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

George Duke: Dream Weaver

by Jeff Winbush
September 2, 2013

The end comes eventually for us all with only the time and method to be determined. Dream Weaver is an album constructed around death, loss, healing and moving on. George Duke lost his wife, Corine, in 2011 as well as guitarist Jef Lee Johnson, and vocalist Teena Marie who passed away in 2010 as she was collaborating with Duke on a jazz album.Despite the sense of loss and sorrow hanging over the recording, Dream Weaver is hardly a ...

Live Review

Anat Cohen & Choro Aventuroso Feat. Leni Andrade at 54 Below

by Ernest Barteldes
September 2, 2013

Anat Cohen & Choro Aventuroso, Feat. Leny Andrade54 BelowNew York, NYAugust 23, 2013The quartet. led by Anat Cohen, kicked off its early set with a selection of classic Brazilian choros that were enhanced by the individual talents of the Israeli reeds player's pan-Brazilian quartet, which featured accordion, acoustic seven-string guitar and pandeiro. The group's chemistry was quite palpable, and the musicians fed on each others' vibes, picking up immediately where one solo left off.

Album Review

Dave Holland: Prism

by Dan Bilawsky
September 2, 2013

Bassist Dave Holland first became a leader-on-record with Conference Of The Birds (ECM, 1973), a now-classic outré quartet session. That initial leader date portrayed Holland as a restless seeker, willing and eager to explore the inner workings of group dynamics and the outer reaches of convention, and he's done little to alter that perception of himself in the intervening years. Holland has, with band after band and album after album, continually broadened his outlook, creating a vast and enviable body ...

Album Review

Mulatu Astatke: Sketches of Ethiopia

Read "Sketches of Ethiopia" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
September 1, 2013

Sketches of Ethiopia is, extraordinarily, the first album Mulatu Astatke, the godfather of Ethio-jazz, has recorded with his own band for an international label of influence. It has been a long time coming and it is a corker.Astatke, on vibraphone and keyboards, is accompanied by his regular touring band, Step Ahead, which has at its core A-list British jazz musicians--among them, trumpeter Byron Wallen, drummer Tom Skinner, bassist John Edwards and reed player James Arden. Step Ahead's 12-piece ...

Live Review

Calexico and My Bloody Valentine at Terraneo Festival

by Nenad Georgievski
September 1, 2013

Calexico and My Bloody ValentineŠibenikTerraneo FestivalAugust 8, 2013Situated in Sibenik, Croatia, the Terraneo festival has almost everything: it is located on the bank of the Adriatic Sea (so crowds of people take their refreshments on the nearby beaches); it is happening in an abandoned industrial complex that has been turned into a festival setting; it has enthusiastic crowds; and it has began to make a name for itself far beyond the borders of Croatia. Though ...

Album Review

Vandeweyer / Van Hove / Lovens / Blume: Quat Live At Hasselt

Read "Quat Live At Hasselt" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
September 1, 2013

In one sense the cover of Quat Live At Hasselt could act as a metaphor for what lies within, due to its focus on a narrow spectral range. At first glance the black appears uniform, punctuated only by the white text. But on further scrutiny, an intricately patterned network of various shades of grey becomes apparent, like the view while flying over mountains at night. Of course the original comparison oversimplifies the wondrous exploration of percussive potential contained within the ...

Live Review

Frank Tusa Quartet at the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society

by Bill Leikam
September 1, 2013

Frank Tusa QuartetBach Dancing & Dynamite SocietyRemembering Chet BakerHalf Moon Bay, CAAugust 11, 2013To honor the memory of the great vocalist and trumpet master Chet Baker, bassist Frank Tusa was inspired to create a concert based on the man and his music. Since Tusa had toured and recorded with Baker, it was natural that he be so inspired. As the tribute took shape, the only drummer right for this concert was San Francisco's ...

Album Review

Gustavo Cortiñas: Snapshot

Read "Snapshot" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
September 1, 2013

Gustavo Cortiñas has long been a musical seeker and sponge. The Mexico City-born drummer relocated to New Orleans in 2007 to pursue a BM in Jazz Studies at Loyola University New Orleans, learn from the best around--like legendary NOLA drum guru Johnny Vidacovich--and soak in the sounds of that storied city. When he completed that degree in 2011, he packed his bags and moved north to the Windy City. While in Chicago, earning his Masters at Northwestern University, Cortiñas came ...

Extended Analysis

Anya Malkiel: From the Heart

by Geannine Reid
September 1, 2013

Anya Malkiel is a Bay Area-based vocalist who grew up in a musical environment in the former Soviet Union. Jazz was taboo, but would nevertheless become a vital part of her life. Malkiel states, “It was always the human voice that drove my musical aspirations." After leaving for the United States in 1990, she shared a stage with the Natural Gas Jazz Band and Chicago 6 on the West Coast festival circuit. This experience opened a world of choices, but ...

Album Review

Dialeto: The Last Tribe

Read "The Last Tribe" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
September 1, 2013

The Last Tribe is the Brazilian prog rock power trio's first release on an international scale, issued by New York City-based Moonjune Records, intimating yet another significant offshore discovery produced by this record label to complement its roster of well-established performers and time-honored bands. Nonetheless, Dialeto is a trio that possesses the goods to make a substantial impact. The musicians nestle these works mainly within slow-to-medium tempos, and project a huge soundscape, partly due to Nelson Coelho's stinging ...