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.

Record Label Profile

Rivorecords: Blue Notes from Buenos Aires

by Jakob Baekgaard
May 15, 2013

In the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, a blue note is defined as: “A microtonally lowered third, seventh, or (less commonly) fifth degree of the diatonic scale, common in blues, jazz and related musics." Moving beyond musical theory, the term is most commonly associated with the groundbreaking jazz label Blue Note, founded in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. The label epitomizes the golden age of modern jazz in the 50's and 60's where a ...

Album Review

Jonathan Kreisberg: ONE

by John Kelman
May 15, 2013

The liner notes may say no overdubs or loops were used, but Jonathan Kreisberg might just as easily have included that “No guitars were harmed in the making of ONE." Beyond work with artists like vibraphonist Joe Locke on Sticks and Strings (Music Eyes, 2007) and organist Dr. Lonnie Smith on Spiral (Palmetto, 2010), the guitarist has slowly built a personal discography that includes the particularly impressive The South of Everywhere (Mel Bay, 2007) and Shadowless (New for Now, 2011). ...

Album Review

Jim Snidero: Stream of Consciousness

Read "Stream of Consciousness" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 15, 2013

The jazz world would likely forgive saxophonist Jim Snidero if he fell prey to artistic stagnation every now and then, but he might not forgive himself. He's kept a steady flow of solo albums coming through the pipeline for a quarter century and, while other artists who are equally prolific find themselves falling back on tired formulas and the same old tunes to fill out their records, Snidero continues to surprise with each addition to his discography. ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Clay Grossman

by AAJ Staff
May 15, 2013

Meet Clay Grossman:Clay Grossman, a mainstay on the Chicago jazz scene for almost four decades, began his professional career at the age of the 19. He has been passing on his sage drum knowledge and wisdom to aspiring students of the drum- set over 20 years. He studied drums with Marshall Thompson and Ian Wallace.Clay has performed with Yves Francois, Franz Jackson, Lin Halliday, and Burton Greene. In addition, he has performed at many venues in ...

Album Review

Caswell Sisters featuring Fred Hersch: Alive In The Singing Air

Read "Alive In The Singing Air" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
May 15, 2013

Rachel and Sara Caswell's Alive in the Singing Air is an interesting and vibrant example of how rich a loam of invention and innovation jazz music is. The genre and its repertoire has readily endured and thrived in a variety of formats, instrumentation, source music, every degree of freedom represented over its century of existence. On the pair's recording Alive in the Singing Air the invention and innovation reveal themselves in a manifold manner. First there are the sisters, musically ...

Album Review

Kasper Staub Trio: /

by Eyal Hareuveni
May 15, 2013

The unique title of this debut from the young Danish trio headed by pianist Kasper Staub, /, is explained as the sign that stands for the doubts the trio had to shake off and the choices it took in order to create its music. Staub, bassist Jens Mikkel and drummer Anders Vestergaard have collectively accumulated experiences in modern jazz, contemporary music, post-rock and singer-songwriter projects in Denmark and Sweden. The album, a limited-edition vinyl, features the trio ...

Extended Analysis

Tap - John Zorn's Book of Angels | Vol. 20

by John Kelman
May 15, 2013

It's difficult to know what is most surprising about Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels | Vol. 20. It's the first collaboration between guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist/composer/Tzadik label head John Zorn, two musicians who, at least on the surface, couldn't be more different. Of course, those who look beyond Metheny's more listener-friendly Pat Metheny Group to recordings like the searing Zero Tolerance for Silence (Geffen, 1994), his particularly stellar collaboration with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, Song X (Geffen, 1985, reissued ...

Album Review

Pascal's Triangle: Pascal's Triangle

Read "Pascal's Triangle" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
May 14, 2013

Bringing together three of contemporary jazz's young power players, Pascal's Triangle is an energized, adeptly executed endeavor.All three performers have already proven themselves innovative and exciting musicians in many venues. Here the three meld their individual voices well and take advantage of Le Boeuf's astute compositional talents to deliver eight tunes firmly grounded in today's modern jazz idiom, while harkening back to the long history of jazz trios as a venue for group exploration and musical “conversation." It ...

Catching Up With

Ferenc Nemeth: Openness for Triumph

by Marta Ramon
May 14, 2013

Ferenc Nemeth's versatility has positioned him in the front line of jazz drummers today. This Hungarian percussionist has developed a recognizable sound which has, over the years, resulted in his sharing the stage with renowned international jazzmen like saxophonists Wayne Shorter, Mark Turner and Chris Cheek, bassist Christian McBride, bassist John Patitucci, vibraphonist Dave Samuels and many others.When Nemeth sits in front of the drums his attention is completely focused on his colleagues' needs to lead the music ...

Live Review

Daniel Meron Quartet: New York, NY, Saturday May 4, 2013

by Daniel Lehner
May 14, 2013

Daniel Meron QuartetMetropolitan RoomNew York, NYMay 4, 2013After debuting his first album, Directions, when first moving to New York from Berklee in 2010, Israeli-born pianist Daniel Meron has moved on to new avenues relatively quickly. One of these is focusing on more song-based material (complete with lyrics), which has regained popularity in the jazz world, though it is still a unique challenge. Meron and his quartet, consisting of vocalist Maia Karo, drummer Rodrigo Recabarren and ...