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

"Stonephace" Stabbins: Transcendental

Read "Transcendental" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
September 29, 2012

On his thirteenth birthday Larry “Stonephace" Stabbins, already a promising saxophonist, bought John Coltrane's Africa/Brass (Impulse!, 1961). The impact was immediate and long-lasting, as Stabbins writes in the liner notes to Transcendental. By the early'70s he was an established player on the UK jazz scene. Forty years on, the sound of Africa/Brass still influences Stabbins and while he makes no attempt to mimic Coltrane's sound, there is something of Coltrane's spirituality underpinning much of the music on this excellent recording.

From Far and Wide

Record-Busting 100+ Bassists Serenade Tivoli

by Fradley Garner
September 29, 2012

Record-Busting 100+ Bassists Serenade TivoliThe seeds were planted by Oscar Pettiford, the seminal American cellist and bassist who put down roots in Copenhagen in 1958, and by the homegrown virtuoso Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, who played his vintage Italian bass like the nimblest-fingered guitarist when he wasn't bowing like Giovanni Bottesini. In August, 2012, the Danish capital's new Opera House was the locus of BASS2012, Europe's biennial and biggest convention of classical and jazz double bassists, lured by some ...

Live Review

Florence + The Machine with The Maccabees: Wantagh, NY, September 15, 2012

by Mike Perciaccante
September 29, 2012

Florence + The Machine with The Maccabees Nikon At Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, New York September 15, 2012 On a crisp September evening, two of South London's newest music exports invaded Long Island. The evening's opening act, Britain's The Maccabees, released its first single, “X-Ray" on Promise Records in November, 2005, and soon found itself opening for The Arctic Monkeys. The group's debut CD, Color It In (Geffen), was released in 2007 and gained ...

Album Review

Harold Mabern: Mr. Lucky

Read "Mr. Lucky" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
September 29, 2012

Pianist Harold Mabern's Mr. Lucky is a bon-bon: all sugar, with no protein or vitamins. For a veteran like Mabern, who's made some great jazz records over the years, and who can play fine blues with real grit, this one is confusing. Sure, making homage to Sammy Davis Jr. sounds like a good idea, but did it need to come off so white bread? Ok, admittedly Davis, with his frothy show tunes and mellifluous voice, was not competing with Billie ...

Album Review

Gill Manly: The Lies Of Handsome Men

Read "The Lies Of Handsome Men" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
September 28, 2012

It's been 30 years since Gill Manly began singing jazz standards around the clubs and bars of London, after a few years honing her skills in West End musicals and fringe theatre. She has garnered much praise during that time, working with fellow singers Mark Murphy and Ian Shaw, among others. The Lies Of Handsome Men is only her third album--a decade-long absence from the music business between her debut, Detour Ahead (Parrott Records, 1995), and With A Song In ...

Album Review

Marc Johnson / Eliane Elias: Swept Away

Read "Swept Away" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 28, 2012

Swept Away is certainly a collaborative effort--co-led by Eliane Elias and bassist Marc Johnson--but it seems more like the pianist's set. The Sao Paolo-born pianist, Elias, penned five of the disc's eleven tunes, and co-wrote two more with her musical/life partner, Johnson. The duo, in league with drummer Joey Baron and, on five tunes, saxophonist Joe Lovano, has produced the most sumptuous music imaginable, beginning with the Elias-penned title tune--a floating trio effort, a sensual haiku to unadorned beauty.

Live Review

Peter Brötzmann & Jason Adasiewicz: Delaware, Ohio, September 9, 2012

by Mark Corroto
September 28, 2012

Peter Brötzmann and Jason AdasiewiczJemison AuditoriumOhio Wesleyan UniversityDelaware, OhioSeptember 9, 2012Halfway through their 13-concert North American mini-tour, German saxophonist legend Peter Brötzmann and vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz walked into a crowded Jemison Auditorium on the Ohio Wesleyan campus. Would the pair adjust and restyle their approach to 'free jazz' for the majority college audience? To quote Brötzmann, “Nay, nay."With one huge inhale, he blew into his faithful taragato (a wooden reed instrument, ...

Album Review

RJ And The Assignment: Deceiving Eyes

Read "Deceiving Eyes" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
September 28, 2012

There are times when one comes across a relatively unknown talent or group, whose performance leaves quite a lasting impression, as does young pianist/songwriter RJ and his group, The Assignment. A native of Chicago who has performed throughout the country over the last fifteen years, RJ has since settled in Las Vegas, where his shining debut, Deceiving Eyes, was recorded. Though he boasts influences from Bill Evans and Chick Corea to Herbie Hancock, among others, RJ has also been comfortable ...

Extended Analysis

Shelly Manne: Three Classic Albums Plus

by David Rickert
September 28, 2012

Shelly ManneThree Classic Albums PlusAvid Records2012During the 1950s heyday of the West Coast scene, drummer Shelly Manne hit on a formula for sucessful albums: pick a Broadway play or television score and turn some of the best songs into swinging jazz. After the success of My Fair Lady (1956) there was no turning back, and the four albums on Three Classic Albums Plus were recorded in succession over the span of two ...

Live Review

Pat Metheny Unity Band: Denver, CO, September 7, 2012

by Geoff Anderson
September 28, 2012

Pat Metheny Unity BandBotanic GardensDenver, COSeptember 7, 2012Pat Metheny is restless. And we're all the richer for it. Over a career that is now pushing 40 years, Metheny has been a constant innovator, not only in the development of musical styles, but new sounds as well, going so far as to invent new musical instruments to help him push, and sometimes explode, sonic boundaries. Now on tour with his Unity Band, Metheny showcased many of ...