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.

Extended Analysis

Brad Mehldau Trio: Ode

by Doug Collette
April 28, 2012

Brad Mehldau TrioOdeNonesuch Records2012The very first notes of the Brad Mehldau Trio's Ode sound rich, lyrical and full of energy. This may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with the pianist's work, but loyal followers of Mehldau know he brings an unusual intensity to his work, particularly his solo projects and the collaborations with his trio (currently bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard). This, the first studio trio recording since ...

Album Review

Albert Beger / Gerry Hemingway: There’s Nothing Better To Do

Read "There’s Nothing Better To Do" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
April 28, 2012

This live album documents the first musical meeting between Israeli sax hero Albert Beger and master drummer Gerry Hemingway. The two met in November, 2011 in Tel Aviv's Levontin 7 club. They did not exchange any notes before their gig, or even sketch a loose road map for the improvisations to follow. Instead, both trusted their musical intuition and instincts--and they were absolutely right. There's Nothing Better To Do captures a rare, immediate musical affinity, a breadth of shared musical ...

Album Review

Joe McPhee / Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: Brooklyn DNA

Read "Brooklyn DNA" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
April 28, 2012

Veteran multi-reedman, trumpeter and consummate improviser Joe McPhee--along with Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten--serenades Brooklyn, NY, with allusions to tenor sax titan Sonny Rollins' historic practice sessions under the Brooklyn Bridge and other inferences from the days of yore, on Brooklyn DNA. In recent years, the borough has enjoyed a bit of momentum with its chic restaurants and music venues, while serving as the residential area of choice for many artists. This duo's intimacy and like-minded communion of musical spirits ...

Album Review

Bria Skonberg: So is the Day

Read "So is the Day" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
April 28, 2012

It's a rare talent that can straddle--and dare request membership in--the trumpet artist continuum emanating from Louis Armstrong and progressing down through his “Neo Orleans" progeny: Byron Stripling, Wynton Marsalis and Nicholas Payton (whose big band trumpet section Skonberg graces). However, with her bravura performance on So is the Day, Bria Skonberg confirms that she is not only indeed a triple threat musician--player, vocalist and composer--but also that that esteemed lineage, consummate entertainers all, would heartily approve her membership.

Live From New York

Lee Konitz, Dan Tepfer, Bill Frisell, Sam Amidon, Vinny Golia, Lisa Mezzacappa, Wayne Krantz & Cliff Almond

by Martin Longley
April 27, 2012

Lee Konitz / Dan Tepfer Jazz Standard March 21, 2012 An improvising dialogue has been steadily developing between veteran alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and recently emerging pianist Dan Tepfer. Konitz is 84, Tepfer is 30. It's already been three years since their collaborative album on the Sunnyside label , 2009's Duets With Lee. The relationship continues, its aim a flowing exploration, but there's nearly always a tune at the core, often one with ...

Album Review

Jazz Bigband Graz: Urban Folktales

Read "Urban Folktales" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
April 27, 2012

Despite the inherent problems of managing large numbers of musicians, funding their activities, and finding venues large enough to host ensembles of 15-plus players, the jazz big band is undergoing something of a revival. Jazz Bigband Graz, from Austria, is yet another fine ensemble from Europe, and Urban Folktales shows that imaginative new directions in big band jazz are still ripe for exploration.Jazz Bigband Graz was founded in 2000. Its previous albums include Plays the Music of Bob ...

Album Review

Less Magnetic: Tricknology

Read "Tricknology" reviewed by Daniel Lehner

by Daniel Lehner
April 27, 2012

By now, making a jazz fusion record is like making a genre homage film: without in-depth knowledge of the medium's history, a strong original intention and talented people involved, it's going to come off derivative and what's worse, extraordinarily cheesy. Fortunately, Less Magnetic, who can say they sport members from multiple backgrounds like metal and Middle Eastern, are uniquely and readily equipped to take on both the letter and spirit of fusion. Throughout its debut record, influences as diverse as ...

Live Review

Kallio Slaaki: Helsinki, Finland, April 12, 2012

by Anthony Shaw
April 27, 2012

Kallio SlaakiKanneltalo Helsinki, FinlandApril 12, 2012 In spring 1973 the Prince of Psychedelia, Daevid Allen, invited his adulatory and, quite likely, addlepated audience to follow his band Gong as they ventured on their journey “Down the Oily Way," a euphemism for a trip as mystical as it was musical. In spring 2012 the diminutive and somber looking Mika Kallio invited his audience to follow him and his trio--and a plethora of gongs--along an equally ...

Album Review

Oscar Castro-Neves: Live at Blue Note Tokyo

Read "Live at Blue Note Tokyo" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
April 27, 2012

Live at Blue Note Tokyo is a celebration of Brazilian jazz played in one of the foremost jazz clubs in the world--a gathering of old friends and the discovery of new friends, all coming together for legendary guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves. A founding father of the bossa nova musical movement, Castro-Neves became a leading figure in the genre, recording historic albums with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Dori Caymmi and Stan Getz, and touring with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Barbra Streisand, Ella ...

Album Review

Piero Odorici: Cedar Walton Presents

Read "Cedar Walton Presents" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
April 27, 2012

Recording for the prominent modern jazz Savant record label with eminent pianist Cedar Walton and his trio should indicate a milestone in the career of Italian tenor saxophonist Piero Odorici. After performing with trumpeter Eddie Henderson and Latin jazz percussionist Ray Mantilla, and maintaining a balanced global recording and touring regimen, Odorici may garner some additional and well-deserved recognition in the US via this strong outing.The saxophonist's arsenal includes a touch of Coltrane-like sonic spiritualism and a hearty ...