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.
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Lisa Barkas: Cinq Ponts
by John Eyles
Released by INSUB on September 26th, 2024, as a cassette or Bandcamp download, it is a relief to welcome Cinq Ponts as it is the label's first release since Jürg Frey's impressive Circular music (Ext.no1-no2-Ext.no2) was released by the label on September 1st, 2023. Cinq Ponts comprises three tracks with a total playing time of just over forty-one minutes, a typical cassette playing time. The album's three tracks are performed solo by the Strasbourg-based musician Lisa Barkas who plays the ...
Continue ReadingThree types of albums from ezz-thetics
by John Eyles
In 1975 Werner X. Uehlinger founded the Swiss-based HatHut label which mainly released jazz by such illustrious names as Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy, Joe McPhee, Max Roach and Cecil Taylor. The labels Hat MUSICS and Hat ART followed in 1981. !997 brought hatOLOGY and hat(now)ART, the latter issuing modern compositions by the likes of John Cage and Morton Feldman. In 2019, the ezz-thetics label was launched, the first not to carry the “hat" prefix. As the three albums ...
Continue ReadingKira Kira: Kira Kira Live
by Glenn Astarita
Kira Kira, a Japanese avant-garde ensemble has been at the forefront of improvisational music since 2017. Their name, translating to “glittering" or “shining" in Japanese, fittingly reflects the radiant quality of their sonic explorations. The ensemble includes an all-star lineup: trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, pianist Satoko Fujii, keyboardist Alister Spence and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida. Together, they blend semi-structured jazz with shades of other genres, creating a sound that is as frenzied and bustling as it is introspective and exhilarating. The album ...
Continue ReadingKenny Wheeler: Smatter
by Scott Lichtman
The song “Smatter," from trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, offers the chance to hear several grandmasters of jazz concoct high-energy music together. For Wheeler's debut on ECM Records, Gnu High (ECM, 1976), he gathered the creative forces of Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland on the album's three tracks. Gnu High would quickly be deemed a classic. Wheeler displays a tone that is equal parts warm and penetrating. His solos are uber-musical, transcending lyrical lines to create pure ambience. ...
Continue ReadingAmanda Gardier: Auteur: Music Inspired by the Films of Wes Anderson
by Robert Middleton
Amanda Gardier's Auteur is not just an album--it is a cinematic experience captured in sound, an exploration of one of America's most singular film directors, Wes Anderson, through the language of modern jazz. The album showcases Gardier's ability to translate visual storytelling into a sonic narrative that is vibrant, eclectic and highly expressive. With Auteur, Gardier has created what is, arguably, one of the most fascinating and inspired jazz albums of 2024 (it was released in January) and ...
Continue ReadingJosh Johnson: Unusual Objects and Saxophone Stories
by Lawrence Peryer
Los Angeles-based saxophonist, composer, and Grammy-winning producer Josh Johnson discusses the creative philosophies and inspirations that led to his unique album, Unusual Object (Northern Spy). ...
Continue ReadingTadd Dameron: Fontainebleau & Magic Touch Revisited
by Chris May
There is much that is tragic about Tadd Dameron's story. The composer, arranger and pianist fell prey to the heroin epidemic that gripped New York's jazz world in the 1940s and 1950s. He did jail time for his addiction in 1959-60. He died at the woefully young age of 48 years in 1965. But there is nothing tragic about Dameron's legacy as a composer-arranger, the field in which he made his most important contribution to jazz. His work was unfailingly ...
Continue ReadingNew music from Richard D Ruttenberg, George Burton, Brandon Scott Coleman and John Beasley
by Len Davis
The newest with Richard D Ruttenberg, Fender Rhodes player George Burton, Netherlands band Electronic Visions and Tom Schuman with his latest. Guitarist Brandon Scott Coleman with bassist Matt Wiles, Italian band Pericopes, John Beasley with Returning To Forever and a new single with saxophonist Mark Hartsuch. Japanese band Jabberloop, Mike Stern, bassist Christian Fabian and guitarist Allen Hinds. Playlist Richard D Ruttenberg “Encounters" from Mind Flux (Mag Distribution) 00:00 George Burton “Rumination" from White Noise (Self Produced) 06:43 ...
Continue ReadingNatsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii: Aloft
by John Sharpe
By the time of its ninth release a band might be struggling to produce something new. Not so the Japanese wife-and-husband duo of pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. They reap the benefits of a long association while sidestepping potential downsides to keep things fresh and unpredictable. While previous albums have often featured the compositions of one or both, on Aloft they dispense with charts altogether and trust in their instincts. That trust is amply repaid. It ...
Continue ReadingWynton Marsalis, Dwayne Clemons, John Coltrane & Phil Merriman
by Joe Dimino
From across the pond, we proudly kick off the 877th episode of Neon Jazz with a masterful touch from veteran pianist Phil Merriman and his trio, showcasing fresh sounds from his 2024 release The Roots Beneath. Following that, we dive into the brilliance of Merriman's mentor, the legendary British pianist John Taylor, whose sextet delivers tasty grooves from an album that originally lived on cassette but now shines in vibrant digital form. Next, we spotlight a stellar group of seasoned ...
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