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.

Catching Up With

Snarky Puppy: The Whole Family

by Tyler Henderson
September 25, 2013

Snarky Puppy is currently one of the freshest sounds in modern jazz. Lead by bassist Michael League, the young troupe of North Texas grads mixed in with the best and brightest of the New York and Dallas music scenes features a funk and groove style that can't be matched. Snarky Puppy is coming off of a year where their 2012 album/DVD, groundUP, reached critically acclaimed heights with funky hits such as “Thing of Gold," “Young Stuff" and “Binky." ...

Interview

Ruth Price: LA's Jazz Jewel Keeping the Jazz Bakery Alive

by Chuck Koton
September 24, 2013

The LA jazz scene has endured immeasurably painful blows over the years, from the post-World War II death of the once vibrant action on Central Ave (unequivocably among jazz history's most significant locales) to the more recent shuttering of memorable clubs like Shelly's Manne Hole, Donte's and, most recently, Charlie Os. Intrepid jazz entrepreneur Rocco Somazzi tried at least three times: with Rocco's, up on Beverly Glen; then Cafe Metropol, downtown when there barely was a downtown; and finally, in ...

Album Review

Paolo Benedettini: Paolo Benedettini Quartet

Read "Paolo Benedettini Quartet" reviewed by Francesco Martinelli

by Francesco Martinelli
September 24, 2013

I'm afraid a little local pride is in order here. Bassist Paolo Benedettini hails from my hometown of Pisa, and the disc has been recorded and produced locally in cooperation with the Jazzwide organization, very active in promoting events both in the club of the same name as well as in other venues of the Leaning Tower city thanks to the passion and committment of Francesco Mariotti.Not that I see Paolo very much in town, unless he has ...

Reassessing

Art Tatum: Solo Masterpieces, Volume One

by C. Michael Bailey
September 24, 2013

Art TatumSolo Masterpieces, Volume OneOJC1975/2013 If blues icon Robert Johnson is a phantom, then pianist Art Tatum is a myth. In spite of James Lester's 1995 biography Too Marvelous For Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum (Oxford University Press, 1995), little is known of Tatum, whose piano talent has yet to be equaled more than fifty years after his death. It is acknowledged by more than one authority that ...

Album Review

Michael Pedicin: Why Stop Now/Ubuntu

Read "Why Stop Now/Ubuntu" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
September 24, 2013

Michael Pedicin, like many a tenor saxophonist, bows at the altar of John Coltrane. Pedicin's work in the past has frequently referenced that iconic figure through theme, spirit, sound and/or song selection, and he continues along a similar path on Why Stop Now/Ubuntu. For his twelfth outing as a leader, Pedicin crafted a program that speaks in different musical tongues but aims to deliver a single message. Ubuntu, as a term and philosophy, is all about humanity, ...

Album Review

Erika Dagnino Quartet: Signs

by Eyal Hareuveni
September 24, 2013

Italian poet Erika Dagnino runs a transatlantic- bilingual career. In Europe she works with avant-garde and free jazz musicians as Italian violinist stefano Pastor}] and English saxophonist {{George Haslam. In the States she recorded with avant-garde composer and pianist Chris Brown and leads her own New-York based free jazz quartet comprised of reed player Ras Moshe, double bassist Ken Filiano and percussionist John Pietaro. The setting of fiery free jazz fits the uncompromising temper of Dagnino's poetry ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With William Mentz

by AAJ Staff
September 24, 2013

Meet William Mentz: William Mentz has been performing, touring, and recording music since 1974. Mentz has recorded and released six albums, numerous commercial jingles and voice-overs, and logged over 7,500 live shows around the globe. William Mentz has fronted trios and 13- piece horn bands. He has always had the knack of making the stage his home, whether it is a quant bistro in Point Richmond, CA or in front of 65,000 people at Stern Wheel Reggata in ...

Album Review

Niacin: Krush

by Glenn Astarita
September 24, 2013

After a lengthy hiatus, the high-impact progressive rock and jazz-fusion trio fires back with its 6th studio album. The respective musicians' demanding schedules as first-call session aces and ongoing affiliations with other bands, both in and out of the studio, spans multiple jazz and rock related genres. Here, the trio's vigorous turbo-powered gait remains intact, along with its demanding rhythmic blueprint. The band tackles guitarist Al DiMeola's fusion classic “Majestic Dance," originally appearing on Return to Forever's 1976 ...

Interview

Leron Thomas: Zen-Mode Humor

by DanMichael Reyes
September 23, 2013

The chances of four people conducting a Google search on Leron Thomas that result in all four of them to make the same conclusion about the trumpeter is low. While certain facts--like his time at High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (PVA) in Houston and The New School in New York--will remain true, arguments might arise about the genre he plays and what his role as an artist is. A listen to “Silly Ass," the first track on ...

Album Review

Clark Sommers: Ba(SH)

Read "Ba(SH)" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 23, 2013

There's something quite “free" about a trio without a guitar or piano in the mix, with no chords nailing the sound down. Seattle's Origin Records has a history of offering up excellent saxophone/bass/drums outings: bassist Jeff Johnson's Near Earth (2004) and Free (2000), and drummer John Bishop's Nothing If Not Something (2006). Now three veterans of the Chicago jazz scene have teamed up under bassist Clark Sommers' leader baton for an organic sounding outing. Enlisting saxophonist Geof Bradfield ...