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.

Live Review

North Sea Jazz Festival: Rotterdam, The Netherlands, July 6-8, 2012

by R.J. DeLuke
August 1, 2012

North Sea Jazz FestivalAhoyRotterdam, The NetherlandsJuly 6-8, 2012The city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands seems ideal for a jazz festival. It's a large enough metropolis to hold things of interest for any tourist--arts, culture, architecture, fine eateries, interesting activities--while at the same time being friendly, laidback and manageable. Toss the mammoth North Sea Jazz Festival into the mix and you really have something.It's also an easy hop to Amsterdam via train for vacationers. ...

Album Review

Cinque: Catch A Corner

Read "Catch A Corner" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
August 1, 2012

With legendary drummer Steve Gadd and organist Joey DeFrancesco in the lineup, and a clutch of Canada's top session men rounding out the personnel on Catch A Corner, Cinque gives a tip of the hat to the CTI label and its particular style of relaxed--but not smooth--jazz-funk. Olivia Cardinali's vivid cover photograph seems reminiscent of Pete Turner's work for Creed Taylor's '70s-era label. Memories of pianists Bob James and Richard Tee are effortlessly conjured by the dual keyboard work of ...

Live Review

Istanbul Jazz Festival: Istanbul, Turkey, July 3-19, 2012

by James Pearse
August 1, 2012

Istanbul Jazz FestivalIstanbul, TurkeyJuly 3-19, 2012Istanbul, the second largest city in the world, has become an important meeting point in countless ways.Founded in around 660 BC by King Byzas, captured by the Romans and later by Sultan Mehmed II to become the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul was, despite its size and strategic location, inexplicably overlooked in favor of Ankara as the nation's capital when the Republic of Turkey was declared in 1923.

Live Review

Bebel Gilberto: New York City, NY, July 21, 2012

by Ernest Barteldes
August 1, 2012

Bebel GilbertoBrazil Summerfest at Central Park SummerstageJuly 21, 2012New York, NYAs part of the 2012 edition of Brazil Summerfest, a New York city-wide event of contemporary Brazilian music, singer Bebel Gilberto took to the stage at Rumsey Playfield for the second time in her career, following a very eclectic performance by singer Criolo, making his US debut. Backed by a solid quintet formed mostly by musicians from Forro in The Dark, Gilberto kicked ...

Album Review

Branford Marsalis Quartet: Four MFs Playin' Tunes

Read "Four MFs Playin' Tunes" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
August 1, 2012

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis has always exhibited a straight-to-the-point attitude in his deeds and musical actions, so the title for his latest quartet date shouldn't come as a great shock. His choice of words matter-of-factly proclaims that this music isn't about highbrow ideals, umbrella themes or hyper-intellectual constructs; this is about four musicians making music and serving the songs. Jazz aficionados know that his albums are almost always a sure bet for brilliance, but fans of this highly ...

Album Review

Branford Marsalis Quartet: Four MFs Playin' Tunes

Read "Four MFs Playin' Tunes" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
July 31, 2012

The departure of the Branford Marsalis quartet's longtime drummer, Jeff “Tain" Watts, left a hole that would not easily be filled and subsequently sparked the excellent 2011 duo release Songs of Mirth and Melancholy (Marsalis Music) featuring Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo. But that percussive void has been filled with a transfusion of new blood from the sizzling drums of Justin Faulkner who joined the band in 2009 aged 18. With the attention grabbing title and a fresh outlook, the ...

Profile

Jakob Bro: Searching for Beauty Through Sound

by Jakob Baekgaard
July 31, 2012

Beauty is perhaps one of the most common words used in association with music, but it is also one of the vaguest terms in musical criticism, and it rarely says something substantial about the work that is described. And yet, despite its intangible character, it would be almost impossible to characterize Danish guitarist Jakob Bro's music as anything else than beautiful. In the aesthetic universe of Bro, beauty becomes synonymous with the process of artistic creation. It is the attempt ...

Album Review

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet: LifeTimes

Read "LifeTimes" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
July 31, 2012

LifeTimes, the fourth CD from the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, is a powerful tribute to musical giant Dave Brubeck by two of his natural sons (bassist/trombonist Chris Brubeck and drummer Dan Brubeck) and two of their “honorary brothers" (guitarist Mike DeMicco and pianist Chuck Lamb). Half the compositions are Dave's, most of them dating back decades, but they are so freshly imagined that they sound as if they've just been written. The set ends with “Take Five," which is Paul Desmond's ...

Album Review

Paula West: Live at Jazz Standard

Read "Live at Jazz Standard" reviewed by Tom Pierce

by Tom Pierce
July 31, 2012

Devotees of superior jazz vocalists have several reasons to rejoice about this fourth CD by the highly respected San Francisco-based Paula West. First and foremost, the recording is simply a true knockout; but the rejoicing is also because, despite rave audiences and reviews for over a decade, this is West's first release since the impressively executed Come What May (High Horse) in 2001.Recorded during an engagement at New York City's Jazz Standard in 2011, it features stellar but ...

Contributor News

Platform Expansion and the AAJ Road Show

by Michael Ricci
July 31, 2012

Dear fellow contributor, I have some news to share about the various improvements to the All About Jazz platform and the status of the Jazz Near You project. Please read on...Index 1. It's All About the Platform2. Breaking Up All About Jazz3. AAJ Road Show4. More Columns 5. Editorial Staff Expansion 1. It's All About the Platform With 17 years ...