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.

Interview

Carles Benavent: Jazz, Flamenco and Blues

by Bruce Lindsay
January 22, 2013

Of all the instrumentalists in contemporary music, only a handful have become game changers. Jazz trumpet has Louis Armstrong, rock guitar has Jimi Hendrix, jazz saxophone has Charlie Parker. Flamenco bass guitar has Carles Benavent. Benavent's fluid, melodic and emotive style of playing is as beautiful as it is distinctive. Developed initially from a love of the blues, his playing has, over the years, enabled him to extend his reach into rock and jazz fusion as well as flamenco. In ...

Album Review

Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Slippery Rock

Read "Slippery Rock" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 21, 2013

Like the previous four studio albums by self-styled bebop terrorist band Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Slippery Rock begins with a drum solo over a vamp before kicking into the first tune. That's not the only thing that remains constant. Leader/bassist Moppa Elliott's songwriting talents haven't deserted him either; his charts, named after small Pennsylvania towns, are bursting at the seams with nagging melodies and rhythmic gear changes. Also present and correct are the affectionate nods to older forms ...

Live Review

Alan Wilkinson/John Edwards/Steve Noble: London, England, January 9, 2013

by John Sharpe
January 21, 2013

Alan Wilkinson/John Edwards/Steve NobleCafé OtoLondonJanuary 9, 2013It didn't look promising to begin with. In the dark days of January with the New Year festivities over and done, there's not a lot of enthusiasm for nocturnal adventure, so it was no surprise to see just a couple of people waiting outside before the doors of north London's Cafe Oto opened. But clearly there was promise in the air. By the time saxophonist Alan Wilkinson took to ...

Album Review

Hanna Paulsberg Concept: Waltz for Lilli

Read "Waltz for Lilli" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
January 21, 2013

Norway's place on the international jazz map has been assured for decades: first with saxophonist Jan Garbarek, guitarist Terje Rypdal and bassist Arild Andersen; then, a second wave including trumpeters Arve Henriksen and Nils Petter Molvær, and pianists Bugge Wesseltoft and Christian Wallumrød; and, more recently, in another wave featuring In the Country and Splashgirl. Still, its scene has often seemed distanced from the American tradition that nevertheless resides at the core of many of these players. Enter saxophonist Hanna ...

Album Review

Petra's Recession Seven: Live In Chicago

Read "Live In Chicago" reviewed by Jack Huntley

by Jack Huntley
January 21, 2013

Petra van Nuis' voice is at once alluring and robust. Her tone alternates between delicate playfulness and declarative strength, perfectly suiting the combination of hot jazz and standards on Live In Chicago, an enchanting portrait of her band, Petra's Recession Seven. And oh, what a band it is--capable of captivating backing as well as exciting soloing.Gershwin's “Somebody Loves Me" highlights the septet's upbeat mastery. Kicking off with guitarist Andy Brown's graceful introduction, trumpeter Art Davis surges in on ...

Interview

Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Setting the Record Straight

by Troy Collins
January 21, 2013

Mostly Other People Do the Killing is frequently typecast as one of today's most humorously irreverent young jazz groups, based in no small part on their provocative name, which was inspired by a quote attributed to inventor Leon Theremin--a survivor of the Soviet gulag who exonerated Stalin because “mostly other people did the killing." Bassist and founder Moppa Elliott (born Matthew Thomas Elliott) has repeatedly insisted in interviews that the band isn't actually intended to be irreverent however, as much ...

Album Review

Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet: Hustlin’ For A Gig

Read "Hustlin’ For A Gig" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
January 20, 2013

The Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet performs in the same stylistic arena of the Manhattan Transfer and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. There. It has been said; and now we have that out of the way. The UVJQ has been active for the past two decades under the direction of Ginny Carr. They are based in the Washington DC area and have two recordings to their credit before Hustlin' For A Gig. Inhabiting the same orbit as the Manhattan ...

New York Beat

Latin Jazz Cavalcade

by Nick Catalano
January 20, 2013

The onslaught of compelling Latin jazz concerts, club performances and recordings here in Gotham are attracting audiences all over town. Here are a few highlights. On Friday, January 11, Catalonian pianist Chano Dominguez appeared at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola accompanied by drummer Dafnis Prieto. Selections from Dominguez's critically acclaimed Blue Note CD Flamenco Sketches (2012)--a tribute to trumpeter Miles Davis--provided the repertoire for the show. The incorporation of various flamenco textures and motifs set against such Davis standards ...

Album Review

Inbar Fridman: Time Quartet Project

Read "Time Quartet Project" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 20, 2013

In a quartet that includes both guitar and piano, a certain symbiosis between the players is necessary for the success of the sound. Israeli guitarist Inbar Fridman has established that relationship of musical symbiosis with pianist Camelia Ben Naceur, part of a trio Fridman calls the “French mob" that also includes bassist Laurent Chavoit and drummer Stefano Lucchini, rounding out the quartet of the guitarist's Time Quartet Project.Fridman, who studied in the US--at William Patterson University--has now moved ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Lela Kaplowitz

by AAJ Staff
January 20, 2013

Meet Lela Kaplowitz:A vocalist/songwriter that experienced life and the jazz scene in New York, her decision to move back to Croatia came from the desire to raise her daughter in a more old fashion, familiar way.Lela brings a New York vibe to her home country, where she continues to spread her love of music, jazz in particular. She continues to record, write new material and is gaining recognition globally.Instrument(s):Vocal, tap dancing.