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.

Live Review

2013 DC Jazz Festival: Washington, DC, June 5-15, 2013

by Franz A. Matzner
July 8, 2013

2013 DC Jazz FestivalWashington, DCJune 5-15, 2013Every summer, the DC Jazz Festival shines a spotlight on Washington, D.C.'s expanding music scene, having grown in parallel with the increased number of jazz clubs, venues, and musicians the nation's capital now harbors. The relationship has been mutually reinforcing. The festival created a national brand and, especially in its early years, harnessed the support of major sponsors and city officials behind the mission of celebrating D.C's jazz ...

Album Review

Doug Webb: Swing Shift

Read "Swing Shift" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 8, 2013

Doug Webb is one of a large number of accomplished saxophonists on the West Coast who have largely flown under the radar because... well, basically because they are on the West Coast. That's not to imply that Webb or his cohorts are penniless or not working steadily; that is not the case at all. Besides fronting his own groups, Webb--a graduate of the Berklee School of Music--works regularly in a number of ensembles large and small, and has appeared on ...

Album Review

Trespass Trio + Joe McPhee: Human Encore

Read "Human Encore" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
July 8, 2013

Sweden-based Trespass Trio aligns with American improvising legend Joe McPhee for a live set, recorded 2012 at Salao Brazil. The artists' camaraderie, gamesmanship, and intuitive synergy become quite evident from the onset. From a holistic perspective, the band's rugged approach balances a prevalent degree of experimentation with familiar modern jazz terrain. Indeed, an audience-pleaser; even by free jazz conventions, the players render a cornucopia of disparate angles and propositions. “A Different Kodo" is immersed in a free-bop ...

Album Review

Alex Snydman: Fortunate Action

Read "Fortunate Action" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
July 8, 2013

Guitarist-turned-drummer Alex Snydman left behind an established East Coast presence in the Massachusetts and New York area jazz scenes for graduate studies at The California Institute of the Arts and, while in Los Angeles, has produced his very first album as leader with the highly audacious Fortunate Action. A student of Joe La Barbera, Bob Gullotti and Eric Harland, among others, Snydman's assertive, yet finessed style, combined with his talent as a composer, marks this debut a winner on many ...

Interview

Jim Snidero: A Tale Of Taste

by Dan Bilawsky
July 8, 2013

What's the hallmark of quality jazz? If this question was posed to a group of jazz musicians, each person would no doubt give a different answer that would speak to differences in taste. Some would lean on tradition and others might push the idea of innovation, but few, if any, would actually use taste itself as the defining factor. That's what separates alto saxophonist Jim Snidero from the rest. Over the past thirty years, Snidero has come to be known ...

Album Review

Tribute Trio: Dedications, Vol. II

Read "Dedications, Vol. II" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 7, 2013

The Tribute Trio--John Rangel, piano; Michael Glynn, bass; Cal Haines, drums--was formed in 2010 to do exactly that: pay tribute to some of the legendary pianists who have helped create and enrich the history of jazz. The trio's two albums to date, Dedications, Vols 1 and 2 (Self Produced) have earned “Best Jazz CD" honors (2012, 2013) in the New Mexico Music Awards competition. Whereas Vol. 1 was devoted largely to pianists from the swing and bebop eras, Vol. 2 ...

Extended Analysis

Grateful Dead: Dave's Picks Volume 6

by Doug Collette
July 7, 2013

Dave's Picks Volume 6 represents an important entry in this Grateful Dead archive series, on its own terms and as a crucial reminder of how this iconic band evolved around the cusp of the 1960's and the 1970's. Plus which, the sound quality of the recordings, originally administered by the famous Owsley “Bear" Stanley, is as notable as the evolving style of the group itself.As keyboardist Tom Constanten notes so vividly from a performer's perspective in his abbreviated ...

Album Review

Brainkiller: Colourless Green Superheroes

Read "Colourless Green Superheroes" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
July 7, 2013

RareNoise Records has made a cottage industry of attracting talent that not only doesn't color within the lines, but erases the lines altogether. Brainkiller is no exception to this approach. Comprised of the unlikely assembly of keyboards (Jacob Koller), trombone (Brian Allen), and drums (Hernan Hecht), Brainkiller floats down the same river navigated recently by Berserk! and Slobber Pup to a musical place that can only be described as a crime scene, but in a good way. ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith and Tumo: Occupy the World

Read "Occupy the World" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
July 7, 2013

Trumpeter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Wadada Leo Smith's career has been one of relentless exploration and bold innovation. His timeless works have always eschewed narrow categorization and shattered musical boundaries. Now, in the eight decade of his life his creative vision has matured without losing any of its youthful energy. On the heels of his epic Pulitzer Prize finalist masterpiece, Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012,) and his intimate and expressive duet with South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, Ancestors (Tum, 2012), comes ...

Album Review

Jann Klose: Mosaic Fits Together Nicely

Read "Mosaic Fits Together Nicely" reviewed by Christine Connallon

by Christine Connallon
July 7, 2013

The release of Mosaic is another noteworthy accomplishment for singer/songwriter Jann Klose, who is experiencing a year of important moments. As a featured vocalist, covering the singing parts of the iconic Tim Buckley in the acclaimed film “Greetings From Tim Buckley", the German-born musician, who also spent time growing up in Kenya and South Africa, is a busy man. Playing shows and sharing the stage with musicians like Jeffrey Gaines and Annie Haslam, Klose is on tour to spread the ...