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.

Interview

Marialy Pacheco: A Sunshine State of Mind

by Ian Patterson
September 4, 2012

It takes courage and self-belief to up sticks and try your luck in another country. There is, after all, no guarantee that things will work out, and some hard times are almost assured. The language barrier can leave you feeling utterly isolated, and until you gain fluency it is not possible to be truly yourself. It's essential to pack a good supply of hope before embarking, and equally important upon arrival to maintain the ability to laugh at life's sometimes ...

Big Band Report

From Charlie Christian to Charlie Parker

by Jack Bowers
September 4, 2012

It's not often one has a chance to see and hear a dozen of New Mexico's premier jazz musicians together onstage (or almost so) for a single concert, but that is what took place August 11 as an overflow audience welcomed the Charlie Christian Project and SuperSax New Mexico to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History near Old Town. Both groups were enhanced by the presence of trumpet master (and Albuquerque native) Bobby Shew whose playing, as always, was ...

Album Review

Joe Morris / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver: Altitude

by John Sharpe
September 4, 2012

Guitarist Joe Morris is on a roll. Hardly a month goes by without a new release featuring the Boston-based musician. Of course, he doubled his chances by adding acoustic bass to his armory alongside his six-stringed axe. It's the latter he wields on this trio date featuring bassist William Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver, captured at New York City's Stone in June, 2011. Strangely, given their long acquaintance, this is the first time this particular combination has recorded, though each ...

Album Review

Joey DeFrancesco: Wonderful! Wonderful!

Read "Wonderful! Wonderful!" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 4, 2012

B-3 specialist Joey DeFrancesco has enjoyed a long and successful Career; so long, that Wonderful! Wonderful! is DeFrancesco's tenth HighNote release. With Tony Monaco his only real “traditional" jazz organ peer, DeFrancesco pretty well has the market cornered for greasy chitlin' circuit funk jazz cum Italian-American savoir faire. Joined by legends, guitarist Larry Coryell and drummer Jimmy Cobb, DeFrancesco assembles a more than competent organ guitar trio, where the three's empathic understanding makes for a satisfying recital of original and ...

Album Review

Nate Wooley / Christian Weber / Paul Lytton: Six Feet Under

Read "Six Feet Under" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
September 3, 2012

Having established a template with their eponymous 2007 Broken Research debut and Creak Above 33, (psi, 2010), avant trumpeter Nate Wooley and English drummer Paul Lytton have been looking to stretch the confines of their duo with the addition of impromptu guests. Accomplices on their 2008 American tour included guitarist Fred Frith, pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Torsten Müller, and electronics from Pete Swanson from Yellow Swans. For Six Feet Under, the duo enlists the assistance of Swiss bassist Christian Weber, ...

Mr. P.C.'s Guide to Jazz Etiquette and Bandstand Decorum

September 2012

by Mr. P.C.
September 3, 2012

Dear Mr. P.C.:Will there ever be a unanimous decision within the jazz world on who is and who is not “burning"?Are there different levels of “burned"? Gregg BC

Dear Greg:“Burning," “smoking," “on fire...." It's all so different from the Cool Jazz of the Fifties! What has caused the radical shift? Jazz climate change, of course. As with global warming, the only real question is whether “Hot Jazz" is part of a ...

Album Review

Jessica Pilnas: Norma Deloris Egstrom – A Tribute To Peggy Lee

Read "Norma Deloris Egstrom – A Tribute To Peggy Lee" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
September 3, 2012

Peggy Lee is not an artist who is usually associated with Sweden, but as Norma Deloris Egstrom--A Tribute To Peggy Lee indicates, her real name comes straight from her family's roots in that Scandinavian country. Singer Jessica Pilnäs is Swedish, although this link is of relatively little importance to the music on offer here. More vitally, she's a talented interpreter of songs who can do justice to the legacy of one of the great singers of jazz and popular music.

Live Review

Harvie S, Sheryl Bailey, Steve Johns: Nyack, NY, July 29, 2012

by David A. Orthmann
September 3, 2012

Harvie S, Sheryl Bailey, Steve JohnsNyack Jazz Week at the Turning Point CafePiermont, NYJuly 29, 2012Sometimes auspicious events occur in unlikely circumstances. The last part of Nyack Jazz Week 2012 was billed as a closing night concert with surprise guests, followed by a jam session. Long before the first set began, some of the invited guests arrived, instruments in tow, eager to play. All of this activity forecast a night filled with familiar tunes, and ...

Album Review

Sophisticated Ladies: A True Story

Read "A True Story" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
September 3, 2012

Bordeaux-based Sophisticated Ladies joins an illustrious tradition of female jazz group that stretches back several decades to include International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Beryl Booker's Diva trio and its offshoot, Five Play, as well as Japan's Groovin' Girls trio. Elegant and understated interpretations of standards and chansons, often with Latin hints, make up the quartet's debut, A True Story. Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Rachael Magidson accompanies her sublime delivery of lyrics and subtly sensuous voice with exquisite Afro Cuban ...

Interview

Marcus Belgrave: Preserver of Jazz

by Shannon J. Effinger
September 3, 2012

If you trace the careers of many of today's jazz artists, you'll discover that they all converge around one man--trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. He gave Karriem Riggins his very first drum set. Ray Parker, Jr. got his first gig thanks to him. He even took a then 15--year-old James Carter to Europe for the first time. And throughout the years, Belgrave has continued to give so much to jazz because he himself learned from many of the originators of this music--trumpeter ...