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.

Extended Analysis

Fredrik Ljungkvist / Yun Kan 10: Ten

by Eyal Hareuveni
May 2, 2013

Acclaimed Swedish reed player Fredrik Ljungkvist's key solo outfit is the Yun Kan band. This band, in its incarnation as a quintet, released two remarkable albums, Yun Kan 12345 and Badaling (Caprice, 2004 and 2007) and in recent years operated in a slimmed down version as Yun Kan 3 and as an ambitious outgrowth of the quintet as Yun Kan 10. Now, finally, more than five years after its last documentation, this ensemble has been beautifully recorded by Swedish Radio. ...

Album Review

Dave Haskell Group: Pivot Point

Read "Pivot Point" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 2, 2013

A one-time highly respected sideman and improviser in the San Francisco area, guitarist Dave Haskell put most of these activities on hold after becoming a commercial airline pilot. After hanging up his wings, the artist re-enters the scene with his tight-knit core band and garners the expertise of prominent West Coast musicians, guitarist Robben Ford, keyboardist Russ Ferrante, bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Toss Panos, appearing on select tracks. Perhaps residing a bit within the jazz-fusion lite schema, the artist ...

Album Review

Boney James: The Beat

Read "The Beat" reviewed by Jeff Winbush

by Jeff Winbush
May 2, 2013

In the crowded field of 50,000 smooth jazz saxophones, only a handful are blessed with a distinctive sound of their own and if Boney James isn't first in his class he should be high on the list. James can play with both raw power and gentle, soulful restraint. There's more restraint than power on The Beat, the 14th album by the New York-born saxophonist, but James has always opted for underplaying a bit than roof-raising soloing.James' background in ...

Album Review

Raquel Cepeda: I'm Confessin'

Read "I'm Confessin'" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
May 2, 2013

The Houston jazz mafia expands with vocalist Raquel Cepeda's I'm Confessin'. Cepeda joins the ranks of multi-instrumentalist Henry Darragh, singers Melissa Darragh, Tianna Hall, Jacqui Sutton and Danielle Reich, guitarist Paul Chester, trumpeter Dennis Dotson (who appears here), saxophonist Larry Slezak and (by extension), trumpeter Carol Morgan, Houston jazz mafiosi all. Cepeda adds eloquently to a merry band of musicians that harbor an amazing lack of overlap among their very individual styles. Singing is the Venezuelan-born Cepada's ...

Live Review

Craig Taborn Trio: Columbus, Ohio April 27, 2013

by Mark Corroto
May 1, 2013

Craig Taborn TrioWexner Center For The ArtsColumbus, OhioApril 27, 2013Traveling to support the release of Chants (ECM, 2013), pianist Craig Taborn's Trio, with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerald Cleaver, made an appearance at The Ohio State University's Wexner Center for The Arts. As label head/producer Manfred Eicher's artists are want to do, this mini-tour--a nine-city North American swing--followed a similar nine-city European jaunt.The pianist stood at the microphone telling his audience, “I ...

Album Review

Jonathan Suazo: Extracts of a Desire

Read "Extracts of a Desire" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 1, 2013

When it comes to currently-practicing Puerto Rican jazz icons, bassist Eddie Gomez and saxophonists Miguel Zenon and David Sánchez are the holy trinity. Each one of those men carved out their own respective path(s) through jazz country while retaining the essence of their homeland in their sound. For a young musician following in their footsteps to get an endorsement from any one of them is surely a good thing; when that individual gets two thumbs up from all three of ...

Live Review

Bourne / Kane / Davis: Manchester, UK, April 12, 2013

by Ian Patterson
May 1, 2013

Matthew Bourne, Dave Kane and Steve DavisRhythm Changes: Rethinking Jazz Cultures ConferenceMedia City UKSalford Quays, Manchester, EnglandApril 12, 2013Watching three improvising musicians perform in front of a hundred or so jazz academics felt a little akin to watching a gallery of chief surgeons observing an unusual operation, although the only commentary during the one-hour performance took the form of a handful of tweets. The performance by keyboardist/cellist Matthew Bourne, drummer Steve Davis and ...

Album Review

Laszlo Gardony: Clarity

by Mark Corroto
May 1, 2013

It might be a bit bold to call pianist Laszlo Gardony's Clarity work a triumph of the human spirit, but indeed the ten spontaneous compositions presented are a testament to his purposeful character and allegiance to introspection.The Berklee College of Music professor was born in Budapest and grew up under the influence of European classical music, American rock, and the African-based music of jazz and blues. His main outlet for recordings these days is his trio with John ...

Album Review

Clipper Anderson: Ballad of the Sad Young Men

Read "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
May 1, 2013

Hidden in the basement of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington is bassist/vocalist Clipper Anderson. Not ringing any bells? That's because he has been a sideman, buried behind the principals on upwards of 60 recordings while recording as leader on two previous releases: And to All a Goodnight (Origin Records, 2011) and The Road Home (Origin Records, 2012). Anderson follows up this latter recording with Ballad of the Sad Young Men, his first all vocal outing performed in the intimate ...

Album Review

Mark Murdock: Cymbalic Encounters

Read "Cymbalic Encounters" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 1, 2013

Drummer, keyboardist and vocalist Mark Murdock's Cymbalic Encounters features eminent progressive-rock unit Brand X alumni, guitarist John Goodsall, bassist Percy Jones, and drummer Kenwood Dennard along with legendary jazz-fusion keyboardist David Sancious and other guests. Murdock shines as a renaissance man and offers a diversified set, highlighted by the largely memorable compositions and aided by a crystal clear studio production. From a progressive-rock standpoint, he displays the epitome of taste, which is a component that seeds a comprehensive musical portraiture. ...