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.

The Doorman's Diary

Miles Davis’ Birth of The Cool: Origins of the Cool Jazz Movement

by Jeff Winke
December 14, 2013

Hands down the best name for a jazz album is Birth of the Cool. It doesn't make it to The 100 Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time nor is it among the Village Voice's Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die, yet the Miles Davis album, Birth of The Cool, was a pivot point in American jazz. The album became an orchestrated departure from bebop, with the word orchestrated meaning both the use of orchestration and a ...

The Doorman's Diary

Buddy Bolden: The insane life of the Founding Father of Jazz

by Jeff Winke
December 14, 2013

The roots of American jazz twist, turn, and spiral all the way back to the turn of the century... not this century, but the last century. In the 20th century's first decade down in New Orleans, the story is told that one could frequently hear a cornet (which is similar to a trumpet) squawking loudly from the park bandstands and through dance hall windows. With no formal training, Charles “Buddy" Bolden created a unique improvising style with his ...

Live Review

Scene Norway 2 at King's Place

by John Kelman
December 13, 2013

Scene Norway 2 Artist-in-Residence: Nils Petter Molvær King's Place, London, UK November 15-17, 2013 Walking into King's Place, in London, England, is an experience in itself. A building opened in 2008 near King's Cross station in downtown London, it was built with the kind of foresight that is rare these days. Above ground is office space, largely occupied by The Guardian newspaper, along with two restaurants and a large, welcoming open space with plenty ...

Album Review

Dan Fornero: Not So Old School

Read "Not So Old School" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
December 13, 2013

Fornax--now there's a word you probably haven't heard since sophomore Latin class--if ever. It translates as “oven"-- words such as “furnace," al forno and--use your imagination for another example--are derivatives. Whether or not his surname emanates from ancient lingo, one thing is certain: trumpeter Dan Fornero's Not So Old School is indeed both contemporary and burnt-tongue delicious. Well-known by way of his globe-trotting work with Phil Collins, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Neil Diamond and present status as ...

Year in Review

John Kelman's Best Releases of 2013

by John Kelman
December 13, 2013

2013 was a challenging year: more travel than usual, and some family health issues at home slowing things down when it came to reviewing the seemingly endless flow of music coming in each and every day. With hopes that 2014 will be better on that front, here are just a few of the top recorded events in jazz and beyond--and this is by no means all-inclusive; there were plenty of terrific albums for which there simply was insufficient time to ...

Album Review

New Atlantis Octet: Unto The Sun

Read "Unto The Sun" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
December 13, 2013

Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and ex-Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins have brought free jazz players to the attention of new and younger audiences. Moore has recorded with and promoted the music of Paul Flaherty, William Hooker, John Zorn, Chris Corsano, and Mats Gustafsson and Rollins (back in the 90s) with Matthew Shipp, Roscoe Mitchell, and Charles Gayle. Same can be said for Edward Ricart of the free-rock duo Matta Gawa (with drummer Sam Lohman) and the avant-rock ...

Year in Review

John Kelman's Best Live Shows of 2013

by John Kelman
December 13, 2013

Another tremendous year of travel, to find music in whatever nook and cranny it's hiding. From Montréal to Molde, from London to Luleå and from Oslo to Ottawa, it seemed as though there was an endless supply of great music to see--and even more that sadly had to be skipped. Having attended twelve separate events in seven countries and well over 125 separate performances, here's 25 shows that rose to the top of a very, very good list this year, ...

Album Review

Nate Wooley, Seymour Wright: About Trumpet and Saxophone

Read "About Trumpet and Saxophone" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
December 13, 2013

About Trumpet and Saxophone has an intriguing image across the back and front of its double fold-out sleeve. Painted by Geoff Wright in 1968 and entitled Svetlana, it consists of eight images of a woman which, read from left to right, show her dressing from compete nakedness through the donning of items of underwear to full evening dress including long black gloves. It is intriguing not for reasons of sexual politics but because it is so wildly incompatible with the ...

Album Review

Giulia Barba: The Angry St.Bernard

Read "The Angry St.Bernard" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 13, 2013

Italian reed player Giulia Barba uses her debut album to weave highly personal compositions that reflect her interests in visual arts, the European school of jazz, contemporary and world music and most importantly, her great passion for genre-defying music. The Bologna born musician decided to pursue musical studies after she majored in philosophy in the university of Bologna university. Only than she began studying music, first in Italy, than in Amsterdam and completing these studies in Stavanger, Norway, under the ...

Album Review

Noah Rosen / Alan Siva: O.I.L. (Orchestrated Improvised Lives)

Read "O.I.L. (Orchestrated Improvised Lives)" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 13, 2013

Alan Silva is one of the last true heroes of free jazz and improvised music. He was at the right place, at the right time with his own powerful sound. He played, while still playing the double bass, on some of the formative recordings of the forefathers of the sixties free jazz as Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, {[Andrew Hill}} and many others. Later on his own Celestrial Communication Orchestra and Sound Visions Orchestra, when he began ...