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

Brian Bromberg: Compared to That

Read "Compared to That" reviewed by Larry Taylor

by Larry Taylor
July 16, 2012

Ever sit back dreamily listening to an album, letting the music wash over you when all of a sudden, you hear a number that snaps you to attention? Such is the experience when listening to Brian Bromberg's Compared to That. The noteworthy number here: “Hayride," an original by Bromberg. Earlier tracks are hard-edged smooth jazz arrangements. The title track shows off Jeff Lorber's piano, along with Bromberg's unique work on acoustic bass and hollow body piccolo bass. (Album ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Jussi Reijonen

by AAJ Staff
July 16, 2012

Meet Jussi Reijonen: Born in Rovaniemi, a small town on the Arctic Circle in northern Finland, fretted/fretless guitarist and oudist Jussi Reijonen is truly the product of a world with few frontiers. Having grown up moving back and forth between Finnish Lapland, the Middle East, and East Africa, and currently living in Boston MA, USA, Jussi has spent his life soaking up the sounds, scents and shades of Nordic, Middle Eastern, African, and now American culture, which are ...

Extended Analysis

Unity Band

by Ian Patterson
July 16, 2012

Pat Metheny Unity Band Nonesuch Records 2012 It may be premature to write about the Pat Metheny Group in the past tense, but it's been seven years now since The Way Up (Nonesuch Records, 2005) and its last world tour. A feeling is creeping in that the 68-minute opus may have been a magnificent closing statement and a poignant swansong for that important group. How, precisely, do you top that? The perpetually busy Missouri guitarist ...

Interview

Ron Miles: Jazz Gentleman

by Florence Wetzel
July 16, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 [Editor's note: Last month, All About Jazz contributor Florence Wetzel conducted a two-hour interview with Ron Miles. The result is the most extensive interview piece ever written about the Colorado-based trumpeter. Part 1 covers his early years and education; Parts 2 and 3, bringing Miles up to the present, will be published on consecutive days.] Now at the midpoint of his career, trumpeter Ron Miles has created a ...

Album Review

David Liebman & Ellery Eskelin: Non Sequiturs

Read "Non Sequiturs" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
July 15, 2012

Non Sequiturs is the third Hatology release from the cooperative quartet co-led by saxophonist's David Liebman and Ellery Eskelin, following 2008's Renewal and their 2005 debut, Different But The Same. Although the pairing initially seemed surprising (Liebman is Eskelin's former teacher), the two tenors have since demonstrated an innate kinship; each is a fearless improviser, well-versed in the tradition, but unafraid to venture into uncharted territory.Throughout the album, they alternate probing cadences and lyrical motifs with an uncanny ...

Live Review

Miles In The Hollywood Sky

by Chuck Koton
July 15, 2012

Tribute To Miles DavisHollywood BowlLos Angeles, CAJune 27, 2012Let's face it, change messes people up. Dealing with change demands an openness of spirit and thought, a willingness to learn and an ability to improvise. That's too much, Daddy-O. The average human prefers the routine to the spontaneous, the familiar to the unknown. They like a melody they can hum and, when they attend concerts, they expect the musicians to perform their most popular songs with ...

Album Review

Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio: Proverb Trio

Read "Proverb Trio" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 15, 2012

It has long been said that “there's nothing new under the sun," but this record counters that particular proverb's proclamation. Drummer/composer Dafnis Prieto has birthed an album unlike anything else in his own discography--or anywhere else, for that matter. The self-titled debut from Prieto's Proverb Trio is a triumphantly trippy album that's built around the notion of jazz as a collectively improvised modern melting pot. Prieto, keyboardist Jason Lindner and singer/rapper Kokayi came into the studio without ...

Live From Philadelphia

June 2012: Gunshow

by RJ Johnson
July 15, 2012

GunshowChris' Jazz CaféPhiladelphia, PAJune 20, 2012Gunshow, a band which has been performing somewhat regularly in the Philadelphia area for a few years, with a repertoire comprised largely of original compositions, performed two sets at Chris' Jazz Café in Center City, Philadelphia.The band's draw in the Philadelphia area can be attributed to the fact that each of its members is a busy sideman within the city's jazz community. The quartet consists ...

Album Review

Duke Ellington Legacy: Single Petal of a Rose

Read "Single Petal of a Rose" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
July 15, 2012

The great Duke Ellington would be proud of the way his family has decided to keep his memory and music alive and kicking for newer generations to enjoy. In 2003, his grandchildren, guitarist Edward Kennedy Ellington II and sister Gaye Ellington, formed The Duke Ellington Legacy, a nine-piece jazz ensemble dedicated to performing the music of the late composer/pianist. Single Petal of a Rose is the group's sophomore effort, featuring guest tenor saxophonist Houston Person, and follows its highly respected ...

Behind the Lens With...

Behind the Lens With Gerry Walden

by Gerry Walden
July 15, 2012

Meet Gerry Walden: I have been listening to jazz and trying to capture the essence of it in photographs since the late '60s. Based in southern England, where I was Born, I cover as many gigs and festivals as I can manage to get to and I now have a substantial library of jazz photography. Gear: This is always changing, but just recently I have switched to a Fuji X-Pro1 because I wanted something ...