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

Minus the Bear with Circa Survive and Now, Now: Huntington, NY, March 19, 2013

by Christine Connallon
March 24, 2013

Minus the Bear with Circa Survive and Now, NowThe ParamountHuntington, NYMarch 19, 2013The Waves Overhead tour touched down on a brisk Tuesday night, the official last night of winter, on the north shore of Long Island, bringing a slew of young fans to support Minus the Bear and Circa Survive, the co-headliners, as well as Now, Now, the capable opening act for the 13-date journey.Now, Now, a trio of indie rockers once known ...

Album Review

William Hooker Quintet: Channels of Consciousness

Read "Channels of Consciousness" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
March 24, 2013

Drummer William Hooker was a mainstay at New York City's downtown jazz haven The Knitting Factory, amid several cross-functional albums for its record label. He's a freethinker, possessing a broad musicality, largely immersed in improvisation, and communicates a comfort zone whether tackling or expanding numerous world music stylizations nestled within free-jazz, avant-rock and other genres. Recorded at Roulette in New York City, Channels of Consciousness is a passionate endeavor, where the quintet aggregates garrulous free-jazz, blues, and fluctuating asymmetrical structures ...

Meet the Staff

Meet Esther Berlanga Ryan

by AAJ Staff
March 24, 2013

I currently live in: San Jose, CA I joined All About Jazz in: 2009 What made you decide to contribute to All About Jazz? I mainly wanted to give musicians a chance to be heard. And there is nothing like asking a question and hearing the artist go, “Wow... let me think about that one." Most become like family to me, and we remain in contact. I love jazz, it defines me. So doing this makes ...

Album Review

Matt Holman's Diversion Ensemble: When Flooded

Read "When Flooded" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 24, 2013

Brooklyn-based trumpeter Matt Holman has been putting his horn to good use as a sideman with A-listers, like pianist Fred Hersch and vocalist Kate McGarry, and up-and-coming large ensembles, like Darcy James Argue's Secret Society and the Asuka Kakitani Jazz Orchestra, but he's finally stepping up to the plate as a leader. When Flooded is Holman's headlining debut and it serves as a showcase for his focused horn playing and finely wrought creations. It has been proven ...

Album Review

David Bowie: The Next Day

Read "The Next Day" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
March 24, 2013

The role of the artist is to deepen the mystery, Francis Bacon once said, and singer David Bowie is a master of that. After several years of studio and especially media abstinence, Major Tom has surprisingly reported for active duty when he released his first single in ten years, “Where are We Now?," coinciding with his 66th birthday. That broke the years of silence and speculation, and the news took over the world in a storm as if it was ...

Album Review

Samuel Blaser Quartet: As The Sea

Read "As The Sea" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
March 23, 2013

Allocating his time between Europe and New York City, Swiss-born trombone maestro Samuel Blaser has recorded for prominent record labels, specializing in the outside jazz realm. Thus, As The Sea is the quartet's follow-up to Boundless (hatOLOGY, 2011). Blaser's recognizable plight to lay out nouveau frontiers remains a continuum. No wonder why he's garnered the assistance of such reputable instrumentalists. Otherwise, the program contains a flux of contrapuntal statements. His musicality imparts breathy expansionism amid swarming movements that are purposely ...

Book Review

Tim Nikolsky: Australian Jazz Real Book

by Ian Patterson
March 23, 2013

Australian Jazz Real Book Tim Nikolsky 662 pages ISBN: 979-0-9009613-5-8 Australian Jazz Real Book 2013 It's been five years in the making, but finally, Melbourne guitarist Tim Nikolsky's one-man crusade to assemble an Australian Jazz Real Book has succeeded. In fact, as Nikolsky related in a 2011 interview with All About Jazz , it's been a fairly democratic process, with a wide cross-section of Australian jazz musicians and ...

Album Review

Taylor's Universe: Worn Out

by Dave Wayne
March 23, 2013

One can only hope that Robin Taylor was being ironic when he titled his latest collection Worn Out. Musically, it follows in the footsteps of his recent recordings with Taylor's Universe; Kind of Red (Marvel of Beauty, 2012) and Return to Whatever (Marvel of Beauty, 2009). But there's a freshness, fire and vigor here that suggests the Danish multi-instrumentalist and composer still has plenty of lead in his pencil. The personnel on Worn Out is also largely the same as ...

Catching Up With

Barney Hoskyns: Demystifying Zeppelin

by Nenad Georgievski
March 23, 2013

During its 12-year reign, Led Zeppelin grew into a world-dominating force, packing stadiums around the globe and selling hundreds of millions of records. Its musical canon has transcended the era in which it was written, and is as popular today as in its heyday. Second only to The Beatles in sales for many years, Led Zeppelin was, and still is, rock's premier group. With his book, Trampled Under Foot: The Power and Excess of Led Zeppelin (Faber, 2012), renowned journalist, ...

Album Review

Jim Pearce: You Are An Edgy Visionary Seer

Read "You Are An Edgy Visionary Seer" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
March 23, 2013

Jazz is serious music: so serious that sometimes it becomes a labor of such intensity that the composers and performers fail to have fun making the music. Vocalist/pianist/composer Jim Pearce specifically makes it a point to have fun, before getting serious (as serious as he ever gets). Gratefully in the mold of Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg and Mose Allison, Pearce specializes in bright melodies and clever lyrics, a modern throwback to Tin Pan Alley reclaiming clever lyrics from the great ...