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.

Bailey's Bundles

Christmas I - A Handel’s Messiah Throw Down, 2013...

by C. Michael Bailey
November 16, 2013

The 2005 article George Frideric Handel and His Messiah: The Perfect Holiday Collection provided an introduction to George Frideric Handel and his most popular composition, Messiah. Il caro Sassone, as Handel was known, was a larger-than-life figure in Age of Enlightenment England as his oratorio on the life of Christ would realize scarcely being out of performance rotation in the since its premiere in Dublin in 1742. There have been several new recordings and notable re- releases ...

Album Review

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica Quartet: Where Here Meets There

Read "Where Here Meets There" reviewed by Jeffrey Uhrich

by Jeffrey Uhrich
November 16, 2013

Fasten your seat belt and make sure your seat is in an upright position. In Where Here Meets There, Mr. Ho's Orchestra travels the world and through time, using an intriguing fusion of genres and unusual instrumentation to create this mesmerizing collection of musical works. The listener is challenged and persuaded to attempt to identify and define which world musical influences are at play in any given moment, and the album abounds with an appreciation of composers of the past ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Hoyt Binder

by AAJ Staff
November 16, 2013

Meet Hoyt Binder: Hoyt Binder is a guitarist/composer who has a passion for deep music. Inspired by The Creative, he creates music for the sake of music. With influences ranging from 20th century composers, to jazz, rock, pop, and folk, he is a big fan of the progressive movement in the late '60s when music was in a very spiritual matter. Instrument(s): Guitar. Teachers and/or influences? I have studied with Ron Eschete, Jeff ...

Album Review

Mike Jones: Plays Well With Others

Read "Plays Well With Others" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
November 16, 2013

Pianist Mike Jones has got a really sweet deal going. He is the opening act for the Penn and Teller Las Vegas Show. He is also now the heir apparent to the late pianist Gene Harris' commanding style of two-handed keyboard barrel housing. Harris was a master of propulsive and deliberate piano playing. He had all the firepower needed to make whatever he played: ballads, blues, jump tunes, up-tempo, no matter, when Gene Harris played something, you knew it was ...

Live Review

Paul Sanchez at the Little Gem Saloon

by Mike Perciaccante
November 16, 2013

Paul Sanchez The Little Gem Saloon New Orleans, LA October 31, 2013 The Little Gem Saloon is considered by many music historians as one of the birthplaces of jazz. The historic New Orleans watering hole, restaurant and live music venue that dates back to 1904. Located in the historic “Back O' Town" neighborhood bordering on the infamous Storyville red-light district, Jelly Roll Morton, Freddie Keppard and Buddy Bolden are said to have performed and imbibed ...

Album Review

Edward Ricart Quartet + Paul Dunmall: Chamaeleon

Read "Chamaeleon" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
November 16, 2013

The sophomore album of guitarist Edward Ricart's powerful quartet (after Ancón, Slam, 2011), now augmented with legendary British saxophonist Paul Dunmall, is a masterful demonstration of free jazz mixed with inspirations from alternative, avant-rock outfits. Ricart, whose list of collaborations covers an impressive spectrum, ranging from hardcore punk band Black Flag and Japanese noise master Merzbow to iconic free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and trumpeter Roy Campbell. Accordingly, Ricart guitar lines encompass elements from the brutal ...

Live Review

Tampere Jazz Happening 2013

by John Ephland
November 15, 2013

Tampere Jazz Happening Tampere, Finland October 31-November 3, 2013 It all started with a whimper. Or, rather, a quiet, almost serene drum roll. You knew things were going to eventually explode, but, of course, the getting there was half the fun. The Danish drum duo Toto was working in tandem in what was to be the eventual drum suite of all sticks and no cymbals (apart from hi-hats). The main floor of the rustic, atmospheric, funky ...

Album Review

Earl MacDonald and the Creative Opportunity Workshop: Mirror of the Mind

Read "Mirror of the Mind" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
November 15, 2013

Death Defying Records, it says on the cover. A doom-laden title for a record label but any expectations of a frenzy of black metal or gangster rap are soon dispelled by the beautiful cello and piano interplay on the opening bars of the title track. Mirror Of The Mind, from pianist Earl MacDonald and the Creative Opportunity Workshop, is an album that surprises and delights--from the unusual piano, cello, sax and percussion line-up to the mix of styles and inspirations ...

Live Review

Aurora Trio at Dachau Kultur-Schranne, Germany

by John Sharpe
November 15, 2013

Aurora Trio: Agusti Fernandez, Barry Guy and Ramon Lopez Dachau Kultur-Schranne GermanyOctober 26, 2013 In an artform as mutable as jazz, nothing is ever finished. So it was that even in the soundcheck, Catalan pianist Agusti Fernandez and virtuoso English bassist Barry Guy were still tweaking some of their arrangements. Not that you would have known once the Aurora Trio got underway, such was the obvious pleasure taken in the spontaneous interaction between the threesome. ...

Album Review

Dig A Little Deeper: Songs From The Small Hours

Read "Songs From The Small Hours" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
November 15, 2013

The title of the debut recording from guitarist Mick Stuart's quintet Dig A Little Deeper captures pretty well the mood of the music--a late night vibe of sultry vocal jazz with brushes and earthy bass setting the mood. Singer Riona Hartman's pure-toned voice holds center stage on eleven original compositions that are notable for their simple narrative flow. Had the order of the songs been rearranged this could almost have been a song cycle tracing the various stages of love, ...