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.

Interview

Rabih Abou Khalil: Bridging Cultural Divides

by Nenad Georgievski
December 11, 2013

Rabih Abou Khalil is one of the most respected virtuoso oud players and composers whose wide range of interests and insatiable curiosity for new music from around the globe has significantly enriched his own work. His music is his own universe where an ongoing dialogue between Khalil and the rest of the world has been occurring. He was born and raised in the cosmopolitan climate of Beirut, Lebanon, before the civil war that ravaged his homeland forced him to leave ...

Year in Review

C. Michael Bailey's Best Recordings of 2013

by C. Michael Bailey
December 11, 2013

For the last number of years I have been devoting myself almost exclusively to jazz vocals. This will be reflected this year as I will provide two best-of-2013 lists: one for (primarily) jazz vocals and one for everything else. Each year, there is more of both released than can be listened to. Vocal jazz continues to enjoy an overwhelming wealth of talent that is, by and large, very good. That said, one could readily believe that everyone ...

Album Review

David Bennett Thomas: Headspace

Read "Headspace" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
December 11, 2013

Pianist David Bennett Thomas is a bit of a Renaissance guy when it comes to music. A gifted composer of classical and choral, chamber and orchestral music, he also veers on occasion into the jazz world. He brings to jazz a cerebral approach that is also engaging on a purely kick-back-and-listen level. It is with repeated listens that the music reveals its depth. Bennett's 2012 jazz offering, Jazz Portrait (Vectordisc Records) took for its inspiration the writing ...

Extended Analysis

Gary Smulyan / Dominic Chianese: Bella Napoli

by Dan Bilawsky
December 11, 2013

Capri records seems to be committed to promoting meetings between actor-singers and jazz heavies. First came the pairing of Wilford Brimley and drummer Jeff Hamilton's trio in September of 2013. Now, right on the heels of that release comes a meeting between Dominic Chianese--best known as Uncle Junior on HBO's The Sopranos--and baritone saxophone ace Gary Smulyan. Together, they bridge the gap between Canzone Napoletana and jazz. Smulyan, the long-reigning king of the baritone saxophone, has a ...

Album Review

Taylor Ho Bynum: Navigation (Possible Abstracts XII & XIII)

Read "Navigation (Possible Abstracts XII & XIII)" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
December 11, 2013

If Duke Ellington and Anthony Braxton were able to mix their DNA and reproduce themselves, the cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum would certainly be their scion. The best example of this Ellington/Braxton spawn is the latest recordings by Bynum's Sextet: the simultaneous release of an LP with digital download of the live date Navigation (Possible Abstracts X & XI) and a studio session, Navigation (Possible Abstracts XII & XIII), augmented here by drummer Chad Taylor to form a 7-tet.

Album Review

Noam Lemish / George Marsh: Nightfall

Read "Nightfall" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 11, 2013

Nightfall is the second recording of Israeli, Toronto-based, pianist Noam Lemish and veteran Bay Area drummer and educator George Marsh (after Yes And, 2008). The set of original compositions and improvisations feature the breadth of their musical universes. Lemish studied classical music and jazz in Israel, and continued his studies under the tutelage of composer W.A. Mathieu in Sonoma, California. He then went on to teach music in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan before settling in Toronto. Marshs' resume includes ...

Album Review

Jomi Massage: Primitives

Read "Primitives" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 11, 2013

Jomi Massage is the alter-ego of Danish musician Signe Høirup Wille-Jørgensen. The title is borrowed from what she describes as “an innocent but kinky massage-device, from a 60's collection of beauty and health products" (actually, the first electric vibrator available to Danes). She has been active in the alternative Danish scene since the mid-nineties, beginning with the noise outfit Murmur, later morphed into the experimental rock band Speaker Bite Me and since 2000 as a solo artist under the name ...

Album Review

Harrison Bankhead Quartet: Velvet Blue

Read "Velvet Blue" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
December 10, 2013

Harrison Bankhead's time has come. The Advancement of Creative Music (AACM) is on a roll with the release of Velvet Blue. For decades, the bassist has been the bedrock upon which great Chicago jazz has been built. He was the foundation for legendary players like Fred Anderson, Von Freeman, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Malachi Thompson and a collaborator with Nicole Mitchell in the Indigo Trio and Hamid Drake and Ernest Dawkins with the Chicago Trio. In ...

Album Review

Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/Whit Dickey/Gerald Cleaver: Enigma

by Mark Corroto
December 10, 2013

With a half a dozen releases in both 2012 and 2013, one might fear that tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman may begin to repeat himself. To put it succinctly--not a chance. Enigma features players very familiar to the saxophonist, yet in a completely new lineup. Invited here is pianist Matthew Shipp, Perelman's alter ego and two drummers, Whit Dickey and Gerald Cleaver. Both drummers have wielded sticks for Perelman and Shipp. Dickey is heard on the quartet session The ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Eyal Lovett

by AAJ Staff
December 10, 2013

Meet Eyal Lovett: Israeli-bron pianist and composer Eyal Lovett creates a wide range of music. Although classically trained, he is deeply immersed in the jazz tradition, as well as other musical traditions rotted from Israel and the Middle East. Lovett's debut album, Let Go (Self Produced, 2013), was recently released this past November. Let Go features Kenneth Dahl Knudsen on bass, drummer Aidan Lowe, and appearances from guitarist Ramiro Olaciregui, and Malte Schiller on soprano-saxophone.