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

Steve Hackett: Genesis Revisited - Live at Hammersmith

by John Kelman
December 28, 2013

With such a broad repertoire of classic progressive rock, it's a very good thing, indeed, that guitarist Steve Hackett--despite leaving the group on the cusp of far greater commercial success (but, alas, also compromising its progressive nature)--has kept the music of Peter Gabriel-era (and slightly beyond) Genesis alive since leaving the group in October, 1977. But while Hackett's post-Genesis live sets have, in the ensuing decades, almost always included selections from the group's songbook--beginning with his first appearance with the ...

New York Beat

Samba Christmas at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola

by Nick Catalano
December 28, 2013

The Brazilian tidal wave which has been building throughout the fall at Dizzy's continued its flow with a holiday line-up of samba stalwarts. Led by percussionist Duduka Da Fonseca, pianist Helio Alves and vocalist Maucha Adnet, the all-star group featured sax/ clarinetist Anat Cohen, guitarist Mike Moreno, and bassist Hans Glawischnig. Most interesting in this latest appearance by the Brazilians was the presentation of a mostly new repertoire and a new guest. Early in the second set ...

Album Review

Professor Louie and The Crowmatix: Wings On Fire

Read "Wings On Fire" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 28, 2013

Professor Louie (Aaron Louis Hurwitz) and the Crowmatix hail from the artist colony, Woodstock, NY and have backed guitarist Rick Danko (The Band) amid other projects, along with their notoriety as supreme audience pleasers during live performances. Yet part of the magic lies within the group's harmonically attractive song-forms, replete with memorable themes and the Professor's resonating vibrato-inflected vocal delivery. The ensemble plays several of The Band's comps during live shows and from an organic, honky-tonk standpoint, there ...

Album Review

Skip Wilkins Quartet: Czech Dreams

Read "Czech Dreams" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
December 28, 2013

World-class jazz pianist Skip Wilkins regularly splits his time between Eastern Pennsylvania--where he teaches at Lafayette College in Easton--and Central Europe where he recently spent fifteen months in Prague. Czech Dreams, dedicated to the Czech people, is a result of touring throughout the Czech Republic and Germany and cementing his relationship with friend and Prague-based guitarist Libor Smoldas who is part of this recording. Recorded at Studio Svarov in the Czech Republic, the album offers a selection of eleven sensitive ...

Album Review

John Funkhouser: Still

by Jeffrey Uhrich
December 28, 2013

With the unpredictable sensibility and graceful prowess of a cat, John Funkhouser and his core trio draw the listener into Still, an intelligent and poignant collection of alluring tracks that display an inner sense of musical exploration and innovation. Funkhouser is masterful as both a musician and composer/arranger, maintaining a delicate balance of power and agility with an instinctive musical sense to pull back and allow his fellow musicians to explore their musical ideas. It is as if ...

Album Review

Victory Jazz Quartet: Origin

Read "Origin" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
December 27, 2013

Most of the jazz fusion groups of the 1970s threw more instruments into the mix than flugelhornist Al Moretti does on Origin. His Victory Jazz Quartet finds Moretti with his horn, fronting a simple rhythm section--keyboard, bass and drums. Fusion evolved from trumpeter Miles Davis' In a Silent Way (Columbia Records, 1969), sparkling music woven with a tight tapestry of instrumentation, featuring three keyboardists. Moretti's pared-down approach allows the music more breathing room. The title tune ...

Book Review

Being Here: Conversations On Creating Music

by Ian Patterson
December 27, 2013

Being Here: Conversations On Creating Music Radhika Philip 461 pages ISBN: 13:978-0-989-488006 Radio.org 2013 New York has been the incubator for much of the most dynamic music in the history of jazz. For Bombay-born anthropologist Radhika Philip, witnessing one gig in Smalls was a life-changer. Seduced by the energy of the performance, the thrilling improvisations and the musicians' joyous communication, Philip was inspired to interview some of today's greatest improvisers and composers ...

Album Review

MoFrancesco Quintetto: Maloca

by Chris Mosey
December 27, 2013

A maloca is an ancestral long house used by Indians in the Amazonian jungle to receive outsiders and exchange knowledge and ideas. Italian bassist Francesco Valente became fascinated with the idea of the maloca on a trip to Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. A close perusal of the album cover reveals him doing a push-up between the M and the L of MALOCA at Uyuni, in Bolivia as a tropical storm looms. Valente, 39, now ...

Album Review

Ofir Shwartz Trio: Shades of Fish

Read "Shades of Fish" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 27, 2013

On his sophomore release, Israeli pianist Ofir Shwartz leads a new trio comprised with Israeli double bassist Gal Shaya and Slovenian drummer Gasper Bertoncelj. This release features Shwartz's progression as a composer and bandleader since his debut release, Earlier in time (sHmoo Records, 2010). Shwartz's vocabulary draws inspiration from modern jazz-- mainly in its myriad lyrical incarnations, pop songs, and progressive and heavy rock. His gift to sketch highly melodic themes is apparent throughout this recording. His trio ...

Album Review

Cory Wright Outfit: Apples + Oranges

Read "Apples + Oranges" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 27, 2013

Oakland, California based reedman Cory Wright (Anthony Braxton, Vinny Golia & Yusef Lateef delivers a manifold and juxtaposing ensemble date on Apples + Oranges. It doesn't take too long to determine that the album poses a surfeit of diagonally opposed viewpoints. Other than the highly emphatic and synergistic group-centric output, Wright's compositions hit the mark, and this is one of those very special endeavors that excites, entertains and sustains interest. Wright's involvement with visionary composer and improviser, Anthony ...