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

Joan Torres's All Is Fused: Before

Read "Before" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
December 19, 2012

Bassist Joan Torres calls his group All Is Fused. Before, the band's début recording, features electric bass, electric guitar and (mostly) electric keyboards. Is this a fusion album?Yes and no. Torres knows his fusion history, and appropriates from it with a sure touch. On “Doorway," the group channels the light samba sound of pianist Chick Corea's Return to Forever (ECM, 1972). On “Another World" and “The Chase," in contrast, they draw upon the rapid-fire guitar lines (here, doubled ...

Album Review

Sara Serpa / Ran Blake: Aurora

Read "Aurora" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 19, 2012

Portuguese vocalist Sara Serp's follow-up to Camera Obscura (Inner Circle, 2010), with renowned pianist Ran Blake, retains the fresh and irreverent approach of their debut. A former student of Blake's the two never sound obvious or predictable, even when they are interpreting popular jazz standards. Their versions offer deeper and often innocent insights to some of these most memorable songs. Aurora's 12 songs were recorded live in Serpa's hometown of Lisbon, and demonstrates the duo's highly personal ...

Album Review

Allan Holdsworth: None Too Soon

Read "None Too Soon" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
December 19, 2012

For his ninth album, guitar wizard Allan Holdsworth takes on jazz classics by saxophonists John Coltrane and Joe Henderson, pianist Bill Evans and more, plus pop classics just as famous for their jazz interpretations, in a set put together by Holdsworth's longtime musical associate and pianist, Gordon Beck. “Gordon chose most of the tunes, which I hadn't grown up playing and so wasn't that familiar with," Holdsworth recalls. “When he taught me one, it would be just like I was ...

Interview

Dave Weckl: On Time

by Scott Mitchell
December 19, 2012

Dave Weckl hit the New York fusion scene in the early 1980s. It didn't take long for this talented drummer from Saint Charles, Missouri to get recognized and hired by artists like singers Madonna, Robert Plant, Diana Ross, and Paul Simon, as well as guitarist/vocalist {George Benson}}. Weckl toured with the keyboardist Chick Corea's Elektric Band from 1985 to 1991. He then recorded and toured with guitarist Mike Stern. He currently tours regularly with guitarists Oz Noy and Chuck Loeb, ...

Album Review

Louis Durra: Rocket Science

Read "Rocket Science" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
December 18, 2012

The constant revitalization of the piano trio is one of the most rewarding developments in recent jazz history and it continues apace with Louis Durra's Rocket Science. Durra isn't introducing a major paradigm shift, but with Ryan McGillicuddy on bass and longtime compatriot Jerry Kalaf on drums, he's bringing a few fresh new tunes to the party and delivering them with a light, engaging yet imaginative flair.Rocket Science follows on from The Best Of All Possible Worlds (Self ...

Album Review

Papo Vazquez: Oasis

by Jerry D'Souza
December 18, 2012

Trombonist/composer Papo Vazquez brings in his Mighty Pirates Troubadours for another musical adventure full of scintillating melodies, energetic rhythms and heady grooves all of which make for a wonderful album. Not content to stay within one genre, Vazquez blends and mixes them with the skill of a wizard. The styles slide into place easily and compactly, propelled by as accomplished a bunch of musicians as any band leader would love to have.Vazquez not only has a fertile imagination ...

Catching Up With

Greg Diamond: Conduit as the Direction

by Marta Ramon
December 18, 2012

Guitarist Greg Diamond has found his niche at the New York jazz scene. This cosmopolitan man knows how to pour both of his roots, New Yorker and Colombian, into his music. He has set his own style that lets his music be recognized. His playing has led him to perform with accomplished jazz musicians like saxophonist Seamus Blake, pianist Emilio Solla, trumpeter Philip Mossman and many others.At the beginning of the 2012, Diamond launched his second album, Conduit ...

Album Review

Tim Warfield: Tim Warfield's Jazzy Christmas

Read "Tim Warfield's Jazzy Christmas" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
December 18, 2012

Veteran saxophonist Tim Warfield delivers one of the finest modern Christmas jazz albums around on Jazzy Christmas. Performing a selection of familiar songs with a heavy contemporary flavor, the music is so straight-ahead in nature that such seasonal tunes like “Let It Snow," “Joy To The World," and “Silent Night," are almost unrecognizable as Christmas music and could easily be part of any playlist throughout the year. The arrangements take advantage of Warfield's star-studded cast, including trumpeter Terell Stafford, pianist ...

Album Review

Alice Coltrane: Huntington Ashram Monastery / World Galaxy

Read "Huntington Ashram Monastery / World Galaxy" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
December 18, 2012

Composer, pianist, keyboard player, harpist and bandleader Alice (McLeod) Coltrane married John Coltrane in 1965. She played in her husband's band until his passing in 1967 but his influence remained strong throughout her music thereafter. Few of her albums reflect this influence more strongly than Huntington Ashram Monastery, recorded in 1969, and World Galaxy, recorded in 1971, here combined as part of the Impulse!/Universal 2-on-1 Impulse! reissue series.Huntington captures a trio date with bassist Ron Carter and drummer ...

Live Review

On The Road With The Asian Jazz All-Stars Power Quartet

by Ian Patterson
December 18, 2012

Though it was only a 12-hour flight from Singapore to London, for Singaporean organist/pianist Jeremy Monteiro, Philippine tenor saxophonist Tots Tolentino, Hong Kong guitarist Eugene Pao and Thai drummer Chanutr Techatana-nan--who together make up the Asian Jazz All-Stars Power Quartet--the journey has, in some ways, been a much longer one; you could say it's a journey that began in 1977, when Monteiro began gigging professionally. London represented a significant milestone for all these musicians. The four musicians grinned ...