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 From New York

Arto Lindsay, Egberto Gismonti, Kassin, Orquestra Imperial & Arnaldo Antunes

by Martin Longley
December 26, 2012

Arto Lindsay New Museum November 30, 2012 Right from the outset, singer/guitarist Arto Lindsay appeared uncomfortable about the framing for this gig in the New Museum on the Bowery. He'd been involved in one of the current exhibitions upstairs, documenting the art scene in that area (Come Closer: Art Around The Bowery, 1969-1989). Much of the music erupting from that vivid scene would have typically inhabited some grimy, graffiti-covered, beer-swillin,' vomit-coated, ...

Album Review

Bruce Cox Core-Tet: Status Cymbals

Read "Status Cymbals" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 26, 2012

Drummer Bruce Cox may not be a household name in the jazz world, but he's studied, played and/or recorded with plenty of people who are. The Philadelphia-born stick-wielder gleaned plenty of wisdom through his lessons with drumming icons Philly Joe Jones and Alan Dawson, and he's put that knowledge to good use by backing the greats over the past several decades. Cox has been the rhythmic force behind a plethora of high profile players, including Saturnine piano madman Sun Ra, ...

Album Review

Clockwork: The Contest

Read "The Contest" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 26, 2012

Trondheim, Norway's jazz conservatory has an excellent reputation for nurturing countless original musicians and outfits. Clockwork, a Norway/Sweden quartet, was formed in that conservatory in 2009 and, after numerous tours, now has The Contest, a debut co-produced, mixed and mastered by Swedish saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar. The compositions were written by three quartet members: pianist Oscar Grönberg (a member of Norway's Friends & Neighbors and Hanna Paulsberg's Concept, appearing on their respective Øra Fonogram debuts, 2011's No Beat ...

Extended Analysis

Damani Phillips: The Reckoning

by Victor Verney
December 26, 2012

Damani PhillipsThe ReckoningSelf Produced2012“Reckoning" is a complex word with many shades of meaning, an apt choice for reedman Damani Phillips' latest CD. As a noun, it signifies (among other things) an objective appraisal built with concrete facts. Used as a verb, the word denotes an educated guess based upon imaginative speculation. In any case, it suggests calculation underpinned by trust--whether in others, oneself, or a Higher Power. All these ...

Year in Review

John Sharpe’s Best Releases of 2012

by John Sharpe
December 26, 2012

Here are ten new releases which stood out this year: Wadada Leo Smith Ten Freedom Summers Cuneiform Without a doubt, Ten Freedom Summers is the crowning achievement of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's distinguished career to date. Years in the making, the complete sequence of 19 songs, inspired by the Black American Civil Rights Movement, was recorded live at LA's Red Cat in 2011, producing over four hours of outstandingly ...

Album Review

Daniel Herskedal and Marius Neset: Neck Of The Woods

Read "Neck Of The Woods" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
December 26, 2012

Saxophone and tuba duos have something in common with hens' teeth, so tubaist Daniel Herskedal and saxophonist Marius Neset's collaboration is already noteworthy for its pioneering spirit alone. Herskedal and Neset--former students of Copenhagen's Rhythmic Conservatory and band mates in pianist Django Bates StoRMChaser--have, however, crafted music so sublime that it's a wonder tubiasts and saxophonists aren't a dime-a-dozen. Drawing from the Norwegian folk tradition and classically influenced European church music, the result is a recording that has the haunting ...

Album Review

Vlatkovich Tryyo: Pershing Woman

Read "Pershing Woman" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 25, 2012

Southern California-based trombonist Michael Vlatkovich leads a power-packed trio, captured live at a Michigan venue. The trombonist is firmly entrenched in the region's avant-garde and progressive jazz loop, alongside cohorts such as multi-reedman Vinny Golia, pfMentum Records proprietor and trumpeter Jeff Kaiser and other notables. Here, the trio generates a lot of positive hoopla and excitement as the live recorded sound contains a slight echo that hovers like an aura and summons an analog sense of purity. The ...

Interview

Fabrizio Sotti: The Key to Music

by Fernando Rodriguez De Mondesert
December 25, 2012

Invited to perform at the 16th edition of the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, this past November, guitarist Fabrizio Sotti was sitting on the beach in Cabarete, along the country's north coast, when this interview took place.Sottis' most recent release, Inner Dance (E1, 2010), was almost his third release, following the guitarist's This World Upside Down (BCI-Eclipse, 1999), but a hard drive crash on his computer scuttled what was to be his sophomore release, originally to be titled Against ...

Year in Review

Mark Corroto’s Best Releases of 2012

by Mark Corroto
December 25, 2012

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of jazz have been greatly exaggerated. 2012 has been an outstanding year for jazz and improvised music. Here is a list of some of the best. Stephen GauciThunk! (Not Two Records) Matt Wilson/Arts & Crafts Attitude For Gratitude(Palmetto) Rivers/Holland/Altschul Reunion: Live In New York (Pi Recordings) Angles 5 By Way Of Deception (Clean Feed) Steve Lehman Dialect Fluorescent (Pi Recordings) New Zion ...

Album Review

Michaela Rabitsch & Robert Pawlik Quartet: Voyagers

Read "Voyagers" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
December 25, 2012

Trumpeter Michaela Rabitsch and guitarist Robert Pawlik's partnership spans fifteen years and, until now, three joint recordings. Their fourth recording presents another offering of all-originals, following Moods (Extrapolate, 2009), and is inspired by tours of Europe, Asia and Africa. Melody and groove are firmly to the forefront, evoking Balkan, Spanish and Arabic moods, as well as the Americas. Instantly appealing melodies and the generally sunny disposition of the music should make this a hit with lovers of smooth jazz, but ...