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.

Album Review

Fire! Orchestra: Exit!

by John Kelman
March 12, 2013

Sometimes it's best not to predict. If the idea of expanding Fire!'s core trio of saxophonist/electric pianist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werlin into Fire! Orchestra's massive, 28-piece behemoth was based on the trio's extant discography-- You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago (Rune Grammofon, 2009), Unreleased (Rune Grammofon, 2011), and In the Mouth of a Hand Rune Grammofon, 2012)--then a relentless album of high energy and high volume density would be expected. Which makes Exit! a complete ...

Album Review

Dylan Ryan Sand: Sky Bleached

Read "Sky Bleached" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
March 11, 2013

Faintly anarchic song-forms, coupled with a new-wave formulation of the jazz-rock trio setting forges a compelling imprint with drummer Dylan Ryan's debut solo effort. And it's one of those match made in heaven type of scenarios, where the respective musicians' styles, synergy, and use of space as a supplementary instrument coalesce into a program that bears an imprint of authenticity.Ryan's work with the prog-jazz band Herculaneum and other ensembles that skirt the outside realm speak to a non-conforming ...

Extended Analysis

New Life

by John Kelman
March 11, 2013

On the back of drummer Antonio Sanchez's New Life, there's a quote from guitarist Pat Metheny, who says, “This record feels like a leap forward for Antonio." He should know; Sanchez has been the guitarist's drummer of choice for literally every project requiring one since he recruited him for Pat Metheny Group and Speaking of Now (Warner Bros.) in 2002. While Metheny has placed Sanchez in a number of contexts—ranging from the trio with bassist Christian McBride and two albums ...

Album Review

Mark Weinstein: Todo Corazon

Read "Todo Corazon" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 11, 2013

Mark Weinstein's modus operandi is simple: He follows his interests at any given time. He found success as a groundbreaking salsa trombonist early on, but that didn't stop him from leaving his horn behind and entering the realm of academia. He earned a Ph.D in Philosophy, with a specialization in mathematical logic, and started teaching at the college level, but music's magnetic effect pulled him back into performing. He returned to the scene in the late '70s, born anew as ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Molly Holm

by AAJ Staff
March 11, 2013

Meet Molly Holm:Molly Holm is an unconventional singer and composer who blends jazz, improvisation, and North Indian Raga, reflecting her studies with master vocalist Pandit Pran Nath. For eight years plus, Molly was a founding member of Bobby McFerrin's original Voicestra, a group that toured internationally with numerous television appearances and recordings. She has also performed with minimalist composer Terry Riley (Khayal); tabla virtuoso }}Zakir Hussain}} (Rapt, No Strings); choreographer June Watanabe (E.O. 9066); and the avant-garde George ...

Album Review

Nicolas Meier: From Istanbul To Ceuta With A Smile

Read "From Istanbul To Ceuta With A Smile" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
March 11, 2013

Long ago, when the world was younger and far more innocent, a British TV commercial challenged its viewers. Take a particular brand of fruit pastille (Rowntree's, to be specific), place it in the mouth, resist the temptation to chew. So deliciously fruity was the pastille that such resistance would be futile. A similar challenge might be initiated for From Istanbul To Ceuta With A Smile, from the Swiss-born, UK-based guitarist Nicolas Meier. Take the album, press Play, listen, resist the ...

Album Review

Frode Kjekstad: The Italian Job

Read "The Italian Job" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
March 11, 2013

The sound of a Hammond organ has the knack of automatically resetting your watch to 1960-something, just as wah-wah guitar unfailingly conjures the 1970s and the dreaded synthesizer, the 1980s. And whilst Norwegian guitarist Frode Kjekstad's organ trio unequivocally revives the spirit of organists Jack McDuff and Jimmy Smith on The Italian Job, his trio--with organist Marisco Alberto and drummer Enzi Zirilli--swings with a bluesy delight that's hard to resist. Kjekstad previously recorded with organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and drummer ...

Album Review

Michael McNeill Trio: Passageways

Read "Passageways" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
March 11, 2013

The rhythm trio is a well-established and ubiquitous format in jazz. Its fluidity and flexibility allow for a wide range of expression from traditional to advanced with the majority of recordings being solidly in the mainstream. Pianist Michael McNeill's exhilarating and innovative debut recording Passageways pushes the harmonic boundaries of the ensemble into unique and intriguing territories.The classically trained Buffalo native leads his intimate group through five of his own originals that allow ample room for spontaneous creativity. ...

Interview

Kenny Wheeler: The Making of "Mirrors"

by Ian Patterson
March 11, 2013

It often comes as a surprise to people when they discover that trumpeter/flugelhornist/composer Kenny Wheeler is not British. Well, not British born, for although born in Toronto, Canada, in 1930, Wheeler has spent the last 60 years living in England, which surely makes him as English as Ploughman's Lunch or a pint of bitter. The recording Mirrors (Edition Records, 2013) sees the veteran team up with singer Norma Winstone and the London Vocal Project, a 25-piece choir directed by Pete ...

Album Review

Stefano Battaglia Trio: Songways

by John Kelman
March 10, 2013

Since his relationship with ECM began in 2003, Stefano Battaglia has been consistent in his use of different constellations for each recording, from 2006's double-disc Raccolto, where the Italian pianist worked with two different trios, and 2007's Re: Pasolini, another two-CD set where one employed a more broadly defined sextet and the other a string-centric quintet, to the vulnerable duo of 2010's Pastorale, with percussionist and electronic manipulator Michele Rabbia--a largely constant companion throughout these three recordings. Battaglia's reliance on ...