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

Rick Drumm and Fatty Necroses: Return From the Unknown

Read "Return From the Unknown" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
May 17, 2012

Music has figured large throughout drum industry veteran Rick Drumm's life. From drumming in a 60-piece Youth Band as a teenager to the US Air Force Band, and through various circus bands--including over 1000 performances across the USA in the Barnum and Bailey Circus--to President of world-renowned string manufacturers D'Addario & Company, it's been quite a ride. In 2009, Drumm was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and had to undergo chemotherapy. Drumm's friends got together to play a house gig to ...

Album Review

Tessa Souter: Beyond The Blue

Read "Beyond The Blue" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 17, 2012

The mere mention of jazz-classical hybridization may draw scowls from jazz fans who've encountered more than their fare share of ill-conceived projects that trade in on this idea, but vocalist Tessa Souter avoids all the usual pitfalls. Beyond The Blue isn't about joining these worlds at the hip; it's about using the frameworks and melodies of classical works as the foundation and scaffolding for new ideas. Souter saunters her way through a dozen alluring pieces built around ...

Album Review

Jack Davies Big Band: The Jack Davies Big Band

Read "The Jack Davies Big Band" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
May 17, 2012

Composer/trumpeter Jack Davies is nothing if not eclectic. His current catalog of releases includes the unusually configured chamber quartet, Flea Circus, featuring bass clarinet and accordion. Simultaneously, Davies has released a contemporary quintet collection that channels Miles Davis by way of more modern influences. While both of these recordings are stellar, Davies' crowning achievement of the moment is his forward-thinking approach to the large ensemble sound. The Jack Davies Big Band's self-titled debut is a distinctive, cutting edge ensemble that ...

Album Review

Jazz Soul Seven: Impressions of Curtis Mayfield

Read "Impressions of Curtis Mayfield" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
May 17, 2012

Curtis Mayfield's solo work and his work with the Impressions are highwater marks in popular music, representing the Chicago soul music constituency popular in the 1960s and '70s. His influence is yet to be fully realized or understood today, making his creative corpus a very tantalizing source of material for modern players. Jazz Soul Seven, an all-star septet under the leadership of guitarist Phil Upchurch, pays a fully-realized tribute to the music of Mayfield on Impressions of Curtis Mayfield.

Dan's Den

A Swell Farewell... and Onward

by Dan Morgenstern
May 17, 2012

On April 13, Rutgers University-Newark threw a swell party for me on the occasion of my retirement as director of the Institute of Jazz Studies. I won't go into the social and musical details here, but do want to thank all my friends who showed up, and the many others who sent regrets--notably Sonny Rollins, whose gratifying message was read by Dr. Clem Price, director of the Rutgers Institute of Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience.Clem did such ...

Live Review

Kenny Garrett Quartet: Denver, CO, May 4, 2012

by Geoff Anderson
May 16, 2012

Kenny Garrett Quartet Soiled Dove Underground Denver, CO May 4, 2012The last couple times Kenny Garrett came through Denver, he was a sideman. In 2010 he toured with Chick Corea's Freedom Band that also featured Christian McBride on bass and 85-year-old Roy Haynes on drums. The year before, Garrett was a member of the Five Peace Band which also featured Corea and McBride, along with John McLaughlin on guitar and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. His ...

Album Review

Scott Tixier: Brooklyn Bazaar

Read "Brooklyn Bazaar" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
May 16, 2012

Violinist Scott Tixier is like a young fledgling poised to take off. This is a wondrous sight: arms (the wings) painfully outstretched, neck and, indeed, the whole body arched and on tip-toes, his bow swinging wildly as he flies off into the azure unknown. He is awkward at first; then sure that he will soar and swoop and soar again, he is off on a spectacular and fanciful flight, following in the updraft of those who flew before him: Don ...

Live Review

Dmitry Baevsky Quartet: New York, NY April 22, 2012

by David A. Orthmann
May 16, 2012

Dmitry Baevsky QuartetSmalls Jazz ClubNew York, NYApril 22, 2012Going out to hear live jazz is seldom as easy as finding a suitable place, plunking down some hard-earned cash, and then simply taking in the sounds. Befitting a music that once thrived in dance halls, sporting houses and other places where art for art's sake wasn't a priority, there are extra-musical distractions to be tolerated--such as food and drink being ordered, served and consumed; the tittering ...

Album Review

Florian Hoefner: Songs Without Words

Read "Songs Without Words" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 16, 2012

A youthful quartet led by German pianist Florian Hoefner offers a modern jazz effort that is by no means a game-changer, yet boasts a diverse track mix. Now residing in New York, Hoefner is a two-time recipient of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award. Featuring his original compositions, the quartet on Songs Without Words displays verve while executing delicate sound mosaics, pumping Latin beats and fluidly crafted unison choruses. The pianist's intricately articulated phrasings on the pensive ballad ...

Album Review

Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up: The Air Is Different

Read "The Air Is Different" reviewed by Robert Bush

by Robert Bush
May 16, 2012

Boston-born and Brooklyn-based drummer Tomas Fujiwara has been stirring things up in the New York City creative music scene for some time now, working with a wide variety of players including cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and guitarist Mary Halvorson.His working ensemble, Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up, features Halvorson--one of the brightest voices in the new-music continuum to emerge in years--along with muscular bassist Trevor Dunn, tenor saxophonist Brian Settles and trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson.Fujiwara is an ...