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

Sylvain Leroux: Quatuor Creole

Read "Quatuor Creole" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
August 7, 2012

Flautist Sylvain Leroux's debut, Quatuor Créole, is an enchanting mélange of Guinean sounds, French influences and jazz inflections. In that aspect it is essentially Creole, but not necessary a work of New Orleanian or Haitian folkloric music. Leroux plays the tambin, a West African reed flute, and a dozon ngoni, a lute from the same region--often alternating between the two on the same track. This is heard on the bluesy, hypnotic and griot (jeli)-style “Gambalou." Elsewhere, Leroux ...

Live Review

Joris Teepe Trio: New York, NY, July 19, 2012

by Bob Kenselaar
August 7, 2012

Joris Teepe Trio, with special guest Dave StrykerSmall's Jazz ClubNew York, NYJuly 19, 2012We wouldn't expect bassist/composer Joris Teepe to bring along a big band, symphony orchestra, and a chorus of a hundred voices with him to a gig at Small's Jazz Club. While there's no doubt that Small's is a prominent venue on the New York City jazz landscape, it's certainly not the largest. But this didn't deter Teepe from showcasing a selection from ...

Album Review

Mike Stern: All Over The Place

Read "All Over The Place" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
August 7, 2012

Guitarist Mike Stern projected a stylish, chops-heavy impression on the general jazz populous during his auspicious entry into the circuit, supporting jazz-fusion era Miles Davis. Indeed, one of the more distinctive guitarists spanning several decades, the artist enlists a who's who of current bass greats amid appearances by longtime associates, trumpeter Randy Brecker and former Davis drummer Al Foster. With a proverbial star-studded cast, Stern ventures into non-jazz circles, covering blues, West African themes, country rock, and other genres.

Interview

Verdine White: Shining Star

by Scott Mitchell
August 7, 2012

Arguably the most recognizable bassist in the world, this music icon is one of the original members and co-founders of soul/R&B mega-group Earth, Wind & Fire. White has earned six Grammy Awards, has over fifty gold and platinum records on his walls, and has sold more than 90 million albums worldwide, in a career that is still thriving after four decades in the entertainment industry. All About Jazz: Before we get started, I want to congratulate you and ...

Album Review

Operation ID: Legs

by Dave Wayne
August 6, 2012

The cover art for Operation ID's debut CD recalls the work of Raymond Pettibon. whose indelible images burst forth from the covers of LPs by Black Flag, Minutemen, and Saccharine Trust on the iconoclastic SST label, back in the 1980s. Though it's directed toward a different end result, the music on Legs has a relentless energy and DIY attitude that's allied to the SST ethos. These are guys who will do anything to get their music across, and while they ...

Album Review

Tommy Cecil and Bill Mays: Side by Side: Sondheim Duos

Read "Side by Side: Sondheim Duos" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
August 6, 2012

This is a brilliant collection of nine songs associated with composer Stephen Sondheim and delivered by the estimable pianist Bill Mays and excellent bassist Tommy Cecil. Cecil, who initiated and produced the project, is well-known in Washington, D.C., but his huge talent should bring him much wider attention. As for Mays, there's always the sense of a quick intelligence and ready humor behind those formidable chops; no pianist currently plying the trade makes more thoughtful and satisfying choices.The ...

Live Review

Holt Festival: Holt, UK, July 25, 2012

by Bruce Lindsay
August 6, 2012

Holt FestivalHolt, UKJuly 25, 2012Holt, in Norfolk, is a pretty East Anglian market town that nestles in pleasant, almost stereotypical, English countryside. It's home to a mere 3,500 people, but it punches way above its weight artistically and culturally, seeming to have more art galleries than Manhattan. In recent years it has developed a thriving and innovative Arts Festival which, in 2012, played host to some exceptional performers from the UK jazz scene, including a night devoted ...

Album Review

Hakon Thelin: Light

by Eyal Hareuveni
August 6, 2012

The five compositions on Light define the musical language of Norwegian double bass master Håkon Thelin, known as a member of the new music trio Poing. Thelin calls his language “folk music for the double bass," following his mentor, the late Italian double bass master Stefano Scodanibbio, to whom this recording is dedicated. Thelin balances between intricate composed melodic forms and shapes, impressionistic improvisations and exploration of certain sounds that speak particularly well through the double bass. ...

Album Review

Sylvia Herold and the Rhythm Bugs: The Spider and the Fly

Read "The Spider and the Fly" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
August 6, 2012

The Spider and the Fly is a novelty jazz disc in the best sense of the word. Guitarist Sylvia Herold and her Rhythm Bugs prove intent on archiving Swing era vocal harmonies using the songs of the period. This disc may readily be categorized in the same genre as Karen Johns & Company's Peach (Self Produced, 2012). These are the harmonies that can be found on those Saturday reruns of The Lawrence Welk Show, circa 1972. This is seriously nostalgic. ...

Interview

Gregory Porter: Sound & Vision

by Chris M. Slawecki
August 6, 2012

Artists who mix or move between two styles, no matter how smoothly, sometimes risk being critically or commercially marooned between them. Gregory Porter sings in a style deeply steeped in the best soul and rhythm-and-blues schools; his deep and warm instrument conjures echoes of Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls and other legendary voices. Even so, his first two albums are unmistakably jazz records. Water (Motéma, 2010) and Be Good (Motéma, 2012) are brightened by sharp arrangements, shimmering production (by Brian Bacchus ...