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

Jacqui Sutton: Notes From The Frontier: A Musical Journey

Read "Notes From The Frontier: A Musical Journey" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 18, 2012

In America's infancy, exploration and a thirst for discovery were endemic to the human spirit. Over time, no stone went unturned, the world shrunk and people, by and large, became content with what they already knew. Something as simple as a new television program or electronic gadget now quenches the thirst-for-the-unknown that was once unquenchable in the mind of mankind, but true musical spirits aren't satisfied in this manner; they never stop searching. These musical pioneers explore the cracks and ...

Album Review

Tim Olive & Alfredo Costa Monteira: 33 bays

by John Eyles
October 18, 2012

33 bays is the second release from the duo of Canadian guitarist Tim Olive and Portuguese electro-acoustic artist Alfredo Costa Monteiro, following their previous A Theory of Possible Utterance (Zeromoon, 2011). On 33 bays, Olive plays one-string electric guitar plus electronics, while Monteiro uses electro-acoustic devices. The album was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs, in Kyoto, in October 2009, during a Japanese tour. Over several days the pair recorded a number of pieces of which only two ...

Live Review

55th Monterey Jazz Festival: September 21-23, 2012

by Larry Taylor
October 18, 2012

Monterey Jazz FestivalMonterey, CASeptember 21-23, 2012Standing out this year at the 55th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, as expected, were the three honorees--Ambrose Akinmusire, Bill Frisell and Jack DeJohnette. Besides receiving accolades they also had busy schedules, appearing in concerts in the festival for three-days, Sept. 21-23, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Northern California. As always there was a surplus of things to see on the large outdoor Jimmy Lyons Stage and at five ...

Album Review

Marc Ducret: Tower, Vol. 4

Read "Tower, Vol. 4" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
October 18, 2012

When French guitarist Marc Ducret began to plan his Tower book of works-- Vol. 1 (2010) for a Franco-Danish quintet and Vol. 2 (2011) for a Franco-American quartet (both on Ayler)-- he thought to transpose to his musical world a literary device that writer Vladimir Nabokov used in his 1969 book Ada. In this book, Nabokov weaves a whole labyrinth made of mirrors, memories and correspondences, eventually building a form which in turn leads to his other books, themes and ...

Album Review

The New Standard Quintet: The Many Faces

Read "The Many Faces" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
October 18, 2012

There are certain features that are common among all types of jazz, not the least of which is creative spontaneity. The New Standard Quintet's The Many Faces demonstrates this unifying theme on the nine original that comprise the album. Saxophonist Ken Partyka and guitarist Pat Fleming, who also composed the tunes, co-lead the quintet. The group consists of versatile veterans of the Chicago music scene whose immense individual talents are only enhanced by their group camaraderie, both ...

Album Review

Joy Mover: Joy Mover

Read "Joy Mover" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
October 18, 2012

Making a sparkling entrance into the jazz vocal arena on her self-titled debut, Boston native Joy Mover turns a new page in her musical career from years of writing and producing to recording. The music business is a natural environment for the singer, in fact, as she hails from a distinguished musical family that includes her brother, renowned saxophonist Bob Mover--who, incidentally, also appears on the album. For this debut, the singer selects an eleven-song repertoire of originals and standards ...

Album Review

Chembo Corniel: Afro-Blue Monk

Read "Afro-Blue Monk" reviewed by Steve Bryant

by Steve Bryant
October 17, 2012

Nuyrican conguero Wilson “Chembo" Corniel is a member of the Afro-Latin New Wave, and has been making quite a name for himself as an accomplished composer and bandleader. Raised in Brooklyn, Corniel developed and honed his prodigious skills in the musically rich environs of the New York Latin scene. He performed with giants of Latin music including Tito Puente and Machito, as well as the stars of the Fania Records label. Not wanting to limit himself to the Latin dance ...

Live Review

Dutch Jazz & World Meeting 2012: October 5-6, 2012

by John Kelman
October 17, 2012

Dutch Jazz & World Meeting Amsterdam, The NetherlandsOctober 5-6, 2012With Jazzahead! 2012--the annual European jazz trade fair--demonstrating that jazz is, if not exactly big business, then certainly bigish business, it's no surprise to find that The Netherlands' biannual Dutch Jazz & World Meeting is making the same salient point, albeit more narrowly focused on a single country's contribution to music that may be niche in relative terms, but remains significant enough to warrant this kind of ...

Album Review

Frank Kimbrough Trio: Live At Kitano

Read "Live At Kitano" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 17, 2012

Pianist Frank Kimbrough can't avoid the magnetic pull of the trio. His own discography contains fine solo, duo, quartet and quintet dates, but a good half of the releases under his name have been triangular affairs that focus on his flexible take on this time-tested format. Kimbrough keeps coming back to this scenario, not because he has nothing else to say, but because he has so much to say in this type of setting. He speaks through the keys and ...

Album Review

George Cables: My Muse

by Greg Simmons
October 17, 2012

Pianist George Cables' relationship with the late Helen Wray must have been one joyous romance. Contrary to the expectations of an album dedicated to a departed loved one, My Muse is a collection of uplifting and, frankly, happy-sounding originals and standards. Take away the personal context and you'd swear Cables and company were just enjoying the gig.Cables is an elegant pianist. He has the rare capability to play with great drama, but without ever becoming hard or abrasive. ...