Geannine Reid
May 10, 2014

After nearly four decades Glenn Zottola has become one of the most respected, versatile and in-demand trumpet players--and saxophonists--in the world. Born and raised in Port Chester, New York, Zottola started playing trumpet at age three. By virtue of his musical household, this seemed almost as natural as learning to speak. His big brother, Bob, was also a gifted trumpeter who went on to play with the bands of Charlie Barnet and Maynard Ferguson. His mother, Marie, played piano, and ...

Album Review

Jamie Alexander Smith: Kinesis

Read "Kinesis" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
May 10, 2014

Kinesis, from the young Edinburgh based pianist Jamie Alexander Smith, is sub-titled Four Improvisations On Piano. The sub-title pretty much explains things--on a basic level and except for the fact that a fifth track, “WKG," puts in an appearance. Of course, while the basic level of explanation hints at Smith's compositional approach and makes his instrument of choice clear, it doesn't give any real indication of the music on offer. So what can be expected from the improvising ...

Multiple Reviews

The Musical Meetings of Dom Minasi with Michael Jefry Stevens and Hans Tammen

by Eyal Hareuveni
May 10, 2014

Guitarist Dom Minasi is an innovative, searching musician that needs no introduction. His two new intimate duo albums feature him in two completely different situations: one playful and emphatic,one experimental and challenging. He excels on both, demonstrating again and again his consummate command of his instrument and the improvised form of his art. Dom Minasi & Michael Jefry Stevens Angel Dance--Improvisations for Guitar and Piano Nachti Records 2013 Minasi and pianist ...

Album Review

Farthest South: Neurim

Read "Neurim" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
May 10, 2014

The Israeli improvisational trio Farthest South explored distant musical universes in its previous albums--free jazz with local sax hero Albert Beger on Omens & Talismans (2013) and ambient-space rock on Spheres & Constellations (2013). Only on its third release, Neurim (youth in Hebrew} the trio dares to tackle one of the sore aspects of the Israeli reality--the constant awareness of war. And more important, that the Israeli regime subjects its citizens to a reptilian consciousness of endless, futile wars, sacrificing ...

Live Review

Pat DiNizio At Page One

by Mike Perciaccante
May 10, 2014

Pat DiNizio Page One Glen Cove, NY April 27, 2014 Pat DiNizio achieved public recognition as the lead singer and principal songwriter of the Carteret, NJ-based the Smithereens. The band achieved success by writing and playing catchy 1960s-influenced power pop. The group gained its first taste of success when its song “Blood and Roses" was included on the soundtrack as the theme song of the movie Dangerously Close, and the video got airplay on MTV. ...