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.

On and Off the Grid

The Grammy Awards: To Be or Not To Be?

by Dom Minasi
June 7, 2012

I very rarely watch award shows. I feel like the entertainment industry is constantly patting one another on the back. I don't understand the need to have so many of the same types of award shows. Artisans seem to have an irresistible need to be consistently told how wonderful they are and so very often. Why do I care so much? I care, because as a professional jazz musician, I feel the Grammys don't present or reflect jazz, as it ...

Album Review

Troyka: Moxxy

by Bruce Lindsay
June 6, 2012

The three young British players who constitute Troyka--guitarist Chris Montague, keyboard player Kit Downes and drummer Joshua Blackmore--keep many things simple on their second album, Moxxy. One-word band name, album title and song titles keep things nice and easy. The album cover--a faux '50s Russian propaganda poster and a departure from Edition Records' usual visual style--maintains this straightforward approach. The band doesn't apply the same policy to the actual music, though--Troyka is adept at creating tunes that mix funky grooves, ...

Big Band Caravan

Darmstadter Big Band / Alon Yavnai–NDR Big Band / Red Bank Jazz Orchestra

by Jack Bowers
June 6, 2012

Dartstadter Big BandKentomaniaSelf Published2010 Of all the recorded tributes to the legendary Stan Kenton released during the centennial of his birth (2011), the Darmstadter Big Band's Kentomania (it's spelled that way on the jacket cover and disc) is unequaled for one reason alone: it has former Kenton standout Herb Geller as a soloist, the others do not. Geller, now in his eighty-third year, is as sly as a fox and spry ...

Album Review

Marco von Orelli 6: Close Ties On Hidden Lanes

Read "Close Ties On Hidden Lanes" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 6, 2012

Indeed, an impressive inaugural release by Swiss trumpeter Marco von Orelli, who conveys maturity way beyond his youthful age. On call for writing jingles, session gigs, and theatrical productions, the conservatory-trained artist may have a bright future ahead of him, based on the qualitative aspects of this sextet date. “Urban Ways" is a prime example of von Orelli's cunning musicality, when considering the scope of these multifaceted works. With a pumping funk-groove and contrasting unison horns, the band ...

Extended Analysis

Year of the Snake

by John Kelman
June 6, 2012

When a group of musicians works together more often in extracurricular configurations with other leaders, what do they do when they come together for their own project? In the case of saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard-- who, individually and collectively, have worked with everyone from pianist Brad Mehldau and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel to trumpeter Enrico Rava-- it's Fly, the trio that released its self-titled debut on Savoy Jazz in 2004, making the jump to ECM ...

Album Review

Bill Evans: Live At Art D'Lugoff's Top of The Gate

Read "Live At Art D'Lugoff's Top of The Gate" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
June 6, 2012

Why is pianist Bill Evans so important to jazz? it is simple: every pianist to hear and perform after him was influenced by him. Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson may have been technically more brilliant and extroverted, but it took first Bud Powell and then Evans to turn the creative tables toward the muted and introverted, thereby beginning a jazz piano cultural revolution that continues to this day. Evans had an almost painfully personal style that, like late-period Art Pepper, ...

Album Review

Jamie Ousley: A Sea of Voices

Read "A Sea of Voices" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
June 6, 2012

Bassist Jamie Ousley carries the distinction of being named the best south Florida jazz musician,and his A Sea of Voices is a testament that he has indeed earned that honor. Bodies of water inspire the ten tracks that comprise an album that possesses, for its unifying theme, a quiet yet robust religious spirituality. Coldplay's “Swallowed by the Sea" is a classically tinged piece with a palpable--or, rather audible--devotional quality, especially in Ousley's arco bass opening that melts ...

The Mort Report

Joey DeFrancesco Projects Showed The Difference Between Music, And The Music "Business"

by Mort Weiss
June 6, 2012

This is the story of two collaborations with Joey DeFrancesco that you almost never saw--or the difference between music ... and the music “business." The first unreleased album I recorded with Joey DeFrancesco is now known as the Mort Weiss Quartet CD featuring Joey, Ron Eschete and Ramon Banda, followed by 2006's The B3 and Me. Both of them eventually appeared on my own SMS Jazz label, but more on that in a minute. The ...

Album Review

Ross Hammond Quartet: Adored

by Troy Collins
June 5, 2012

Adored is the debut of Sacramento-based guitarist Ross Hammond's Quartet. Although Hammond's previous recordings have featured an array of configurations (ranging from solo recitals to spontaneous improvisations with various West Coast peers), this date is among the most impressive in his growing discography. For the first time, the relatively young guitarist leads an all-star quartet of respected veterans, including multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia, bassist Steuart Liebig and drummer Alex Cline--all notable bandleaders in their own right.Randy McKean's liner notes ...

Extended Analysis

John Taylor: Giulia's Thursdays

by Chris May
June 5, 2012

John TaylorGiulia's ThursdaysCam Jazz2012There has been a flurry of activity around film music this spring/summer 2012, all of it good. Warner Jazz has released an anthology of movie themes written by the Italian composer Nino Rota, Collector Nino Rota; Alex Sutton's piano trio took northern European movie composers as its inspiration on Legentis (F-IRE); and University of Illinois Press has published John Caps' biography, Henry Mancini: Reinventing Film Music.British pianist ...