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.

Extended Analysis

Paul McCartney: New

by Mike Perciaccante
October 26, 2013

Welcome back Paul McCartney. For lack of a better phrase, he's back to where he once belonged. He's released a collection of songs that is all at once lyrically pleasing, Beatlesque, forward-thinking, modern, vintage and above all else rocking. On New, Sir Paul sounds re-energized. Gone are the introspective, reflective and somewhat somber lyrics and music that plagued Memory Almost Full (Hear Music, 2007), his last collection of original offerings (2012's Hear Music release Kisses On The Bottom was a ...

Album Review

Stewy von Wattenwyl: After the Rain

Read "After the Rain" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 26, 2013

After the storm has passed through, after the rain, with the sunbeams peaking though the breaking clouds, the day takes on an unblemished clarity. The horizon's sharp edge separates land from sky. Details of the landscape shine with fine detail. That after-the-rain clarity and focus is what elevates the artistic endeavor. Swiss pianist Stewy von Wattenwyl, with recordings like the trio outing Dienda (Brambus Reocrds, 2005), and the quartet set with saxophonist Eric Alexander, Live at Marians (Bemsha Music, 2009), ...

Live Review

Ian Anderson at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury

by Mike Perciaccante
October 26, 2013

Ian Anderson NYCB Theatre At Westbury Westbury, New York October 8, 2013 Ian Anderson is a Scottish singer-songwriter who rose to fame as the flute-playing lead singer of the progressive British rock band Jethro Tull. Throughout its career, Jethro Tull released some of the rock era's most beloved albums, including: Benefit (Chrysalis Records, 1970), Aqualung (Chrysalis Records, 1971), Minstrel in the Gallery (Chrysalis Records, 1975), Crest of A Knave (Chrysalis Records, 1987), which somehow and ...

Album Review

Alexander Baboian: Alex Baboian - Piano Bench

Read "Alex Baboian - Piano Bench" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
October 26, 2013

Jazz trio treatment of classical music is nothing new. French pianist Jacques Loussier has been doing it for 30 years with releases like Bach: The Brandenburgs (Telarc, 2006) and Mozart Piano Concertos 20/23 (Telarc, 2006), among many others. So, Alex Baboian's Piano Bench might not appear as novel as it is. But it is unique in that guitarist Baboian arranges late-Romantic piano compositions for the jazz guitar trio. No Bach, no Mozart, no Beethoven, all are too ...

Interview

Christine Jensen: Impressionism

by George Colligan
October 25, 2013

[ Editor's Note: The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth] I was first exposed to alto saxophonist Christine Jensen through working with her trumpet playing sister Ingrid Jensen. We played some of her music, which really struck me as direct, mature, grounded and highly creative. Later on I got to meet her; unfortunately, we have not played together much (except for maybe one or two jam sessions years ago). I hope that will be rectified ...

Album Review

Dexter Gordon: North Sea Jazz Legendary Concerts

Read "North Sea Jazz Legendary Concerts" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
October 25, 2013

The North Sea Jazz festival has an immense archive of filmed concert performances, which makes its Legendary Concerts CD/DVD series an eye-wateringly interesting prospect. The first eight volumes--featuring tenor saxophonists Dexter Gordon, Yuri Honing and Wayne Shorter, pianist Michael Borstlap, guitarist Jan Akkerman, and trumpeters Miles Davis, Eric Vloeimans and Dizzy Gillespie--are all cherry-pickingly good, and more releases are planned. Already, Legendary Concerts is a major event. Recorded and filmed at The Hague's Carrousel Zaal during the 1979 ...

Multiple Reviews

A Pair On Polí5: DoMa Ensemble and Limbo

by Dan Bilawsky
October 25, 2013

Polí5 is a small, Prague-based imprint that takes its name from the bookstore/cultural hub from whence the music comes. The store opened its doors in 2006, but its proprietors were involved in supporting independent artists long before that. Under the name “Manuzio," they “ran the 'Apartment gallery,' held concerts and theatre performances and published low-edition book publications" in the '90s. This zeal for independent artistry continued when the store opened, as the owners began to host small ...

Album Review

MAGIMC: Polishing The Mirror

Read "Polishing The Mirror" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
October 25, 2013

The only thing that's puzzling about Polishing the Mirror is the album's title. I cannot fathom its significance. The music, on the other hand, is as direct and as immediate as it gets. Here, we have the wonderful improvising pianist Thollem McDonas in no-holds-barred free-jazz mode. Accompanied by saxophonist Eduardo Marraffa and percussionist Stefano Giust--two of Italy's finest young improvising musicians--McDonas cuts loose with some truly radical, and truly lovely, piano playing. Marraffa, who co-leads the wonderful free jazz group ...

Extended Analysis

The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion

by John Kelman
October 25, 2013

With the tragic passing of Michael Brecker in 2007 at the all-too-young age of 57, it seemed that the flagship group the Brecker Brothers, co-led by the saxophonist with his trumpet-wielding older brother Randy, was also to be a thing of the past. But some things never die; as it was, during the saxophonist's lifetime, the horn-led band that defined the term “downtown funk" and an edgy, urban sound that could only have come from New York City seemed to ...

Album Review

John Escreet: Sabotage and Celebration

Read "Sabotage and Celebration" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
October 25, 2013

The music of composer and pianist John Escreet is a profound discovery. Each of his releases has been a revelation and an opportunity to scrutinize a major talent in the midst of his creative process. Not satisfied to work within 'the jazz tradition,' he assimilates multiple styles and musical models into his compositions. Drawing from 20th century classical, electronica, free jazz, and funk sensibilities, he sculpts a highly organized sound, often out of chaos. That said, Sabotage and ...