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

Jason Rebello: Anything But Look

Read "Anything But Look" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
November 26, 2013

Though you'd hardly describe six years touring and recording with singer/bassist Sting and six more with guitarist Jeff Beck as languishing in the wilderness, Anything But Look does represent pianist Jason Rebello's first recording of original material since Next Time Around, (Onion, 1999) and his first as leader since Jazz Rainbow (Jumby Records, 2007)--his wonderful reworking of children's songs/themes. Rather than a return to the acoustic jazz of Next Time Round--which featured drummer Jeff 'Tain Watts and bassist Orlando Le ...

Extended Analysis

Dr. Kay & His Interstellar Tone Scientists: The Search for True Happiness

by Eyal Hareuveni
November 26, 2013

Who could guess that about twenty years after the spirit of Sun Ra left this planet and went to higher spheres what will transpire in the chilly winds of Oslo, Norway. But anyone who followed even remotely the unbelievable life of Sun Ra already knows that stranger things have happened. The young heir of the cosmic thinker is Dr. Kay, also known as Dr. Ganesha Kay (and to us, common earthlings, as Arthur Kay Piene), a ...

Album Review

Jim Manley: Short Stories & Tall Tales

Read "Short Stories & Tall Tales" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
November 26, 2013

Back in the 60s, there was a classic James Bond film starring Sean Connery entitled Goldfinger (United Artists, 1964). The key antagonist in the action-packed film was a character named “Auric Goldfinger." He had less than the Midas touch. Conversely, St. Louis-based trumpeter Jim Manley does indeed have that touch as he shines on Short Stories & Tall Tales. With these stories and tales, Manley sends up a series of high-energy selections which run the gamut from ...

Album Review

The Dickens Campaign: Oh Lovely Appearance

Read "Oh Lovely Appearance" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
November 26, 2013

New York-based drummer Deric Dickens' southern roots and inspirations derived from legendary music archivist Alan Lomax morph into an Americana-dappled spectrum of modern jazz on this delightful trio date. The bass-less program summons a capacious platform, as the artists' rural and bluesy twists underscore the modern jazz vernacular. Lomax zigzagged across America in the 1930s with his Model T Ford to document America's unsung folk and blues delegation. But the group effectively projects a contemporary vibe, teeming with insightful storylines ...

Profile

Edmar Castaneda: A World Of Music

by Ian Patterson
November 26, 2013

The harp may be the least common instrument in jazz/improvised music--even the humble kazoo gets more of a run out. Dating back over 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia, the harp in its various guises is common to nearly all cultures across the continents. Throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America the harp is an important element of folk music. The harp is common in Celtic music too, though in Europe it's perhaps more usually associated with the sedate airs of mediaeval ...

Album Review

Mark Orton: Nebraska

Read "Nebraska" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
November 25, 2013

Even without seeing director Alexander Payne's critically acclaimed motion picture Nebraska, the soundtrack evokes a sense of poignant storytelling, motion, and depth. Multi-instrumentalist and film scorer Mark Orton vividly captures the essence of the film's story about a belligerent old man--performed by Bruce Dern who earned “Best Actor" for the role at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival--who is relentlessly determined to collect, in person by the way, the unlikely one million dollar sweepstakes prize he is convinced he's won.

Interview

Jon Cowherd: Mercy, Mercy Me

by Ian Patterson
November 25, 2013

There's more to pianist Jon Cowherd than meets the eye. Best known for his fifteen-year tenure in the Brian Blade Fellowship--with whom he has recorded four outstanding albums--Cowherd has also played and recorded with singers such as Rosanne Cash, Cassandra Wilson, Iggy Pop and Joni Mitchell. Though he's led his own small groups in New York for years he's only now stepping out with his recorded debut as leader. The music on Mercy (Self Produced, 2013) was recorded ...

Live Review

The Hot Sardines at Wildwood Park for the Arts

by C. Michael Bailey
November 25, 2013

The Hot Sardines Wildwood Park for the Arts Little Rock, Arkansas November 15, 2013 Is there a triple point where novelty, entertainment, and art meet? That was the question while watching New York City's period jazz band, the Hot Sardines, stroll through the '20s, '30s, and '40s like they knew Louis and Lil Hardin Armstrong personally. “One of the best jazz bands in New York..." Really? That statement needs qualification, and perhaps I am ...

Album Review

Nnenna Freelon & the John Brown Big Band: Christmas

Read "Christmas" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 25, 2013

Renowned jazz singer Nnenna Freelon's first Christmas album truly is a gift, made possible by a small bequest from her Christmas-loving mother and a long-time friendship with John Brown, director of Duke University's Jazz Studies program and leader of the splendid John Brown Big Band. Brown not only made his ensemble available but co-produced the album with Freelon and released it on his own label, Brown Boulevard Records. It's clear that this is something Freelon has wanted ...

Extended Analysis

Jaga Jazzist: Live with Britten Sinfonia

by Phil Barnes
November 25, 2013

Norwegian collective Jaga Jazzist don't sit comfortably within genre boundaries. Their earlier UK Ninja Tune releases like A Livingroom Hush (2001) and The Stix (2003) suggested a marriage of jazz texture with glitchy, breakbeat driven electronica in a way that was both diverting and interesting, if likely to incite the wrath of the more traditional jazz fan were it to be described as more than “jazz influenced." Later records such as 2005's What We Must and 2008's One Armed Bandit ...