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

Adam Rongo: Tell Your Story

Read "Tell Your Story" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
December 6, 2013

Young saxophonist Adam Rongo introduces himself to a national audience on the appropriately-titled Tell Your Story, delivering a sparkling debut of straight ahead post-bop material featuring a seasoned cast of players superbly interpreting a selection of new and exciting cover tunes--all telling a musical story that is unfolding quite nicely. Originally from Essexville, Michigan, and coming from a musical family, Rongo gravitated to the saxophone, studied in Chicago as well as at Michigan State University and learned the jazz ropes ...

Album Review

Erland Dahlen / Hallvard Hagen / Bjorn Charles Dreyer: wESTA MAN

Read "wESTA MAN" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 6, 2013

The ambient soundscapes of the project wESTA MAN feature fascinating sounds that portray the dark world of the seas and seabed, engines, machines and ships around the Mtoni Marine Center in Zanzibar. Three Norwegian sound experimentalists devised this project, drummer Erland Dahlen, member of the Nils Petter Molvær Trio, who released last year an excellent solo album, Rolling Bomber (Hubro music, 2012), free lance guitarist Bjorn Charles Dreyer, who recorded two duo albums with Dahlen (This is not Sweden and ...

Live Review

Live From Old York: Delta Saxophone Quartet, Ballaké Sissoko, Larry Miller & Blackbeard's Tea Party

by Martin Longley
December 5, 2013

Delta Saxophone Quartet The Chapel November 22, 2013 The Delta Saxophone Quartet's best-known album is Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening (MoonJune, 2007) which tackled the music of Soft Machine, particularly concentrating on the the output of bassist/composer Hugh Hopper. Delta is a group which ostensibly exists within the modern classical sphere, but this gig emphasised the expansiveness of their musical concerns. The set shifted focus from minimalism to ambient to rock'n'roll, ...

Album Review

Nicolas Meier: Kismet

by Bruce Lindsay
December 5, 2013

Guitarist Nicolas Meier is blessed with precise intonation, fluid technique and mastery of a range of different styles. As a composer, he mixes influences from Turkey, central Europe, Iberia and the Americas to craft accessible, melodic tunes. On Kismet his talents as musician and writer come together to create what might be his best album to date. Meier is not only one of the jazz world's most exciting guitarists, he's also one of its more prolific recording artists. ...

Album Review

Rene Marie: I Wanna Be Evil: With Love to Eartha Kitt

Read "I Wanna Be Evil: With Love to Eartha Kitt" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
December 5, 2013

Iconoclastic and often enigmatic singer Rene Marie was plain when she once said that she never wished to record a tribute disc. After four successful recordings with MAXJAZZ, including one (Vertigo (2001)) provocatively pairing “Dixie" with “Strange Fruit," Marie took a hard left to address in music some of her pressing artistic concerns. This resulted in 2011's Black Lace Freudian Slip (Motema) and her loving ode to America, Voice of My Beautiful Country (Motema, 2011). No, Marie had no intention ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Steve Myerson

by AAJ Staff
December 5, 2013

Meet Steve Myerson: Steve Myerson has performed, recorded, and/or toured with The Stylistics, Christian McBride, Frank Lacy of The Jazz Messengers, Gianni Russo, Grover Washington, Jr. Sony Grosso, and worked as a Program Manager for Jazz House Kids. Myerson's film credits including arranging music and performing for the film Brooklyn Lobster, which stars Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin, Comcast commercials, and Mars Candy. Myerson is currently the pianist for NJ Soul & Jazz Review, Deftet Jazz Trio, ...

Album Review

Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Electro Acoustic Orchestra: The Space Between

Read "The Space Between" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
December 5, 2013

Musical adventurer Rob Mazurek's The Space Between is a provocative and heady fusion of sight and sound. The double disc set includes an audio CD and a DVD containing performance and multimedia artist Marianne M. Kim's haunting, abstract video accompaniment to the music. The forty-minute suite is divided conveniently, and perhaps whimsically, into eight segments of 5 minutes each. The tracks however flow into each other with no physical or conceptual breaks. The sonic backdrop is synth heavy ...

Album Review

Rich Rosenthal: Falling Up

Read "Falling Up" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 5, 2013

At a young age, New York-based guitarist Rich Rosenthal guitarist, was weaned on the cutting-edge sounds of Steve Lacy, Sun Ra, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and other iconoclasts, broadening the jazz vernacular. With a lack of family support for becoming a career musician, Rosenthal needed to work through some inner-conflicts, while subsequently completing a jazz program at New York City's New School. Moving forward, the artist gigged with hornist Joe McPhee, bassist Dominic Duval and others amid studies with ...

Live Review

Brad Mehldau at The National Concert Hall, Dublin

by Ian Patterson
December 4, 2013

Brad Mehldau National Concert Hall Dublin, Ireland December 1, 2013 The National Concert Hall of Dublin is a long way from the bars and clubs of Greenwich Village, New York, where pianist Brad Mehldau cut his teeth in the early 1990s. Originally built for the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865 this impressive edifice is the home of classical music in Ireland. The venue says much, not only about Mehldau's status, but about jazz's credentials as ...

Album Review

Rachael Cohen: Halftime

Read "Halftime" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
December 4, 2013

The Shetland Islands, way up north off the coast of Scotland, have a long and noble history of producing fine folk and roots musicians. They've never really garnered plaudits for their jazzers, but that might be about to change. The islands were home to saxophonist Rachael Cohen for the first dozen years of her life and on the evidence of debut album Halftime those pre-teen years have helped to develop a promising new talent. So who's accompanying Cohen ...