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.

Big Band Report

Swingin' on a Riff . . . Hangin' by a Thread?

by Jack Bowers
June 14, 2013

Betty and I returned to Albuquerque on Memorial Day after attending Swingin' on a Riff, the latest in a series of marvelous semi-annual events presented by Ken Poston and the Los Angeles Jazz Institute for more than twenty years at venues in and around L.A. This one was held May 23-26 at the Los Angeles Marriott Airport Hotel. The music ranged from very good to spectacular, with seventeen world-class concerts by some of the finest ensembles and musicians you're likely ...

Album Review

Jonathan Finlayson: Moment and the Message

Read "Moment and the Message" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
June 14, 2013

For those who've been watching the rise of trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson in recent years, his long awaited debut, Moment & The Message, not only displays his insightful playing and individualism but also some imposing composing skills. A prodigy who impressed pioneer saxophonist Steve Coleman when he performed in high school, Finlayson later moved to New York, attended The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and has thrived for ten years as a vital member of Coleman's iconic Five Elements ...

Extended Analysis

Susanne Abbuehl: The Gift

by John Kelman
June 14, 2013

There was a time when artists were expected to release a record every year--sometimes a very good thing, as there was so much development going on that there was plenty to document; other times a less-than-ideal situation, as some artists simply didn't have that much music in them, so releasing albums too frequently often worked against--rather than for--them. Swiss-born/Netherlands-resident singer Susanne Abbuehl may, with The Gift, only have four albums to her name since her 1997 debut, the long out-of-print ...

Album Review

Frank Rosaly: Cicada Music

Read "Cicada Music" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
June 14, 2013

What to expect, when you are expecting a drummer-led recording? Certainly, the mix should include the drums more upfront, or perhaps longer solos? If so, then you might be taken aback by Frank Rosaly's first official release as a band leader. The cornerstone of many innovative bands like Jason Stein Quartet, Valentine Trio, Rolldown, Scorch Trio, Flatlands Collective, Chicago Lucern Exchange, Fast Citizens and too many more to mention, wrote the very un-drummer-like Cicada Music as an atmospheric tome poem.

Album Review

The Garth Alper Trio: Deflection

Read "Deflection" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
June 14, 2013

The third album from The Garth Alper Trio, Deflection delivers a selection of eleven original and mostly soft-textured compositions fitting quite nicely in a colorful landscape of modern light jazz. Pianist and educator at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Dr. Garth Alper anchors a well-read traditional piano trio consisting of fellow educators Dr. Bob Nash on bass and Troy Breaux, Director of Percussion Studies at UL, on drums. Together for some time, the academicians know each other well and ...

Album Review

Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Electro Acoustic Orchestra: The Space Between

Read "The Space Between" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
June 13, 2013

Like a painting by Mark Rothko, whose canvasses contain rectangular fields of color and light that convey more than a visual experience, the music of Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Electro Acoustic Orchestra transcends a mere audio happening. Rothko's paintings exceeded the aesthetic confines of their canvasses into a spiritual and psychological realm. Likewise, Mazurek makes visually appealing music.Mazurek's cornet is only part of this phenomenon. On The Space Between he wrote the music and text, provided the cover ...

Album Review

Roger Beaujolais Quartet: Mind The Gap

Read "Mind The Gap" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
June 13, 2013

Mind The Gap might have been named for the warning dished out thousands of times a day on the London underground, but the rather wonderful music that emanates from the Roger Beaujolais Quartet is better suited as a soundtrack to late night drives along glamorous coastal highways.Vibraphonist Beaujolais has been an integral part of the UK jazz scene since the '80s in bands such as the Chevalier Brothers, Vibraphonic and his own quintet and quartet--even though he didn't ...

Extended Analysis

Serbian Jazz, Bre

by Nenad Georgievski
June 13, 2013

The iconography of jazz wouldn't be the same without jazz photography. It seems that both jazz and photography have been walking hand in hand since the appearance of both arts. Just imagine the dark rooms and cigarette smoke clouds where jazz was happening, and the photography there to bear witness. While photographer William P. Gottlieb is still unsurpassed in this art, even though he stopped taking photographs in 1948, that hasn't prevented a myriad of photographers from taking shots of ...

Album Review

Jeffrey Gimble: Beyond Up High

Read "Beyond Up High" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
June 13, 2013

There's a lyric in the old Kenny Rogers pop tune, “The Gambler" that states: “You've got to know when to hold and know when to fold." Now vocalist Jeffrey Gimble's debut CD Beyond Up High isn't a gamble--well, perhaps it is a bit as he enters the highly uncertain world of the male jazz singer, but, given this enjoyable effort, Gimble's gamble just might pay off.The debut CD from this Texas-born and now Bay Area actor-turned-recorded vocalist frames ...

Extended Analysis

Trilok Gurtu: Spellbound

by John Kelman
June 13, 2013

In a 35-year career that's stretched from Oregon and saxophonists Jan Garbarek and Charlie Mariano, to violinist Shankar and guitarists John McLaughlin and Nguyên Lê, Trilok Gurtu has established a very specific talent. Few kit drummers are as adept as Gurtu on tabla and the Indian konnakol vocal percussion tradition; conversely, few tablaists/konnakol experts are as capable as Gurtu on kit. Gurtu's entire career has been predicated on cross-genre boundary busting that's resulted in a small but distinctive discography, from ...