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

Eddie Daniels & Roger Kellaway: Duke at the Roadhouse: Live in Santa Fe

Read "Duke at the Roadhouse: Live in Santa Fe" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 13, 2013

For a powerful adrenaline rush, it's hard to beat a full house (sixteen or seventeen single-minded musicians wailing in unison and swinging like there's no tomorrow), although there's a lot to be said for a pair of aces, too. That's the hand that's dealt on Duke at the Roadhouse: Live in Santa Fe, the aces in question being clarinetist / tenor saxophonist Eddie Daniels and pianist Roger Kellaway (with cellist James Holland raising the ante as a wild card on ...

From the Inside Out

Fusion Groovin’

by Chris M. Slawecki
July 13, 2013

Analog Players Society Hurricane Season in Brooklyn Studio Brooklyn 2012 Hurricane Season in Brooklyn marks the debut of the Analog Players Society (APS), an extension of the lifelong pursuit of the groove by the percussionist, engineer and producer known as Amon, who first discovered Turkish, West African and Middle Eastern music in college--and then dropped out to tour with a circus multi-instrumentalist. “I eventually moved to Chicago and studied African percussion intensely for ...

Album Review

Kikoski, Carpenter, Novak, Sheppard: From The Hip

Read "From The Hip" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 12, 2013

In 2006, pianist David Kikoski was invited to perform and record in front of a live audience at the private Beverly Hills studio of George Klabin, President of the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation. Kikoski brought in some of his first-call friends for the occasion and, with nary a rehearsal to be had, put on a stunner of a standards-based show; the nine tracks that make up From The Hip were recorded at that gathering. Kikoski, saxophonist Bob ...

Live Review

Bob James & David Sanborn: San Francisco, June 17, 2013

by C. Andrew Hovan
July 12, 2013

Bob James & David Sanborn QuartetSF Jazz Center2013 San Francisco Jazz FestivalSan Francisco, CAJune 17, 2013Now in its 31st year, the San Francisco Jazz Festival has a new home, thanks to the updated digs now available via the SF Jazz Center which opened back in January. Over the course of the festival's 12-day run there would be performances by John Scofield, Gerald Clayton, Gregoire Maret, Kendrick Scott, and the reunion of Bob James ...

Album Review

Barnicle Bill Trio: No Black Tie

Read "No Black Tie" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 12, 2013

Barnicle Bill Trio dates to 2009, when drummer John Engels, bassist Mark Haanstra and alto saxophonist Miguel Martinez moved beyond jam sessions to the recording studio. BBT's eponymous debut (Self Produced, 2010) served up straight ahead, old-school jazz standards, with singer-songwriter Elvis Costello's “Almost Blue" the sole nod to modern times. BBT's second recording features another helping of standards, with two originals suggesting the trio is beginning to forge a more distinctive personality. The set was recorded live at No ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Martin Zenker

by AAJ Staff
July 12, 2013

Meet Martin Zenker:Martin Zenker was born in Munich and has been a freelance bassist since 1987. Performance credits include Jimmy Cobb, Billy Hart, James Moody, Jim Snidero, Steve Grossman, Barbara Morrison, Peter King, Don Braden and many more. Now based in Hamburg, he was Professor of Bass and Jazz History in Seoul, South Korea from 2008 to 2012. Instrument(s):Bass.Teachers and/or influences?Every good bassist, from Pops Foster to Larry Grenadier, along ...

Album Review

Martina Fiserova & Brian Charette: Clearing Fields

Read "Clearing Fields" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
July 12, 2013

This collaboration between vocalist Martina Fiserova and keyboardist Brian Charette is one that was twenty years in the making before finally bearing fruit on Clearing Fields.Recorded in Prague, Czech Republic--where Fiserova makes her home and New Yorker Charette has established himself as a jazz educator and bandleader---this is one of those records that was meant to happen. Being the daughter of a Czech jazz musician, Fiserova is well-versed in the standards songbook, and dove into her role with ...

Album Review

Randi Tytingvåg: Lights Out

Read "Lights Out" reviewed by Anthony Shaw

by Anthony Shaw
July 12, 2013

Reading that this EP was partly the product of illness and a miscarriage, this collection of four and a bit songs under such a foreboding title might have been expected to be darker, especially considering Norway's reputation for such expression. Randi Tytingvåg, however, has an innate lightness in her voice and writing. Strange, in this case, that songs and singing of Richard Thompson come to mind. The songs are very strongly but simply constructed around their principal ...

Live Review

Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 29-30, 2013

by R.J. DeLuke
July 12, 2013

Saratoga Performing Arts CenterFreihofer's Saratoga Jazz FestivalSaratoga Springs, NYJune 29-30, 2013 Fiery music that burned with intensity, eclectic compositions that shifted in time signature and tempo, sweet melodies and down-home dirty blues--all were heard at this year's Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival in upstate New York, an event that is among the finest of its kind. It's a true outdoor festival where the musicians come to the audience within a venue that is gorgeous and relaxing. ...

Live Review

2013 Montreal Jazz Festival: June 28-July 2, 2013

by John Kelman
July 11, 2013

Festival International de Jazz de MontréalMontréal, CanadaJune 28-July 7, 2013After taking a year off to curate an All About Jazz Presents: Doing It Norway at Norway's 2012 Kongsberg Jazz Festival, it was great to return to the city that hosts what must surely be the largest jazz festival in the world. Where else can an artist like Stevie Wonder open up the festival with an outdoor Grand Spectacle, in front of nearly a quarter of a million ...