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.

Jazz Near Me

John Coltrane: Always A Philadelphian

by Rob Armstrong
February 1, 2012

[Editor's Note: All About Jazz, Hidden City Philadelphia, and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia have collaborated to present a series of articles on the local jazz scene that John Coltrane inhabited, developed in, and ultimately transcended between 1943 and 1958, when he called the city home.] One of Philadelphia's most interesting properties from a cultural standpoint--the former home of legendary saxophonist and composer John Coltrane--is also one of its most endangered. This year, the house located at ...

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Extended Analysis

Julius Hemphill / Peter Kowald: Live at Kassiopeia

by John Sharpe
February 1, 2012

Julius Hemphill / Peter KowaldLive at KassiopeiaNo Business Records2011 Out of the blue comes this double disc set featuring two distinguished alumni, both sadly now departed, of two parallel streams of musical pioneering. German bassist Peter Kowald was one of the authors of European free improvisation. Though initially in the shadows of his more assertive compatriots, saxophonist Peter Brotzmann and pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, he came into his own through giving full ...

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Album Review

Benny Lackner Trio: Cachuma

Read "Cachuma" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 1, 2012

Pianist Benny Lackner can do whatever he wants, and says as much with “I Can Do Whatever I Want," the opener on his forward-leaning Cachuma. This piano trio outing suggests he wants to nudge the trio setting into a modern groove while giving voice to his own artistic vision.Modernization of the tried and true piano trio format is an ongoing process. e.s.t., led by the late Swedish pianist Esbjörn Svensson, incorporated electronics with great success, while John Medeski ...

Live Review

John Geggie / Ron Miles / David Occhipinti: Ottawa, Canada, January 14, 2012

by John Kelman
February 1, 2012

John Geggie / Ron Miles / David OcchipintiGeggie Concert SeriesNAC Fourth Stage, Ottawa, CanadaJanuary 14, 2012 For his first concert of 2012, bassist John Geggie reaffirmed the astute ability to bring together musicians in unheard-of configurations that's made his longstanding Geggie Concert Series an Ottawa institution. Despite living in a city that would have a hard time getting classified as a jazz mecca, Geggie's leadership of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival's late night jam ...

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Album Review

Pablo Bobrowicky: Southern Blue

Read "Southern Blue" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
February 1, 2012

Argentinian guitarist Pablo Bobrowicky has a beautifully unadorned and organic tone, as naked as an electrified guitar can be. He makes it a point not to hide behind reverb, sustain, or overdrive, producing a plectrum sound halfway between electric and acoustic. On Southern Blue, his fourth Red Records recording as a leader, Bobrowicky returns to the trio format he so successfully led on 2001's Where We Are (Red Records), spinning out an excellent collection of standards and originals, rendered like ...

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Album Review

Alex Diaz: Beyond 145th Street

Read "Beyond 145th Street" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
February 1, 2012

Merengue, the national music of the Dominican Republic ferociously driven by percussive provincial rhythms such as pambiche, perico ripiao, el maco, guinchao and palo, is the natural choice for conga master Alex Diaz to blend his native roots with jazz improvisation in Beyond 145th Street . Diaz and featured saxophonist Ivan Renta continue their musical innovations and tribute to the late saxophonist Mario Rivera, who was associated with Tito Puente, which began with the release of Merengue ...

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Album Review

Larry Brown Jr.: There Can Only Be One

Read "There Can Only Be One" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
February 1, 2012

A native of the small town of Venice, Illinois, guitarist Larry Brown Jr. is a deeply religious man with a big vision and plans for the future. Not only is Brown a musician and educator, but as founder of the Black Church Music Piano camp and the Music for the Heart non-profit organization, he is also a bit of a philanthropist. However, it's not his philanthropy that may bring him well-deserved attention, but rather the response to his dynamic debut, ...

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Album Review

Tania Maria: Tempo

Read "Tempo" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
January 31, 2012

EstateSei calda come i baci che ho perdutoSei piena di un amore che è passatoChe il cuore mio vorrebbe cancellare. Brazilian pianist/singer Tania Maria is the product of warm and humid climes. Born in Sao Luis in the northwestern part of the country, she emerged into the musical intersection where the bossa of Brazil rubs up against the salsa of the Caribbean. All influences are in evidence on Maria's opening performance ...

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Album Review

Side A: A New Margin

Read "A New Margin" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
January 31, 2012

It is quite rare to hear multi-reedist Ken Vandermark record or perform with a pianist, the reason being that, back in the day (the early 1990s), his brand of new Chicago jazz was presented much like the hardcore punk scene of the previous decade--out of the back of a van. Like Henry Rollins and Black Flag, Vandermark's life was one of constant travel, setting up and breaking down, only to move on to the next show. Needless to ...

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Extended Analysis

Ahmad Jamal: Blue Moon

by Chris May
January 31, 2012

Ahmad JamalBlue MoonJazz Village2012 It is tempting to say that, at age 82, Ahmad Jamal carries on getting better and better, but that would be to miss the point. The pianist long ago reached a level of perfection from which it is simply not possible to get better. It is a level, however, to which he habitually returns. In 2010, Jamal released one of the most sublime albums in his long ...