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.

Book Excerpts

Trudy Pitts: Extraordinary Pianist & Master of the Hammond B-3

by Pheralyn Dove
August 14, 2012

[The following is an excerpt from Pheralyn Dove's forthcoming memoir, No Time for Tears: A Book of True Life Stories, and the chapter titled “Today I Cried."]The Student Meets the MasterTalking to keyboardist Trudy Pitts is like going on an adventure. It's the type of escapade where wanderlust, laughter and discovery are all intertwined. Whether on the telephone or in person, the discourse is utterly unpredictable, always exciting. I remember one night we were on the ...

Album Review

Gerd Dudek: Day and Night

Read "Day and Night" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
August 14, 2012

When saxophonist Evan Parker started his Psi label back in late 2001, the label's second release--following his own solo album, Lines Burnt in Light (2001)--was the excellent 'Smatter (2002), by Gerd Dudek, the German saxophonist's first release under his own name. In January 2012, when Parker curated a week-long series of concerts at The Vortex in London, entitled “Might I Suggest," Dudek was one of several excellent German musicians invited to participate (along with the estimable Rudi Mahall, Axel Dörner ...

Interview

Sharon Robinson: The Essence of Our Lives

by Nenad Georgievski
August 14, 2012

Producer, singer, arranger, songwriter--artist Sharon Robinson wears many hats. Although her work occurs mainly behind the scenes, her name and work are becoming increasingly known both as a collaborator and, in recent times, as an author in her own right. With more than 30 years in the music business, she began as a backing vocalist in a myriad of R&B bands, to become a successful producer and songwriter for the likes of Diana Ross, Don Henley, Rufus Wainwright, Aaron Neville ...

Album Review

Phil Grenadier / Bruno Raberg Duo: Plunge

Read "Plunge" reviewed by Florence Wetzel

by Florence Wetzel
August 14, 2012

Plunge is a captivating CD that features the formidable duo of bassist Bruno Råberg and trumpeter Phil Grenadier. Each musician brings to the table their unique background and decades of experience: Råberg hails from Sweden, and in his twenties he played with the cream of Swedish jazz musicians, including trombonist Eje Thelin, pianist Bobo Stenson and renowned singer Monica Zetterlund. With the magic of Scandinavian jazz firmly in his bones, Råberg emigrated to America in the early eighties, and since ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Nicky Schrire

by AAJ Staff
August 14, 2012

Meet Nicky Schrire: London-born, South African-raised, New York-based vocalist/composer Nicky Schrire has been been praised for her abilit: to use her voice as “a dispensary of emotional power." (Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz).A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Schrire has performed in New York, South Africa and London. Her debut album, Freedom Flight, has been hailed by critics as “an exceptional debut" (Steven Lewis, Hard bop Jazz Journal) and “a thrilling maiden voyage" (Andrea ...

Live Review

Vision Festival, NYC, Days 6-7: June 16-17, 2012

by John Sharpe
August 14, 2012

Days 1-2 | Days 3-5 | Days 6-717th Annual Vision FestivalRouletteBrooklyn, NYJune 16-17, 2012 Chapter Index June 16: Steve Swell Quintet / Trio 3 / Jason Kao Hwang Burning Bridge June 17: Ingrid Laubrock's Anti-House / Burnt Sugar Holy Ghost & Fire / Rob Brown/Daniel Levin / Kidd Jordan Quintet Festival Wrap Up June 16: Steve Swell Quintet / Trio 3 / ...

Interview

Louis Sclavis: Maps of the Mind

by Ian Patterson
August 13, 2012

"My music? I know what it is, and I don't know what it is. It's a paradox." Now entering his fifth decade as a recording artist, multi-reedist/composer Louis Sclavis may not have a clear handle on the music he makes, but he has absorbed the lessons of all the music he has turned his hand to, from free jazz to film scores, from African music to neoclassical composition. Listening to Sources (2012), Sclavis' ninth release on the ECM label--and his ...

Album Review

Louis Sclavis Atlas Trio: Sources

Read "Sources" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
August 13, 2012

Multi-reedist, composer and improviser Louis Sclavis' ninth release for ECM sees this eternally restless seeker of new sounds and textures heading once more into personally unchartered territory; this is the first time Sclavis has led a trio of clarinet, guitar and piano. In guitarist Gilles Coronado and pianist Benjamin Mouassy, Sclavis has recruited open-minded musicians with the technique, discipline and imagination necessary to give life to his sketches of musical ideas, where formal structure and free rein co-exist in such ...

Album Review

Solveig Slettahjell: Antologie

Read "Antologie" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
August 13, 2012

It's been two years since Solveig Slettajhell's Tarpan Seasons (Universal Music Norway, 2010), and in the intervening years she's been a little busier than usual, taking time off to give birth to her first child. Delivering a thoroughly captivating duo showcase with In the Country keyboardist Morten Qvenild at this year's Jazzahead! in Bremen, Germany--playing music largely culled from Antologie--it was clear, however, that family responsibilities haven't stopped the Norwegian singer from further stretching the concept she's been honing in ...

Live Review

Pennsylvania Blues Festival: Palmerton, PA, July 27-29, 2012

by Wade Luquet
August 13, 2012

Pennsylvania Blues FestivalBlue Mountain Ski AreaPalmerton, PAJuly 27-29, 2012For 21 years, the Pocono Mountains have been the epicenter of the blues, attracting thousands to the bottom of a ski slope for three days each summer. Blue Mountain Ski Resort lent itself well to the fifteen national acts that performed on two stages over the warm, and sometimes rainy, July weekend that featured great food, music and crafts. Veteran festival producer Michael Cloeren assembled an all-star ...