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

Helen Sung: Anthem For A New Day

Read "Anthem For A New Day" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 17, 2014

There's a bit of the iconoclast in pianist Helen Sung. Her musical journey began in the classical world, and didn't take its rebellious tangent into jazz until her college years, after a chance encounter with a Harry Connick, Jr. concert, in a “bang on the piano" solo interlude. And then there was pianist Tommy Flanagan's solo on saxophonist Charlie Parker “Confirmation," and Sung was jazz bitten, in the best way. Anthem for a New Day, Sung's sixth album--her ...

Film Review

Jerry Bergonzi: Two More DVDs from the Master Educator

by Dan Bilawsky
January 17, 2014

There are plenty of stellar musicians who can't teach and plenty of fine educators who lack the skills or know-how to play at a top-tier level. There aren't a lot of internationally acclaimed musicians who are also viewed the world over as exceptional teachers; saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi is one of the few. Bergonzi has traveled plenty with his horn, playing his own music and backing up bigwigs across the globe, but he's made an even bigger impact ...

Album Review

Various Artists: Postcards From Italy

Read "Postcards From Italy" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
January 17, 2014

Sound artists, like their brethren mail artists, adhere to the motto “sound art is not fine art, it is the artist who is fine." Born out of phonography, or the audio equivalent of photography, field recordings capture the native sounds of a place. For the Postcards From Italy project, the collective AIPS (the Archivio Italiano dei Paesaggi Sonori, or Italian Archive of Soundscapes) gathered the ambient sounds of a particular place, as designated by specific latitude and longitude coordinates, and ...

Extended Analysis

Fareed Haque: Out of Nowhere

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 17, 2014

Fareed Haque is quite clear about the impact of guitarist Pat Martino on his own playing: “He is my inspiration in jazz guitar. And if I have a mission, it's to blend the John McLaughlin world with the Pat Martino world. Every guitarist, every musician, is a synthesis of the history. So if you want to understand Pat Martino, you've got to listen to Jimmy Smith and Grant Green. And if you want to understand me, you've got to listen ...

Album Review

Vittorio Gennari: Blues

Read "Blues" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
January 17, 2014

Italian alto saxophonist Vittorio Gennari manages to keep together his band from his 2010 Melodies for another run on Blues, a recording he nominally shares with vibraphonist Daniele Di Gregorio. The two survey the sacred twelve bars much in the same way as Jackie McLean on his 1961 Bluesnik (Blue Note) or Jimmy Smith on Six Views of the Blues (1958, Blue Note). In these cases, the principles were putting their personal mark on the blues, uniquely and definitely. Gennari ...

Album Review

Matt Criscuolo: Blippity Blat

Read "Blippity Blat" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 17, 2014

Matt Criscuolo is a restaurateur in Connecticut, but also a veteran alto saxophonist and not just a hobbyist with spare finances to record albums. With his fourth outing as a leader, he once again aligns some of the finest jazz artisans such as, pianist Larry Willis and French horn maestro, John Clark. Criscuolo possess a unique tone that often resonates with an inherent stereo sound, bridging a touch of lower register warmth with the alto sax's altissimo register. He combines ...

Album Review

Tom Rainey: Obbligato

Read "Obbligato" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
January 16, 2014

Tom Rainey has been a fixture in New York's Downtown scene since the early '90s. The stalwart drummer's current efforts have found him expanding his purview, collaborating with a new generation of creative improvisers. Working on original material with young Brooklyn-based artists like Ingrid Laubrock and Mary Halvorson, Rainey continues experiments in form and structure that he originally helped pioneer with his peers, including Tim Berne, Andy Laster and Tom Varner.Obbligato is Rainey's second release for Intakt Records ...

Extended Analysis

Mauricio de Souza: Different Directions

by Alain Londes
January 16, 2014

Brazilian music and jazz intermingle with other touches to produce Mauricio de Souza's Different Directions. There are a lot of different exposés, particularly of Brazilian rhythmic styles interpreted by a wonderful collection of artists contributing their artistic talents. Bossa Brazil lends itself more towards Brazilian music while the Mauricio de Souza group will have more traditional jazz leanings. As a whole, it feels like a natural organic whole. The project includes a combination of classics as well as original compositions. ...

Album Review

Steve Davis: For Real

Read "For Real" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
January 16, 2014

For lovers of straight-ahead jazz the Posi-Tone record label is a pretty safe bet, a mark of quality. Label owner and producer Marc Free seems to possess a knack for combining excellent musicians and high quality studios (aided and abetted by engineer Nick O'Toole) to create fresh and rewarding music.Trombonist Steve Davis is one of those excellent musicians and For Real is his fourth album for the label. Davis' long career has seen him produce 16 previous albums ...

Extended Analysis

Lineage: Rock and Pop Classics Revisited

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 16, 2014

In 2010, saxophonist Dave Liebman and drummer Michael Stephans began tossing around cover song ideas with guitarist Vic Juris, who was featured in the Liebman Group from 1991 through 2012. These conversations were soon joined by bassist Evan Gregor, keyboard player Bobby Avey and woodwinds player Matt Vashilishan. The resultant Lineage, subtitled Rock and Pop Classics Revisited, features songs by such cultural icons of the 1950s and '60s as Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Co-led by the saxophonist whose contributions ...