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

Pat Metheny: The Orchestrion Project

Read "The Orchestrion Project" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
February 5, 2013

With The Orchestrion Project (Eagle Eye Media, 2012), Pat Metheny provided a detailed visual look into the workings of the guitarist's complex, custom-built conglomeration of instruments--triggered by pneumatics, solenoids and computer programs--that took this orchestral successor to the player piano (the first known version being the panharmonicon, in 1805) not just into a new century, but a new millennium. An in-depth All About Jazz review of the DVD/Blu-Ray/3D Blu-Ray release, covered the history of the project and the music performed ...

Album Review

Beata Pater: Red

Read "Red" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
February 5, 2013

Polish vocalist/composer/violinist Beata Pater, as of late in San Francisco, releases Red, the third recording in her “colors" series following Black (B&B, 2006) and Blue (B&B, 2011). She specializes in the no-lyrics singing that is related to, but not exactly the same as scat singing. Much of this is present on Red where, an expressive and passionate singer, Pater draws every bit of creativity from her mezzo-soprano voice. Her capability is elastic like that of Betty Carter and Cheryl Bentyne, ...

Album Review

Urs Leimgruber / Roger Turner: The Pancake Tour

Read "The Pancake Tour" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
February 5, 2013

The Pancake Tour finds Swiss saxophonist Urs Leimgruber and British drummer Roger Turner together as a twosome (sometimes referred to as The Pancake Duo), recorded in concert at The Loft in Cologne in October 2011. The sax-drums duo is a varied and demanding format which exposes each player to equal scrutiny, allowing no hiding place or time out. Instead, each member has to be full-on constantly, giving and receiving, and listening and responding; if either of them is not, it ...

Interview

Donny McCaslin: Lightness and Gravity

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
February 5, 2013

Saxophonist Donny McCaslin seems like a young player, given his energy and inventiveness. But he has been playing jazz for three decades. As a child, he was part of his father's jazz ensemble and a member of his high school jazz band. He led his own bands after moving to New York from his native California, but also did considerable sideman duty. In particular, McCaslin broke into the highest ranks of critical acclaim thanks to his turns with bandleader Maria ...

Album Review

Matthew Shipp: Greatest Hits

Read "Greatest Hits" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
February 4, 2013

It takes more than a degree of chutzpah for any modern day jazzer to title a collection Greatest Hits, let alone a doyen of the avant-garde. But pianist Matthew Shipp has never shied away from controversy--indeed, on occasion has actively courted it. Slightly apologetically, sleeve note annotator Tad Hendrickson points out that the selections were those singled out in reviews, played on radio, or which provoked a notable response when performed live. So what's on offer here is a dozen ...

Live Review

Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu Duo: New York, NY, January 24, 2013

by Dan Bilawsky
February 4, 2013

Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu DuoBlue NoteNew York, NYJanuary 24, 2013 Some musicians settle into a club and simply play a set of music, but that's never the case with Omar Sosa. The pianist treats every performance as a musical séance and an opportunity to bare his soul. It's hard to know whether to call his work jazz or spirit music, but labels aren't really important when it comes to his work; his impressive ...

Album Review

Professor Porkchop and the Dishes: U R My Everything

Read "U R My Everything" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
February 4, 2013

Chris McCaa, A.K.A. Professor Porkchop, has a voice that is the lovechild of Randy Newman and John Hiatt, seasoned with Tabasco and gin. His piano channels Professor Longhair, Mac Rebennack and Antoine Domino, while his B-3 chops are from the acid depths of Vieux Carre by way of New Iberia. His writing and arranging are a rich roux of the region, informed by Mississippi blues, swamp rock, Zydeco, Caribbean breakdowns and languide island sways. On his second recording, U R ...

Album Review

Adam Berenson and Bill Marconi: A Codex of Silent Voices

Read "A Codex of Silent Voices" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 4, 2013

Pianist/composer Adam Berenson is a mystery; his Facebook page features nothing about his music-making and, in its photo section, a couple of Jackson Pollock-like abstract paintings along with a Van Gogh-inspired seascape. The song titles on his numerous releases perpetuate the mystery--"Sepulchral Vicissitudes" and “Emotional Idiot," from Contextual (1999),and the title track to The Mystery of the Vanishing Chandelier (2001)--including the title at hand, A Codex of Silent Voices, suggesting Berenson is an artist going deep.Maybe? Maybe not. ...

Album Review

DouBt: Mercy, Pity, Peace & Love

Read "Mercy, Pity, Peace & Love" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
February 4, 2013

Unbridled anticipation may be a good way of prefacing the listening experience, given this trio's efficacious 2009 outing, Never Pet a Burning Dog (MoonJune). Once again, keyboardist Alex Maguire, guitarist Michel Delville and drummer Tony Bianco imprint their collective fusion of disparate genres spanning progressive rock, avant-improvisational adventurism, jazz, and renegade rock fare amid nods to guitarist Jimi Hendrix and the psychedelic era. They even toss in some socio-political musings on the sleek, groove-based opener, “There is a War Going ...

Interview

Eberhard Weber: Positive Pragmatism

by John Kelman
February 4, 2013

There are plenty of positives about getting older: wisdom, maturity and a more balanced outlook are just three of them. But it would be unrealistic to suggest that there aren't a few negatives thrown in there. When bassist Eberhard Weber woke up in his hotel room on the morning of April 23, 2007, in Berlin, Germany, where he was to perform with the Jan Garbarek Group--having played in numerous groups with the Norwegian saxophonist since Photo With Blue Sky, White ...