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

Francois Cotinaud / Barre Phillips / Henri Roger / Emmanuelle Somer: No Meat Inside

Read "No Meat Inside" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
October 5, 2013

This live documentation of an ad-hoc French free improvising quartet was done at the festival Jazz sous les bigaradiers at La Gaude near Nice in November 2012. The friendly atmosphere of the club So What as well as the warm reception of the audience inspired the quartet for this noisy, wild, poetic and free performance. The quartet is comprised of highly experienced free improvisers: reed players François Cotinaud-- who collaborated before with saxophonist Steve Lacy, double bassist ...

Album Review

Sergio Wagner / Alan Zimmerman: Backstage Sally

Read "Backstage Sally" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
October 5, 2013

Those listeners enamored with the classic sound of hard bop modernism that Blue Note propelled in the '50s and early '60s will be well served by Argentinian label Rivorecords whose catalog basks in the swinging sounds of the past, but adds a contemporary touch of urgency. Label boss Justo Lo Prete has found a winning formula: top-notch Argentinian jazz musicians playing hard bop classics and standards in sophisticated arrangements, with the occasional original thrown in for good ...

Album Review

Ron Aprea: Remembering Blakey

Read "Remembering Blakey" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
October 5, 2013

Legendary drummer Art Blakey, he of the eponymous Jazz Messengers, is regularly attributed with saying: “Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life." Well, if that's the case, this superb recording from saxophonist Ron Aprea and his cleaning crew certainly left the studio spotless, and themselves, to be somewhat crude but oh-so accurate, assless.This is a very fine recording--a cooker--in the hippest and hottest of Hard Bop traditions. With a dozen selections from speedballs ("Flown the Coup") to ...

Album Review

Stephen Stills: Carry On

by Carlo Wolff
October 5, 2013

Stephen Stills is a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter who has contributed remarkable, deeply human--and humanizing--songs to the rock 'n' roll canon for going on 52 years. An unabashed liberal who has contributed to numerous political campaigns over the years, Stills puts passion and conviction into his artistry. He always has. Remember the first time you heard “For What It's Worth," the Buffalo Springfield debut released in spring 1967? It set protest in a perfect pop frame, articulating the potent blend ...

Album Review

Mariano Loiacono Noneto: Hot House

Read "Hot House" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard

by Jakob Baekgaard
October 4, 2013

Bigger isn't necessarily better, but there's no denying that the expanded line-up of the nonet is a format that adds new nuances to the Argentinian trumpeter Mariano Loiacono. Loiacono is one of the mainstays on Justo Lo Prete's Rivorecords and has previously released the excellent What's New? (Rivorecords, 2011) and Warm Valley (Rivorecords, 2011). Hot House is a radical departure from the chamber-like setting and warm flugelhorn-sound of the latter and instead elaborates on the brassy bop-punch ...

Live Review

Elizabeth Kontomanou at Tanjazz Festival 2013

by Mehdi El Mouden
October 4, 2013

Elizabeth Kontomanou Tanjazz Festival Palais des Institutions Italiennes Tangier, Morocco September 21, 2013 Females have always held an important position in the jazz world, especially as singers. Since the demise of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and some unforgettable female voices, other singers have arisen vying for attention, willing to keep the tradition of the word in jazz and the worldess sound as well. One of those staunch perpetuators is vocalist Elizabeth Kontomanou. ...

Album Review

Fatum Brothers Jazz Orchestra: Live in Chicago

Read "Live in Chicago" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 4, 2013

For their second album, the talented Fatum brothers (twins, as it happens), Michael on trumpet, John on drums, introduced their admirable Jazz Orchestra to an appreciative audience at Chicago's venerable Jazz Showcase in July 2013 for a concert of mostly original compositions on which unbridled old-school swinging is the order of the day. Jazz standards by Benny Golson ("Stablemates"), Miles Davis ("Donna Lee") and the Gershwin brothers' “They Can't Take That Away from Me" rub shoulders with themes by members ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Pål Nyberg

by AAJ Staff
October 4, 2013

Meet Pål Nyberg: Pål Nyberg is an internationally working guitarist and composer. Recently, Nyberg released his debut album Culture of Peace (Stockholm Jazz, 2013). Over the past few years, he has been involved in numerous international projects with collaborators from most parts of Europe, South and North America, as well as the Far East. Since graduating the renowned Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2010, he has been busy traveling and playing with many of the great young improvisers of ...

Album Review

Nicolas Bearde: Visions

by Dan Bilawsky
October 4, 2013

Vocalist Nicolas Bearde has carved out a comfortable niche in the soul-meets-jazz area of the music world. His previous albums--Crossing The Line (Right Groove Records, 2003), All About Love (Right Groove Records, 2004) and Live at Yoshi's--a Salute to Lou (Right Groove Records, 2008)--showcase his songwriting and suave delivery while also pointing toward those who've inspired and influenced him, like Lou Rawls, Donny Hathaway and Bill Withers. On this, his fourth self-released effort, Bearde works his magic ...

Album Review

Nate Wooley - Peter Evans - Jim Black - Paul Lytton: Trumpet and Drums: Live in Ljubljana

Read "Trumpet and Drums: Live in Ljubljana" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
October 4, 2013

Given the unorthodox instrumentation, there's a little more than meets the eyes and ears on this quartet effort recorded at a jazz festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Each musician is highly respected within the progressive and avant jazz communities. Yet the band doesn't bridge the playing field with tireless bashing and cacophonous exchanges, which are components that may seem inherent under the assumption that the unorthodox group format may be conducive to a free-form crash and burn contest. On the contrary, ...