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

Brandi Disterheft: Gratitude

Read "Gratitude" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
November 12, 2012

Canada has had its fair share of fine female jazz exports over the past few decades: piano-vocal crossover star Diana Krall; trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and her equally fabulous saxophone playing sister, Christine Jensen; and pianist Renee Rosnes have all made their mark below the 49th parallel. With the release of Gratitude, bassist Brandi Disterheft is poised to join their ranks. The Vancouver-born bassist first garnered attention in Canada with her Juno Award-winning Debut (Superfran, 2007) and its ...

Album Review

Vincent Lyn: Wing Sing

Read "Wing Sing" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
November 12, 2012

Kickboxing champion, movie star and pianist Vincent Lyn takes flight on Wing Sing, his second album as leader, with a dynamic, upbeat smooth-styled session of jazz that appropriately follows up to his Grammy-nominated debut, Heaven Bound (Self Produced, 2011). Lyn has always been a goal-driven fighter with a desire to be at the top of his game, so it's no surprise that he chose Wing Sing for the title of this project; it just happens to be the Chinese translation ...

Under the Radar

Eddie Durham: Genius in the Shadows

by Jim Gerard
November 12, 2012

On December 13, 1932, in the eye of the Great Depression that was devastating the record industry, the Bennie Moten Orchestra shuffled “on their uppers" into a converted church in Camden, N.J., and silently launched the Swing Era, three years before clarinetist Benny Goodman's formal inauguration as the “King of Swing" at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. While composer/bandleader Moten has vanished into the mists of history, his band boasted an assemblage of jazz legends: trumpeter Oran Hot Lips" ...

Interview

Bob Mintzer: Amazing Reach

by Bob Kenselaar
November 12, 2012

For about half of his four decade-long career in jazz, Bob Mintzer has been a member of the Yellowjackets, one of the most enduring, distinctive and creative bands in contemporary jazz. But, oddly enough, this association is a relatively small slice of Mintzer's remarkably multifaceted life in music as a saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator and leader of his own big bands and small groups. For Mintzer, the phrase “busy as a bee" certainly applies.Born in 1953 ...

Interview

Ramsey Lewis: Life is Good

by Jacob Blickenstaff
November 11, 2012

Some jazz aficionados might characterize pianist Ramsey Lewis' music as a gateway into more serious jazz, as if popular Lewis albums like The In Crowd (Verve, 1965) were meant to lead novice listeners to saxophonist Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic, 1959). But Lewis' commercial successes should not be viewed as a liability to his legacy in jazz history. Just as Coleman did, Lewis has done what only a few great musicians of his generation have done: ...

Album Review

Charlotte Hug & Frederic Blondy: Bouquet

by John Eyles
November 11, 2012

This meeting of French pianist Frédric Blondy and Switzerland's Charlotte Hug on viola and voice was studio-recorded in March 2008 in Paris. Performing as a duo since 2005, Hug and Blondy continue to do so. The album sleeve bears a phrase that is increasingly seen in recent years: “No overdubbing or electronic modification was used." In other words, everything on the album was played by the two musicians in real time. However, the aural evidence may lead some to doubt ...

From Far and Wide

EU Sax Band of 12 Looks Across the Pond

by Fradley Garner
November 11, 2012

12 Horns Hope to Blow WestwardImagine a band of 12 saxophonists from 12 countries and musical backgrounds, with a touring calendar of at least 10 indoor and outdoor venues-including a marketplace and a train station-from July through December, 2012.Meet The European Saxophone Ensemble. Aged 18 to 34, the players range “from a virtuous contemporary reeds soloist to a punk baritone, from a jazz tenor to an Afro-soul Scandinavian baritone, from a chamber soprano to an alto ...

Album Review

Masha Campagne: Like Water, Like Air

Read "Like Water, Like Air" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
November 11, 2012

Vocalist Masha Campagne may hail from Moscow and live in San Francisco, but she's a Brazilian at heart. Campagne, who first encountered jazz through her musical grandfather's record collection and performances, left her native land and settled in the Bay Area in the early '90s. She took in all of the aural wonders of the area, performing, teaching and absorbing music, and eventually gained some well-deserved recognition, winning a Downbeat Student Music Award. This opened some doors, leading to important ...

Album Review

Slumgum / Hugh Ragin: The Sky His Own

Read "The Sky His Own" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
November 11, 2012

Slumgum exhibits a sophisticated voice and thematic cohesiveness on this, its third release, The Sky His Own. These characteristics are a testament to this innovative Los Angeles-based quartet's camaraderie and shared ideology, as all members of the group, including guest cornetist Hugh Ragin, contribute unique compositions. Ragin's expansive “Silver Cornet News" starts off hinting at hard bop, with drummer Trevor Anderies energetically driving the melody. Known for the breadth of his ingenuity, Ragin does not disappoint, as ...

Album Review

Marcus Goldhaber: Almost Love

Read "Almost Love" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes

by Ernest Barteldes
November 11, 2012

On his third album, vocalist and songwriter Marcus Goldhaber presents an eclectic mix of original songs that run the gamut of his musical influences, ranging from pop-inflected ballads to more swinging jazz tunes.The disc opens with “Love Me Tonight," a romantic ballad that sets the tone for almost half of the album, mostly comprised of mid-tempo ballads. The acoustic guitar-centered arrangements are reminiscent of James Taylor, but with less focus on Taylor's folk style and with a clear ...