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

The Ambush Party: Circus

Read "Circus" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
March 12, 2014

The aptly named, Amsterdam-based The Ambush Party is a band that aims to take you by surprise. This international quartet-- Argentinian Natalio Sued, Norwegian cellist Harald Austbø, Dutch pianist Jan Hoogland and Brazilian drummer Marcos Baggiani--knows no boundaries. All is thrown into its inventive, joyful stew--noise, tango, drum n' bass, opera and obviously jazz. The quartet alternates between an ironic, old-fashioned manner of playing, adventurous exploratory outbursts or simply theatrics and humor. Circus is their sophomore ...

Extended Analysis

Mehliana - Taming The Dragon

by John Kelman
March 12, 2014

First impressions shouldn't necessarily be the lasting ones. Despite, according to the press sheet, having played together for several years, über-pianist Brad Mehldau and drummer Mark Guiliana only began touring as Mehliana in 2013, and one of the heavily electronic duo's early performances at the 40th Vossa Jazz Festival in Voss, Norway was, sadly, eminently forgettable. But a year has passed and, in the interim, the duo has clocked a lot of road time, and with the released of Taming ...

Live Review

Pat Metheny Unity Group at the Paramount Theater, Denver, March 7, 2014

by Geoff Anderson
March 11, 2014

Pat Metheny Unity Group Paramount Theater Denver, CO March 7, 2014 The Group is back. Sort of. For virtually his entire career, Pat Metheny has bounced back and forth between the highly successful Pat Metheny Group and a wide array of projects under his own name. Ever since the Group's eponymous 1978 release, the personnel in the Pat Metheny Group constantly evolved. Besides Metheny, however, one player remained constant: keyboard player Lyle Mays; i.e.: no ...

Extended Analysis

Swiss Jazz Orchestra: Sincerely Yours

by Jack Bowers
March 11, 2014

The world-class Swiss Jazz Orchestra produced the 2-CD set Sincerely Yours to mark its tenth anniversary in 2013. As is the SJO's custom, the nineteen tracks were taped during a series of stellar concert performances spanning those years, showcasing the orchestra's excellence as a unit and its roster of impressive soloists performing compositions and arrangements by some of the brightest stars, past and present, in the jazz firmament. And even though the ensemble needs no help, a number of renowned ...

Album Review

N.E.W.: Motion

by John Eyles
March 11, 2014

Together for over a decade, and having released two previous albums on the Bo' Weavil label, N.E.W.--the trio of drummer Steve Noble, bassist John Edwards and Alex Ward on electric guitar--need no introduction. They have nothing left to prove. Live and on disc they have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with--tight, energetic and bursting with ideas. Now, the good news is that their third album, Motion, again displays all those strengths in abundance. ...

Album Review

Club d'Elf: Fire in the Brain Live at Berklee

Read "Fire in the Brain Live at Berklee" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
March 11, 2014

"To thine own self be true" is a reliable expression, and few band biographies are more true to their subject than the official label writeup on the marvelously twisted Club d'Elf: “Circling about bassist/composer Mike Rivard (Morphine, Either-Orchestra, Guster, Boston Pops), D'Elf is a constellation of top musicians from the jazz, DJ, rock and world music scenes of Boston and NYC who get in the groove and proceed to blow it up." Fire in the Brain presents a ...

Album Review

Ithamara Koorax: Opus Classico

Read "Opus Classico" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
March 11, 2014

Throughout her career, Ithamara Koorax has consistently exercised a singing voice that approaches the eternal; Ira Gitler once famously described Koorax's singing as “celestial elegance." On Opus Clássico, that amazing voice finds material to match: Vocal and vocalized melodies written by such master composers as Frederic Chopin, Claude Debussy, Sergie Rachmaninoff and Heitor Villa-Lobos, lovingly and gorgeously rendered by Koorax's astounding voice in tandem with pianist Filipe Bernardo and guitarist Rodrigo Lima (who worked with Koorax on Arirang [2010, EMI]). ...

Album Review

Ambrose Akinmusire: The imagined savior is far easier to paint

Read "The imagined savior is far easier to paint" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
March 11, 2014

The title's prose speaks of trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire's poetic leanings. A rising jazz star who's received a lion's share of awards and accolades yet is not resting on past laurels, he continues to search for artistic expression with in-demand chops and inventive writing that has illuminated the recordings of other artists and his own band since 2008's debut Prelude: to Cora (Fresh Sound New Talent). the imagined savior is far easier to paint is a fresh page ...

Extended Analysis

Suzi Stern: Romancing the Dark

by Geannine Reid
March 11, 2014

When a jazz singer is able to combine skills as a poet, composer, arranger and singer, what type of music is the result? Folk/Jazz/World; but of course! That is the underlying theme throughout Suzi Stern's CD, Romancing the Dark. The Austin based singer has a diverse history of collaborations, working with artist such as: Joe Henderson, Denny Zeitlin,David Friesen, Jerry Hahn, Leroy Vinnegar,Jessica Williams,Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Peggy Stern, Stefan Karlsson, Alan Jones, Randy Porter, John Stowell, and beyond. Stern ...

Album Review

Hutchinson Andrew Trio: Prairie Modern

Read "Prairie Modern" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
March 11, 2014

Grammy-nominated sax titan Donny McCaslin adds some red- hot verve to the Canadian piano trio's third album, including expert Brazilian percussionist Rogerio Boccato, appearing on three works. Indeed, the core unit injects pastoral elements into the jazz-centric vibe, while enhancing its panorama with cascading storylines, brawny developments and a host of harmonically attractive thematic opuses. The band often kicks matters into 10th gear while incorporating Latin jazz and a few windblown Midwestern movements into the grand schema. However, many of ...