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.

Take Five With...

Take Five With Behn Gillece

by AAJ Staff
December 4, 2013

Meet Behn Gillece: Vibraphonist Behn Gillece began his musical training during his teenage years. Gillece began his studies in percussion while maintaining an interest in jazz. Inspired by greats like Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson, Gillece decided to make a commitment to vibraphone and composition. As a New Jersey native, Behn Gillece performed regularly in his home state and Philadelphia before moving to New York in 2008. Since 2006, Gillece has made a name for himself on ...

Album Review

Ayako Shirasaki: Some Other Time

Read "Some Other Time" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 4, 2013

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but the creator also has a hell of a lot to do with it when it comes to the arts. Every musical performance leaves certain items open for debate for and from those on the receiving end, but some things remain irrefutable because of those on the giving side. In the case of pianist Ayako Shirasaki, the undeniable truth(s) surround her dexterous handiwork on the 88s, melodic clarity, and arranging ingenuity, ...

Live Review

Evan Parker at the The Vortex

by Sammy Stein
December 4, 2013

Evan Parker, John Edwards, John Russell The VortexLondon November 21, 2013 Outside the Vortex a man turned to me and said, “Well, I was expecting something, you know, a bit radical but nothing quite like this!" I knew just what he meant. We had just come outside for some air after the first half of improvised music played by Evan Parker (saxophones), John Edwards (bass) and John Russell (guitar) and I had to ...

Album Review

Jacob Duncan: Invisible House

Read "Invisible House" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
December 4, 2013

Since the politically and culturally turbulent 60s, the word liberation has been incorporated into titles of collectives--remember the radical “Symbionese Liberation Army" and the certainly less violent, but still highly influential “Liberation Orchestra" of bassist Charlie Haden? Even song and album titles from groups as diverse as The Pet Shop Boys and Earth, Wind and Fire have glommed the word for appropriate thematic effect. Perhaps people everywhere just wanna be free, as The Rascals sang back when. ...

Album Review

Don Weller: The First Cut

Read "The First Cut" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
December 4, 2013

From the opening few bars of the first track “Jubileevit" it's clear that this is not the usual jazz rock ensemble. An insistent and memorable riff clearly sets out this long-departed band's métier. The majestic intro to “Dog and Bull Fight" gives way to a hugely satisfying theme, marrying the disparate qualities that made the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the Brotherhood of Breath so successful in their respective paths. The now legendary British saxophonist Don Weller leads this band ...

Inside AAJ

Help All About Jazz Support Jazz

by Michael Ricci
December 4, 2013

Dear friends, All About Jazz has been a leading advocate for jazz music since 1995. Longtime readers have watched us continuously transform our website over the past 18 years, keeping the spirit of the music firmly in mind along the way. We've also done our best to keep pace with technology while finding new and creative ways to report on jazz daily. And we're proud to provide musicians with a free global platform to publicize themselves (and their ...

Album Review

Craig Tweddell Quintet: Away with Words

Read "Away with Words" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
December 3, 2013

Perhaps it's more than coincidental that Craig Tweddell titled this intriguing recording a snowclone--Away With Words. That might be because this exciting Louisville-based trumpeter/composer hosts a noted weekly jam session at a club named for author and poet--Rudyard Kipling--or, it might suggest most correctly that it's the music that does the word speak here. Away With Words delivers ten superb examples of contemporary-flavored jazz that showcase Tweddell's superior trumpet artistry and also his very formidable compositional skills. ...

Album Review

Arve Henriksen: Places of Worship

Read "Places of Worship" reviewed by Phil Barnes

by Phil Barnes
December 3, 2013

Can it really be five years have passed between this release and Arve Henriksen's last material as leader--the wonderful 2008 collection Cartography on ECM? That record featured Jan Bang and Erik Honore, his core collaborators on this excellent collection, alongside the likes of Eivind Aarset, Lars Danielson and David Sylvian to name but a few. Danielson and Aarset guest on one and two of the tracks here respectively but for the most part it is the Henriksen/Bang/Honore axis on which ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Bob Ross

by AAJ Staff
December 3, 2013

Meet Bob Ross: My career in music began when I was 11 years old. I started playing trumpet and continued for seven years. At 14, I began playing guitar and have been doing so for 12 years. In 2008, I graduated from Morehead State University with a Bachelor of Music degree. In 2010 I earned a Master's Degree in Jazz Studies from University of The Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Instrument(s): Guitar. Teachers and/or influences?

Extended Analysis

A Windy Season: Tidal (Amphidromic Cotidal)

by Dave Wayne
December 3, 2013

This album fooled me, and I am not afraid to admit it. A subset of the EA Orchestra, whose recent recording (Likiedos, Amirani Records, 2011) focused on the compositional aspects of avant-garde large ensemble music, A Windy Season is a wind quartet that--at first blush-seems to traverse similar terrain on Tidal. A quick perusal of the liner notes made me blush: the music on Tidal is completely improvised. Or, more precisely, A Windy Season refers to their creations as “instant ...