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.

From Far and Wide

Goodbye, Cecil's

by David A. Orthmann
March 14, 2012

In the hallway around the corner from the bandstand at Cecil's Jazz Club, hangs a poster for Slugs' Saloon. Through most of the 1960s, until its end in 1972, Slugs' was one of the most important jazz clubs in New York City. Unlike many of the upscale establishments that appeared in its wake, it was a small dive bar (complete with sawdust on the floor), which didn't deign to serve food. Management routinely admitted minors who weren't accompanied by adults. ...

Album Review

São Paulo Underground: Três Cabenças Loucuras

Read "Três Cabenças Loucuras" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
March 13, 2012

As the great tradition of Brazilian music swept down in all its glory from the sertão, into the river basins, and gradually to the urban areas of Rio and São Paulo, several mavericks remained in the vanguard, continuing to cross-pollinate the music as it gathered in strength and momentum. Among the first of these was Hermeto Pascoal. The generation of Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil followed. Although Pascoal withdrew to remain close to the music of the Northeast ...

Album Review

Matt Smiley: Quartet Art

Read "Quartet Art" reviewed by Florence Wetzel

by Florence Wetzel
March 13, 2012

Colorado-based bassist Matt Smiley is an excellent example of the virtues of musical versatility. His résumé includes performing internationally at the Montreux, North Sea, and Montreal Jazz festivals; premiering John Hilliard's 2nd Piano Concerto at the Kennedy Center; presenting his own arrangements of bassist Dave Holland's seminal “Conference of the Birds"; playing with a funk band; experimenting with electronics; and providing music for silent films. Clearly Smiley is a musician with wide-open ears, and his expressive, inventive bass work is ...

Live Review

Terell Stafford Quintet: Philadelphia, PA, February 25, 2012

by Victor L. Schermer
March 13, 2012

Terell Stafford QuintetJazz Up Close Celebrates Lee MorganPerelman TheaterThe Kimmel Center for the Performing ArtsPhiladelphia, PAFebruary 25, 2012This concert was one in a highly successful series which has been curated, coordinated, and choreographed by Danilo Perez for nearly a decade, so far in the 2011-12 season honoring Philadelphia legends such as Jimmy Heath and Benny Golson, and coming up on April 14th, McCoy Tyner. Trumpeter Lee Morgan (1938-1972) came of age ...

Live Review

Monty Alexander's '76 Montreux Trio: New York, NY, February 27, 2012

by Dan Bilawsky
March 13, 2012

Monty Alexander's '76 Montreux TrioBlue NoteNew York, NYFebruary 27, 2012At seventeen years of age, pianist Monty Alexander was plucked from obscurity when Frank Sinatra and his club owner buddy Jilly Rizzo heard him play. The Jamaican-born piano phenom was immediately brought into the big time, performing for and with some of the finest musical personalities in the business, and he went on to establish himself as one of the most engaging ivory ticklers of the ...

Album Review

Jenny Scheinman: Mischief and Mayhem

Read "Mischief and Mayhem" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
March 13, 2012

The title of violinist Jenny Scheinman's sixth album as leader tells much of, but not the whole story. Playful and daring, with memorable melodies rubbing shoulders with arresting improvisations, there's an irresistible freshness and vigor about the music. However, there are more layers to peel away, and great subtlety and lyricism reveal themselves upon each subsequent listen. Scheinman's solo career has been somewhat overshadowed by her decade-long collaborations with guitarist Bill Frisell and her busy schedule as a side-musician, yet ...

Album Review

Jacob Deaton: Tribulation

Read "Tribulation" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
March 13, 2012

Jacob Deaton, virtuoso guitarist and Atlanta native, has assembled an energetic quintet for his debut, Tribulations. The five gig together regularly in and around their hometown, building the strong camaraderie they exhibit here, yet each has his own, unique voice. This makes the group sound like a dynamic entity in its own right, not merely the sum of specific efforts. It helps that Deaton's originals are constructed to allow for maximal individual expression.Saxophonist Akeem Marable's Jackie McLean-inspired alto, ...

Album Review

Mark Sherman: L. A. Sessions

Read "L. A. Sessions" reviewed by Larry Taylor

by Larry Taylor
March 13, 2012

Vibraphonist Mark Sherman has had a longstanding desire to release an album featuring some of his favorite bebop and standard tunes. Now, in L.A. Sessions, this dream comes true, with happy results.These jazz gems from a half-century ago are played in the tradition, but Sherman and his cohorts lovingly add luster. Chief help comes from Bill Cunliffe, on Hammond B-3 organ (rather than his usual piano), and masterful guitarist John Chiodini, a favorite on the Southern California club ...

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Interview

Robert Mehmet Sinan Ikiz: All Aboard

by James Pearse
March 13, 2012

As an integral member of acclaimed outfits Nils Landgren Funk Unit, Magnus Lindgren Batacuda Jazz and Dan Reed Band, 32-year-old drummer and percussionist Robert Mehmet Sinan Ikiz has already toured the world several times over. The wealth of places, people and musical styles he has encountered on his travels has helped shape the diverse sound of Ikiz's debut recording as a leader, Checking In (Stockholm Jazz Records, 2012). Born in 1979 in Istanbul, Turkey, Ikiz's family moved to ...

Album Review

Andy Sheppard / Michel Benita / Sebastian Rochford: Trio Libero

Read "Trio Libero" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
March 12, 2012

Sometimes unexpected connections yield the most wonderful results. Saxophonist Andy Sheppard, bassist Michel Benita and drummer Sebastian Rochford all have more than enough cred to suggest capability in any context, but none of their individual pursuits could presage a collaboration like Trio Libero, quite possibly the finest saxophone trio recordings of the new millennium, and one to rival previous ECM successes like bassist Dave Holland's Triplicate (1988) or saxophonist Jan Garbarek's Triptykon (1973). Trio Libero doesn't swing like Triplicate, nor ...