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.

Extended Analysis

Philip Glass: The Photographer

by Nenad Georgievski
February 22, 2014

Apart from the recognizable repetitive patterns and melodies that adorn composer Philip Glass' music, there is also one recurring theme that reappears throughout his rich and illustrious career regardless if it is opera, symphony, theatre piece or soundtrack. That is the lives of luminaries, revolutionaries, discoverers, erudite scholars whose lives, words and actions have made a difference in the world and have inspired his music. In a range that includes Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Pharaoh Ankhnaten, Walt Disney, Galileo Galilei, ...

Album Review

Marco Sanguinetti: 8

by Mehdi El Mouden
February 22, 2014

From Buenos Aires, pianist and composer Marco Sanguinetti digs art from numerous sources to create a feeling which is unique. Quite inspired, Sanguinetti along with his Pibe A group did a remake in 2010 of Radiohead's album Kid A, retorted in 2012 with a remake of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, and was behind several compositions for dance works. Sanguinetti's original work includes Improvisiones (MDR 2005), Los procesos de Franz (Acqua records 2011) El otro ...

Album Review

Daniel Smith: Smokin' Hot Bassoon Blues

Read "Smokin' Hot Bassoon Blues" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
February 22, 2014

It is rare that a jazz album comes with laugh out loud moments but bassoonist Daniel Smith's Smokin' Hot Bassoon Blues is full of them. Unfortunately these do not appear to be intentional humorous attempts merely risibly poor performances. This is a shame as Smith is both an accomplished musician and a jazz connoisseur with a commendable taste. His choice of material of classic blues compositions by such luminaries as bassist Charles Mingus and saxophonists Sonny Rollins and ...

Album Review

George Cables: Icons and Influences

Read "Icons and Influences" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 21, 2014

When a jazz musician has been around as long as pianist George Cables, and has seen, heard and performed with so many other world-class musicians, such interactions are bound to leave a lasting impression, and on the trio date Icons and Influences Cables warmly salutes a number of those who have helped frame his musical persona and escorted him along a journey of wonder and discovery that has enabled him to become the superbly talented artist he is today.

Catching Up With

Steven Lugerner: Jericho and San Francisco

by Daniel Lehner
February 21, 2014

Eric Dolphy once mused, “When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone, in the air. You can never capture it again." Luckily for fellow multi-reedist Steve Lugerner, that's a piece of wisdom that the Bay Area musician did not take at face value. For his release, For We Have Heard, Lugerner devised a means of music making that seriously excited his band mates like Myra Melford and Matt Wilson. “Upon hearing it, they all freaked out," recalls Lugerner. “I ...

Album Review

Thumbscrew: Thumbscrew

Read "Thumbscrew" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
February 21, 2014

Thumbscrew is the self-titled debut of a two-year-old trio featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. As leading members of the next generation, Halvorson and Fujiwara have honed their finely-tuned rapport in numerous ensembles over the years, including cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum's flagship sextet, where they first met Formanek, who subbed for the group briefly in 2011.Formanek's storied career dates back to the '80s, when he worked as a sideman for such luminaries as ...

Multiple Reviews

Jonas Kullhammar Old and New Ways

by Eyal Hareuveni
February 21, 2014

Swedish great saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar always knew to position his musical activities in a rich historical, musical and artistic context, often with a sharp sense of humor. His tenor playing owes much to such great American post-bop sax players as John Coltrane (and his quartet covered recently Coltrane seminal A Love Supreme), but also to iconic Swedish fire-blowers Lars Gullin, Bernt Rosengren, with whom he recorded recently, and Gilbert Holmström. The two albums with Holmström New Quintet and his last ...

Album Review

Rufus Reid: Quiet Pride

Read "Quiet Pride" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
February 21, 2014

The beauty of art is often in the taking rather than the making. The art may come to life in the mind of the artist but it often flourishes when the ink dries, the chisel is withdrawn, the dust has settled, or the final brushstrokes have been applied. At that point, the preparation ends and the consumption begins. Creation then begins to fuel creation and a closed inspiration loop is born. This project is the perfect representation of that ideal. ...

Album Review

Miriodor: Cobra Fakir

Read "Cobra Fakir" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
February 21, 2014

Hailing from Canada, Miriodor's 35-year existence has yielded a fruitful discography, as the band is nestled within a Rock in Opposition (R.I.O) stylization that transcends progressive rock into various spatial aspects and genres. The musicians share this categorization, steeped in experimentalism with European ensembles, Present and Univers Zero, for example. Now a trio, the artists' current manifesto includes prog rock, electronica and off-kilter diversions amid thorny time signatures and punchy backbeats. Indeed, the trio's multitasking approach yields beneficial results.

Album Review

SSS-Q: Songs From My Backyard

Read "Songs From My Backyard" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
February 21, 2014

Portuguese, Porto-based trumpeter Susana Santos Silva emerged in recent years as one of the most original and articulate voices in the European avant-jazz and non-idiomatic music due to her part in the chamber Lama Trio, that already released two albums ( and Lamaçal, 2011 and 2013, Clean Feed) and her duo with Swedish double bassist Torbjörn Zetterberg (Almost Tomorrow, 2013, Clean Feed). Now she teams with her hometown drummer Jorge Queijo for a surprising, eclectic and eccentric set of duets ...