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

Lionel Loueke: Heritage

Read "Heritage" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes

by Ernest Barteldes
August 31, 2012

On Heritage, Benin-born Lionel Loueke takes a more electric approach than on previous releases, which mostly featured his acoustic, nylon-string guitar. This change is immediately felt on the opening “Ifê," beginning with the muted notes of an acoustic steel-stringed guitar whose sound resembles a kalimba (thumb piano). Loueke is backed solely by his trio (rounded out by bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Mark Guiliana) here, and plays a dexterous solo with the help of a pitch bender pedal.Co-producer ...

Book Review

Duncan Heining: George Russell - The Story of an American Composer

by John Kelman
August 31, 2012

George Russell: The Story of an American Composer Duncan Heining 376 pages, hardback ISBN: 978-0-8108-6997-4 Scarecrow Press 2010 It's been out for a couple years now, but any book about American composer and founder of the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization—if not the most influential musical concepts ever written and applied to jazz, then certainly one of them—warrants attention. That it is as painstakingly researched and compiled by author (and occasional AAJ ...

Album Review

Ben Tyree: Thoughtform Variations

Read "Thoughtform Variations" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
August 30, 2012

On the face of it, an all-acoustic solo album may seem like something of a departure from guitarist Ben Tyree's eclectic, contemporary New York fusion of re:vision (Sonic Architectures, 2011), with his BT3 trio. Yet, in essence, these eight tracks share an equally wide arc of influences and the same spirit of adventure. Though not as raucous or urbane as re:vision, which roped in DJ Logic and keyboardist John Medeski, Tyree's acoustic sketches are, in some ways, no less modern, ...

Album Review

Lionel Loueke: Heritage

Read "Heritage" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
August 30, 2012

Lionel Loueke's Heritage deftly intertwines modern jazz constructs with traditional African themes in a highly personal exploration of these two cultural streams which define Loueke's upbringing and musical identity. The result is a gracious, elevating and welcoming sound that still challenges preconceived notions.Thoughtfully composed, the album's ten pieces together present an intimate--sometimes philosophical--complex musical meditation on the concept of heritage. Tunes like “Ouidah," inspired by the village where Loueke's mother was born and a center of the slave ...

Album Review

Mark Masters Ensemble: Ellington Saxophone Encounters

Read "Ellington Saxophone Encounters" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
August 30, 2012

Countless albums have been made with the sole intention of honoring the great Duke Ellington by highlighting his personality, piano skills and pile of hits, but they don't tell the whole story; part of his legacy rests with the men who brought his music to life. The individuals who filled out the roster in Ellington's illustrious band earned their own place in history by shaping the sound and identity of his group so, rather than tread on well-worn ground, arranger ...

Album Review

The Zombies featuring Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent: Recorded Live in Concert at Metropolis Studios, London

Read "Recorded Live in Concert at Metropolis Studios, London" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
August 30, 2012

Indeed, a commemorative occasion for this classic British pop band, performing in front of an intimate audience at Metropolis Studios in London. Featuring original members, vocalist Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent, The Zombies perform its cherished, harmonically attractive hits while tinting the program with a rockier edge on various pieces. It's a surprisingly seamless transition from the more polite 60's pop criteria into the modern age. Here, Argent--always one of the finer rock keyboardists--enjoys ample soloing room where he ...

Album Review

Sizhukong: Sizhukong: Spin

Read "Sizhukong: Spin" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
August 30, 2012

Taiwanese band Sizhukong has come a long way in five years since its debut recording, Sizhukong (Sizhukong Music, 2007). Blending jazz idioms with traditional Taiwanese/Chinese folk music, that record announced the arrival of a unique Asian ensemble, whose exciting, highly lyrical playing sounded not just newly minted, but newly conceived. Pianist/leader Yuwen Peng had recently graduated from Berklee and wove her flowing jazz lines throughout the exotic mix. And, in a captivating collaboration with South African mbira/djembe player and singer ...

Extended Analysis

JD McPherson: Signs and Signifiers

by John Coltelli
August 30, 2012

There is an often told tale of a NASA time capsule sent to the dark regions of outer space in late 1977. The capsule, intended to be discovered by beings light years away, was festooned with various sounds that would give a clue as to life on mother earth; the rustling of leaves, the sound of water flowing gently over a riverbed, a baby's cry, or the clackety racket of internal combustion engines. Also included were quartets from Bach, symphonies ...

Album Review

Jessica Jones & Mark Taylor: Live at the Freight

Read "Live at the Freight" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
August 29, 2012

Live at the Freight chronicles a June 2011 date at the venerable Freight & Salvage coffeehouse in Berkeley, California, co-led by tenor saxophonist Jessica Jones and French horn and mellophone player Mark Taylor. The compositions, all originals and mostly quite good, are split between the two leaders.The first slightly unusual twist to the quartet is the presence of the French horn, rather than a trumpet. Saxophonist Jones makes the case for the French horn this way: “Trumpeters don't ...

Profile

Jack Davies: Inventing Himself

by Duncan Heining
August 29, 2012

"Jack's formal education has given him useful tools but above all he has drive and determination and ideas, which cannot be taught." class="f-right">--Colin Towns, composer, bandleaderand producer of The Jack Davies Big Band (V&V, 2012).

The jazz big band is a wondrous beast. Caught in movement and it's like a big cat, with barely contained violence ready to strike. It can be subtle; smooth, even, but when it rolls over and acts all coy and gentle, watch ...