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

Stone Quartet: Live at Vision Festival

Read "Live at Vision Festival" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
February 9, 2012

Live at Vision Festival--only the second by this master quartet, recorded four years after the self-titled DMG/ARC 2008 debut--is an exemplary document of free-improvisation. It's free-flowing, full of musical ideas, unique dynamics with a cohesive narrative and, as AAJ colleague John Sharpe wrote in his liner notes, “everyone's ego subsumed to the needs of the music." Recorded at the 2010 edition of New York City's Vision Festival, the album offers two pieces: a 32--minute improvisation and a ...

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Extended Analysis

Tord Gustavsen Quartet: The Well

by John Kelman
February 9, 2012

Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen may not have attained the level of success, say, of a Keith Jarrett or Chick Corea with his 2003 ECM debut, Changing Places, but it clearly struck a popular chord, as well as garnering no shortage of critical acclaim. Subsequent touring around the world, including a number of North American dates, honed the trio that would subsequently release The Ground (2005) and Being There (2007). But with its third ECM release, those who follow the German ...

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Album Review

Barrel: Gratuitous Abuse

Read "Gratuitous Abuse" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
February 9, 2012

How far can the primary family of strings be pushed? Does humor--a question once asked by Frank Zappa--still belong in music? From time to time these questions might be answered in a remarkable performance or two, but as creativity in music falters for lack of true industry support, it is not often that musicians can truly express themselves with a mixture of tonality and atonality, in song and through noise. However, there are some musicians who inhabit the very outer ...

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Contributor News

Fuel for the Ride!

by Michael Ricci
February 9, 2012

Dear fellow contributor, We're picking up where we left off in 2011, adding new features and making rapid improvements to the website. Though we're pushing full speed ahead on our technology, we need your help to keep the content flowing. Please read on for the details.Index 1. Content Shortage 2. Article Submission Form Improvements3. Website Changes4. “Reassessing" and “Building a Jazz Library"5. New Column ...

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On and Off the Grid

What's The Point, Part 1

by Dom Minasi
February 9, 2012

This is the first entry for my new column at All About Jazz. I actually published What's The Point? in my own blog in January 2012. All About Jazz asked if I would be interested in writing for them; I was surprised and honored. I decided to update and rewrite the original article; because of the response and all the emails I received, I wanted to expand and make some of my points longer and clearer. I have increased the ...

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Album Review

Majamisty TriO: Mistyland

Read "Mistyland" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
February 8, 2012

"Seek," so the saying goes, “and ye shall find." But where to look for an exciting new piano trio? The Serbian city of Novi Sad may not seem like the obvious place, but it's home to Majamisty TriO--whose debut, Mistyland, is evidence of a beautifully creative and original ensemble. Pianist and composer Maja Alvanović, a professor at the Academy of Arts University of Novi Sad, leads the trio. Alvanović is a classically trained musician with a penchant ...

Album Review

The Hoppin' John Orchestra: The Hoppin' John Orchestra

Read "The Hoppin' John Orchestra" reviewed by Wade Luquet

by Wade Luquet
February 8, 2012

Bands outside of New Orleans who claim to play New Orleans style are generally like cooks outside the city that claim to cook its cuisine--it's a noble attempt and tastes good, but they often do not quite get it. There always seems to be one ingredient missing. The Philadelphia-based Hoppin' John Orchestra gets it. This sixteen year-old New Orleans-style brass band has the feel and the sound down, and its self-titled CD exemplifies this with powerful horn solos and a ...

Live Review

Ron Cole Trio: Vientiane, Laos, January 21, 2012

by Ian Patterson
February 8, 2012

Ron Cole TrioMarkTwo Pub and RestaurantVientiane, LaosJanuary 21, 2012 The fact that a jazz trio came from Bangkok to play a swish new venue in the Laotian capital--one that wouldn't look out of place in the City of Angels--says something about the rapid pace of change in Laos. This was no embassy-sponsored gig either; this was private enterprise in action, something that Communist Lao is getting pretty darn nifty at. Another sign of these ...

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Album Review

Lorraine Feather: Tales of the Unusual

Read "Tales of the Unusual" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
February 8, 2012

Be aware and beware from the get-go: Tales of the Unusual, from Grammy nominee Lorraine Feather, is indeed deep, dark and different. The Anne Rice-like black and white cover shot parlayed with the spooky title augur that what is to follow is a foray into a song-world of stories told inside-out and upside-down. The magic here is the marvelous--no, delicious--manner in which Feather, with incredible vocal skill, dynamic shading and inflection, maneuvers through her own lyric queendom. ...

Live Review

Barry Harris at the Village Vanguard

by Bob Kenselaar
February 8, 2012

Barry HarrisVillage VanguardNew York, NYJanuary 15, 2012 Ambling in from the back of the room, Barry Harris introduced his trio to the crowd at the Village Vanguard as the musicians filed in ahead of him: Ray Drummond on bass, Leroy Williams on drums, and then he announced, with a wink, “I'm Barry Johnson." Of course, everybody in the audience was well familiar with the name of the living legend they were there to see. ...