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

Steinar Raknes: Stillhouse

Read "Stillhouse" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
October 13, 2012

Steinar Raknes is a man of many tastes. A founding member of the fiery modern jazz quartet The Core, a collaborator with lyrical jazz violinist Ola Kvernberg, co-leader of the SKÁIDI duo with yoik vocalist Inga Juuso, and leader of his own quartet that covers tango and bossa-nova classics, on Stillhouse, this Norwegian double bassist features his abilities as a vocalist and interpreter of eclectic, iconic American songs from the past few decades, as well as a few originals.

Live Review

Fitz & The Tantrums: Huntington, NY, September 21, 2012

by Mike Perciaccante
October 13, 2012

Fitz & The Tantrums The Paramount Huntington, New York September 21, 2012 Fitz & The Tantrums possess one of the most inventive names ever conceived, but the band has much more than just a great moniker. Its music is a true hybrid---a modern soul/funk, with a heavy dose of indie rock and old-school new wave. The neo-soul band led by singer Michael Fitzpatrick (Fitz) and co-vocalist Noelle Scaggs (who adds the powerful earthy soul ...

Album Review

Lou Marini: Starmaker

Read "Starmaker" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
October 13, 2012

Lou Marini's Starmaker is a reflection of the veteran reedman's professional life, with eight originals ranging from jazz, to blues and other related genres. Known by the moniker “Blue Lou," Marini has starred in the classic “The Blues Brothers" and has played with such diverse ensembles as Woody Herman's orchestra, Blood, Sweat and Tears, guitarist/composer Frank Zappa, trumpeter Lew Soloff and singer/songwriter James Taylor. Raw emotionality and effervescent zest permeate all of the tunes as Marini alternates ...

Live From Philadelphia

September 2012: Exuberance

by RJ Johnson
October 13, 2012

Exuberance Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA September 12, 2012Amongst the diverse array of working jazz groups encompassing the Philadelphia jazz scene, Exuberance--a band which performs a book of entirely original music--has emerged as a popular interest amongst musicians and non-musicians alike. By combining thoughtful writing with an intricate yet engaging style of jazz improvisation, the group has managed to create music which remains unambiguous while retaining a natural intellectual curiosity.The ...

Live Review

Live From Old York: Mysore Brothers, Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick, Dr. Feelgood, Jesca Hoop & Chicken Shack

by Martin Longley
October 12, 2012

The Mysore Brothers National Centre For Early Music York, England September 23, 2012 York's NCEM uses the 11th Century medieval Saint Margaret's Church as its core, with a modern foyer area grafted onto the side of the ancient edifice. Straight away, the main concert space is invested with atmospheric and acoustic resonances. As its name suggests, a principle part of the NCEM program consists of early music concerts, but the ...

Album Review

Roman Filiu: Musae

by Dan Bilawsky
October 12, 2012

Drummer Dafnis Prieto created the Dafnison Music label as a means to control his own work and get his forward-thinking recordings into the hands of the public on his own terms. That, however, doesn't mean he isn't willing to use this imprint as a means to promote the work of other deserving artists. Musae marks the first non-Prieto release on Dafnison and turns attention toward the hard-to-define work of saxophonist Roman Filiu. Filiu, who initially found his ...

Album Review

Grant Geissman: Bop! Bang! Boom!

Read "Bop! Bang! Boom!" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
October 12, 2012

Grant Geissman's lengthy career as a guitarist and composer started in the early '70s. His résumé includes the guitar solo on flugelhornist Chuck Mangione's 1978 hit single “Feels So Good," a discography of around 15 albums as leader and compositions for TV such as the theme for the CBS comedy Two And A Half Men. Bop! Bang! Boom! is the final installment of a trilogy that also includes Say That! (Futurism, 2006) and Cool Man Cool (Futurism, 2009). As before, ...

Album Review

Scott Cowan: Jack's Place

Read "Jack's Place" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
October 12, 2012

Trumpeter Scott Cowan built his strength performing with several top-notch musicians, including pianist Fred Hersch, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and guitarist Kenny Burrell, in addition to being an educator and a conductor and arranger. He makes an ambitious move on his debut as a leader by extending his core unit of a quartet into a quintet, sextet and octet. The basic configuration makes for some warm and cozy listening, with the expanded groups showing not only his compositional skill but also ...

Live Review

The Necks: Manchester, England, September 15, 2012

by David McLean
October 12, 2012

The NecksBand On The WallManchesterSeptember 15, 2012The Necks is one of those rare and ingenious bands that has consistently made the role of the critic wonderfully obsolete. Since the group's inception in the late '80s and across 20 albums, this Australian trio has deftly maneuvered out of any pigeonhole ascribed to them--whether it be the reductive term “Post-Rock" or the ludicrous early noughties marketing tag “nu-jazz," communicating The Necks' sound has always been a difficulty ...

Album Review

Paul Kogut: Turn of Phrase

Read "Turn of Phrase" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
October 12, 2012

What makes Paul Kogut's album Turn of Phrase unique is not his virtuosity or talent, of which he has plenty, but the singular mix of tight thematic cohesiveness and expansive aesthetic language. Kogut exhibits versatility without losing his own voice. On “Especially When It Rains," his cool, muscular jazzy guitar evolves into a blistering hot slurred sound with rock sensibilities. “Blue in Green" gets a 21st century makeover, with a stimulating deconstruction into soundscapes that harken at ...