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

Andrea Buffa: 30 Years Island

Read "30 Years Island" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
April 1, 2012

Multi-reedman Carlo Actis Dato would not seem to be the shy type given his rather aggressive sound and the modalities he employs, which bring together several decades of improvisational influence within a variety of progressive jazz-based formats. Here, woodwind specialist Andrea Buffa steers the ship and, in some instances, equalizes the torrential downpours with blithe segments and a multitude of variable contrasts that generate a holistic group-centered outlook.With lots of dips, spikes, and groove-based movements, the quartet acutely ...

Album Review

Tab Benoit: Legacy: The Best of Tab Benoit

Read "Legacy: The Best of Tab Benoit" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
April 1, 2012

Louisiana-born guitarist and singer Tab Benoitis from so deep in the wetlands that it's almost all ocean. Hailing from Houma, the seat of Terrebonne Parish, Benoit has indisputable bayou bona fides and the exposure to that musical and cultural melting pot called the Gulf Rim that comes with it. Telarc's Legacy: The Best of Tab Benoit demonstrates his expansive musical palette and sure grasp of zydeco, creole, blues, R&B, and rock as viewed through the NOLA prism. Selected from Benoit's ...

Album Review

Walt Johnson: Ladies

Read "Ladies" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
April 1, 2012

The etymology of the word “troubadour" describes the term as “a singer of songs of chivalry and courtly love." If that is the case, then trumpeter Walt Johnson demonstrates that he is a trumpeting troubadour nonpareil with his marvelous CD, Ladies.Using a concept thread and a classic feel, Johnson and ensemble deliver ten beautifully performed selections--with each bearing a lady's name and an association to a great singer or musician, such as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Maurice ...

100

Profile

Jazz Musicians with Eccentricities

by Chris May
April 1, 2012

Some of the 20th century's greatest eccentrics were jazz musicians. That is no surprise, given the link which psychologists long ago suggested exists between creative thinking and “abnormal" behavior, and which has been confirmed by recent neurological research locating both activities within the same area of the brain. Trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong's lifelong evangelizing of patent medicine laxatives is well known--the trumpeter famously had greetings cards made which showed him photographed sitting on the toilet, his pants ...

Album Review

Esperanza Spalding: Radio Music Society

Read "Radio Music Society" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
March 31, 2012

If there's to be an unofficial ambassador for contemporary jazz then Esperanza Spalding could fit the bill nicely. The young bassist, singer, and composer brings a fresh exuberance marked by prodigious talent; honoring those who have paved the way, yet seeking to pursue her own path. Whether receiving the 2011 Grammy for “Best New Artist" or shining bright at the 2012 Academy Awards , in an unusual yet memorable performance, she's riding a wave of deserved recognition. ...

121

Catching Up With

Tord Gustavsen: The Richness of Simplicity

by Adriana Carcu
March 31, 2012

The quintessential quality of Tord Gustavsen's The Well (ECM), released at the beginning of 2012, immediately received elated reactions from jazz lovers and critics alike. Entwining a complex and very well-structured succession of moods, the album traverses the territories allotted to classical music and jazz, reaching far beyond those and leading the listener into a self-revealing experience of the most sensitive quality.Conducted just before a March, 2012 concert in Heidelberg, Germany's Holy Ghost Church, this interview represents a ...

Reassessing

Roy Eldridge: In Paris

by Thomas Carroll
March 31, 2012

Roy EldridgeIn ParisVogue1951Trumpeter Roy Eldridge left the United States for Paris in 1950 fearing that the emergence of bebop, which he had strongly influenced, would make his more traditional style of playing obsolete and lose him his formerly adoring audiences. Eldridge did not stay in Paris for as long as some of his colleagues, but he managed to produce some fine, swinging recordings during his time abroad. In Paris documents two vibrant, ...

Album Review

Chris Standring: Electric Wonderland

Read "Electric Wonderland" reviewed by Jeff Winbush

by Jeff Winbush
March 31, 2012

At some point during every artist's career, if they truly consider themselves as artists, they must ask themselves a question of truth. This question is not so much, “Am I following the truth?" but rather “Am I following my truth?"The answer to this question goes a long way in determining whether the artist plays it safe and stays in their comfort zone, or takes the bolder, but potentially more interesting and satisfying course of following their muse wherever ...

Album Review

Andy Peterson Independent: Anusha

by Ian Patterson
March 31, 2012

A veteran of Malaysia's pop, jazz, and fusion circles, slap bassist Andy Peterson's first solo album draws from long years of experience and the diverse musical sources that have colored his playing. Peterson started out with the Falcons, a Malaysian pop band, in 1976, paying his dues as the band toured extensively throughout Europe. However, it was perhaps with Asiabeat--Malaysia's premier jazz/world fusion band--that Peterson gained a reputation as one of the country's leading bassists. Invitations to international jazz festivals ...

Album Review

Steve Horowitz: New Monsters

Read "New Monsters" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
March 31, 2012

Old monsters? They were frightening, gargantuan, mythical beasts: fire-breathing, blood-lusting and not at all willing to put together anything close to a danceable riff. New Monsters, at least as envisioned by bassist Steve Horowitz on this Posi-Tone album, are a much more engaging bunch. There's still some fire-breathing in evidence, but the blood lust is kept at bay in favor of an abundance of delightful melodies, harmonies and rhythms.Horowitz, who favors the electric bass guitar rather than the ...