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

Polwechsel: Traces Of Wood

Read "Traces Of Wood" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 13, 2014

Since the late '90s, the European outfit known as Polwhechsel has brandished a strikingly unique sound campaign. Other than the dual-drummer percussionists' attack consisting of polytonal cymbals swashes and soft timbres, the music predominately emanates from the lower register schematic via double bassist Werner Daffeldecker and cellist Michael Moser's earthen-toned string implementations. Nonetheless, the quartet depicts a rather surreal paragon with subtle surprises, as an element of the unknown remains a constant throughout its repertoire. It's interesting how ...

Album Review

Alvin Fielder / David Dove / Jason Jackson / Damon Smith: From-To-From

Read "From-To-From" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 13, 2014

This quartet represents a meeting of generations and their approaches to jazz and improvised music. The quartet resembles such early free jazz units as the New York Art Quartet or the Archie Shepp--Roswell Rudd Quartet. Veteran drummer Alvin Fielder--the eldest member, with an encyclopedic knowledge of modern jazz drumming--is known for his extensive collaborations with saxophonist Kidd Jordan, bassist William Parker and trumpeter Dennis González; double bassist Damon Smith studied contemporary music and free improvisation with renowned bass players Lisle ...

Rethinking Jazz Cultures

E. Taylor Atkins: Let's Call This... Our Jazz?

by Ian Patterson
January 13, 2014

African-American vernacular or universal language? Symbol of freedom and equality, or one of nationalist ideals and bourgeois elitism? Folk music or high art? Jazz, since its earliest days, has represented many things to many people. For Professor E. Taylor Atkins, such binary ways of thinking rather over-simplify the arguments. Whereas an either or way of thinking about jazz is merely divisive, Atkins has spent much of the past twenty years arguing for a more inclusive approach to jazz studies, one ...

Live Review

Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia: “Comin’ Home” Concert at the Kimmel Center

by Victor L. Schermer
January 12, 2014

Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Verizon Hall Philadelphia, PA January 7, 2014 Fresh out of the starting gate, the highly touted Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia (JOP), Terell Stafford, Artistic Director, held its first gala concert at a major venue, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. The 17-piece orchestra features both seasoned and up-and-coming Philadelphia musicians with the intent of conveying music composed, ...

Album Review

Slowly Rolling Camera: Slowly Rolling Camera

Read "Slowly Rolling Camera" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
January 12, 2014

A band name--and album title--like Slowly Rolling Camera gives little if anything away about the nature of the music to be experienced on this, the debut album from the UK-based quartet. Good--for surprises can be fun. Once the music becomes familiar--the beautiful, imaginative and ambitious compositions become firmly fixed in the mind--the surprise is revealed to be lots of fun. Two other UK bands, the Cinematic Orchestra and Portishead, are Slowly Rolling Camera's own points of reference for ...

Album Review

Kirk MacDonald: Symmetry

by Jack Bowers
January 12, 2014

Following two splendid albums as leader of his own big band (Deep Shadows, Family Suite for Large Jazz Orchestra), Toronto-based saxophonist / educator Kirk MacDonald has returned to a small-group format for Symmetry, the thirteenth recording on which his name has been listed atop the marquee. In this case, however, any member of MacDonald's quintet could have easily laid claim to the honor, as every one is an all-star in his own right, from the renowned trumpeter Tom Harrell, who ...

Album Review

Hoyt Binder: Prayrie Go Round

Read "Prayrie Go Round" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
January 12, 2014

"Eclectic" is the word that most spontaneously springs to mind when listening to the debut album by Hoyt Binder and it's clear that this guitarist has been influenced by some of the greats, which by his own admission include Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Gambale. Additional solo duties are performed by violinist Trevor Lloyd, who contributes valuable tonal color to most of the tracks. Binder's playing is curiously addictive. He doesn't fall into a trap of shredding, nor does ...

Extended Analysis

Paul Simon: The Complete Albums Collection

by John Kelman
January 11, 2014

If the history books were to be closed on singer/songwriter Paul Simon's career today, he'd have already left a legacy more than sufficient to ensure a substantial chapter. While other emergent songwriters of his day--Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Randy Newman amongst them--have clearly evolved over the years, there's been an underlying approach that's remained consistent across, in many cases, half a century. That's not to dismiss or denigrate these icons of song, only to say that Simon has emerged ...

Album Review

Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz: Genevieve & Ferdinand - Live

Read "Genevieve & Ferdinand - Live" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
January 11, 2014

Kate McGarry has always defied easy classification. She's a jazz singer, and a folk singer too; she could also be filed under mainstream pop, but then, what's all that esoteric Brazilian music doing in her repertoire? The answer is simple: McGarry is her own genre, applying her clear and beautiful voice to whatever material speaks to her soul. This is obvious on Genevieve and Ferdinand, where she's equally passionate and expressive whether interpreting the American Songbook, James Taylor, ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Charlie Peacock

by AAJ Staff
January 11, 2014

Meet Charlie Peacock: Charlie Peacock is an American multi-genre Grammy Award-winning record producer, composer, and recording artist. He has award-winning and chart-topping credits in jazz, gospel, country, folk, Americana, rock, and pop. Lemonade (Twenty Ten Music, 2014) is Peacock's third recording in the jazz genre. His first release, Love Press Ex-Curio (Thirty Tigers, 2005) was followed by Arc of The Circle (Runway Network, 2008), a duet recording with saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Each recording reached the Top 5 ...