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 Review

Supersilent featuring John Paul Jones: Manchester, UK, November 16, 2012

by David McLean
December 9, 2012

Supersilent featuring John Paul JonesRNCMManchester, UKNovember 16, 2012Of all Supersilent's live collaborators-- spanning from guitarist Stian Westerhus to prog/space rock juggernaut Motorpsycho--bassist John Paul Jones is a clear and distinct anomaly. Whereas previous conspirators have worked in similar realms, it was hard to know how the former Led Zeppelin bassist would fit into one of the most challenging and consistently daring improvisational units operating today. Precursory views of live footage on the internet was shunned--anyone ...

Album Review

Hugo Carvalhais: Particula

Read "Particula" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 9, 2012

Portuguese bassist Hugo Carvalhais creates a highly personal musical universe on this, his sophomore release. His compositions draw inspiration from the American free jazz of the sixties, the sonic experimentalism of saxophonist John Zorn and guitarist Fred Frith, and European chamber jazz, but do not surrender to any of these formative influences. Furthermore, Carvalhais chooses a distinct sonic structure for his band. He occupies the lower register with his bass, expanding it with delicate use of electronics and leaving only ...

Album Review

Fred Hersch: Alive at the Vanguard

Read "Alive at the Vanguard" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
December 9, 2012

Pianist Fred Hersch's two-disc trio date is called Alive at the Vanguard. It's a very efficient title: it manages to say three important things about the album.On one hand, the title assertively claims the disc's place in the lofty company of other live albums recorded at the legendary Village Vanguard in New York. These parallels are established in Hersch's set list. Saxophonist Sonny Rollins' Night at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1957), for example, also featured ...

Album Review

Jeff Johnson: Suitcase

Read "Suitcase" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
December 9, 2012

Bassist Jeff Johnson traveled the United States from the 1970s until 1990. He followed the work during his time of transience, and played an array of styles, from R&B to country, from blues to pop, and jazz. Then he put his suitcase down in Seattle and evolved into something of a house bassist for Origin Records, backing pianists Jessica Williams and Hal Galper, saxophonist Mark Taylor, vocalists Carrie Wicks and Jeff Baker, drummer John Bishop, and many more.

Album Review

No Reduce: Jaywalkin'

Read "Jaywalkin'" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 8, 2012

Nascent Swiss saxophonist Christoph Irniger often devises his compositional structures with embryonic tone poems and does not show a proclivity to rush through the body of his largely probing works. His ensemble takes its time within the song development cycle, usually yielding a throng of rewarding results. Recorded in New York City under the group moniker No Reduce, the musicians often elevate themes by assembling fragments into cohesive statements amid sublime melody lines and power-packed crescendos. Guitarist Dave ...

New York Beat

Ellis Marsalis: New York City, NY, November 9, 2012

by Nick Catalano
December 8, 2012

Although pianist Ellis Marsalis has garnered countless plaudits for his teaching at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and as chair of the Jazz Studies department at the University of New Orleans he rarely gets critical notice in these parts for his pianism. For decades, he has shaped the lives of countless jazz musicians including trumpeters Terence Blanchard and Nicholas Payton, pianist singer Harry Connick Jr., and his own four musical sons. During his career, the 78 year-old pianist's ...

Album Review

Karl 2000: Karl 2000

Read "Karl 2000" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
December 8, 2012

Imagine a melding of saxophonist Albert Ayler's frenetic pacing and saxophonist Peter Brötzmann's raw power and the result would be the thematic nature of Karl 2000's self-titled debut. Though saxophonist Daniel Rovin is billed as this power trio's co-leader, he is clearly the musical force throughout this collection. Along with eight original improvisations, Karl 2000 includes two covers that are unusual in selection and rendition. All of these pieces make for very challenging listening. Out of the gate, ...

Live Review

Dori Caymmi: Half Moon Bay, California, November 11, 2012

by Bill Leikam
December 8, 2012

Dori Caymmi QuartetBach Dancing & Dynamite SocietyDouglas Beach HouseHalf Moon Bay, CaliforniaNovember 11, 2012Brazilian veteran acoustic guitarist, singer, composer, and arranger Dori Caymmi engaged the audience at the Bach Dynamite & Dancing Society, aka the Douglas Beach House, with some of the most heartfelt songs of all time sung in Portuguese. Accompanying him were his longtime band members Bill Cantos on piano, keyboard and accompanying vocals, Mike Shapiro on drums and percussion, and ...

Album Review

Ranee Lee: Deep Song: A Tribute to Billie Holiday

Read "Deep Song: A Tribute to Billie Holiday" reviewed by Larry Taylor

by Larry Taylor
December 8, 2012

Deep Song--A Tribute To Billie Holiday is made up of vocalist Ranee Lee's wonderful renditions of classic Holiday recordings. Originally released in 1989, the disc has been beautifully remastered by Canada's Justin Time Records, with two bonus tracks added. True to her style, Lee doesn't try to create Holiday's unique plaintive quality but brings her own warm, earthy individuality to each track. Pianist Oliver Jones, handles most of the arrangements and also does stellar work in accompaniment. ...

Album Review

Andrea Brachfeld: Lady of the Island

Read "Lady of the Island" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
December 8, 2012

Flautist Andrea Brachfeld has always professed an affinity for jazz and, though her background clearly demonstrates varied musical tastes, she has always been a hard bop musician at the core. Lady of the Island is the realization of a dream where the music selected reflects the jazz styles that tugs at her heart the most. Begun many years ago, this album is a triumph over personal and professional challenges, a session of tasteful, swinging and unquestionably entertaining melodies.The ...