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.

101

Album Review

Frank Herzberg Trio: Handmade

Read "Handmade" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 29, 2012

The letter “B" has played a major role in Frank Herzberg's life. The Berlin-born bassist, who spent time honing his craft at Berklee, relocated to Brazil in 1997 and has been busy performing and recording music there ever since. While Herzberg's career choices probably have nothing to do with adding alliterative qualities to his biography, they have everything to do with his efforts to broaden and sharpen his mind and music. Herzberg and his trio work in ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Dave Bryant

by AAJ Staff
January 29, 2012

Meet Dave Bryant: Keyboardist and composer, Dave Bryant is best known for his work as a member of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time group. Bryant's addition to the group marked Coleman's first extended work with a keyboard instrument in decades.Instrument(s): Keyboards.Teachers and/or influences? I went through a lot of teachers, but my favorites were Fred and Shirley Clements when I was growing up in my home town, and Bruce Thomas and ...

110

Album Review

Skaller / Holt Duo: Music of Mark Dresser

Read "Music of Mark Dresser" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 29, 2012

This duo's first album focuses on a selection of progressive jazz and improvising bass great Mark Dresser's compositions. Known as a first-call session ace, mainly for projects that skirt the boundaries of jazz amid avant-garde inclined encounters, Dresser is also a heralded solo artist. Here, Phillip Skaller and Danny Holt's shrewd integration of pianos, celeste and percussion is the tool of choice for these staggered reconstruction efforts, presenting an impressionistic panorama of Dresser's work. With nimble phrasings, asymmetrical pulses and ...

103

Album Review

Lina Nyberg: Palaver

Read "Palaver" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 29, 2012

Few artists can evoke poetic musical images of such strong and diverse personae as Brazilian singer, composer and political activist Caetano Veloso, Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, French impressionist composer Claude Debussy, American author Paul Auster, American innovative architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Persian Sufi poet Jelâluddîn Rumi on a single album. Few could manage to wrap these fascinating characters with an engaging, left-of-center musical outfit. But Swedish singer/composer Lina Nyberg is indeed a unique artist. ...

124

Album Review

Zoran Predin and Matija Dedic: Tragovi u Sjeti

Read "Tragovi u Sjeti" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
January 29, 2012

After spicing his solo career with diverse and strong material following his front-man work with Lačni Franc, Slovenian singer-songwriter Zoran Predin turns his attention to some great tunes from the golden age of Yugoslavian pop music on Tragovi u Sjeti. Joined by one of Croatia's most celebrated jazz talents, pianist Matija Dedić, this is a collaborative effort where musical cultures, styles, eras and personalities are utilized, fused and juxtaposed to marvelous effect. The record is a generally ...

Album Review

Partikel: Cohesion

Read "Cohesion" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
January 28, 2012

The saxophone/bass/drums trio may not be the most unusual musical amalgamation but it gives plenty of scope for inventive, dynamic, exchanges between the assembled musicians. Partikel--a young London-based and sax-led trio--makes the most of such opportunities on its second album, Cohesion. Partikel is led by composer Duncan Eagles, who excels on both tenor and soprano saxophones. The band released its debut, (Partikel (F-IRE Presents), in 2010 and although its profile has been relatively low-key since then, the ...

Live Review

Peloton: Helsinki, Finland, January 8, 2012

by Anthony Shaw
January 28, 2012

Peloton The Cable Factory Helsinki, Finland November 2011--January 2012 January 8, 2012 Many a gigging musician has spent lengthy formative hours in an opera house pit, a symphony orchestra stand or, in this case, under the modern equivalent of a big top. With contemporary circus entertainment more compact--even low key at times--venues are typically former industrial project buildings rather than a portable canvas canopy, but other than the acoustics it's the same ...

Take Five With...

Take Five With Al Scott

by AAJ Staff
January 28, 2012

Meet Al Scott: Al Scott has been playing the piano for over 10 years, and first became influenced by the music of Michael Jackson. It must have been the Quincy Jones element that influenced him. Although his main passion is for jazz music, Al has done session work for various producers, and featured live alongside DJs in the dance music scene. Back in Manchester he had a Trio, which played various venues including Matt and Phred's, a well-known ...

158

Album Review

Elio Villafranca and Arturo Stable: Dos Y Mas

Read "Dos Y Mas" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 28, 2012

Pianist Elio Villafranca and percussionist Arturo Stable have the world at their fingertips. They originally hail from Cuba, where they received classical training and soaked in the sounds of the people before coming Stateside. But they don't limit their vision to their mutual point of origin. Spain, the Middle East and Africa, along with the sounds of their homeland, come into view on Dos Y Mas as these two meld their minds and marry their musical intentions to create a ...

148

Album Review

Bill Barner: Ten Tunes

Read "Ten Tunes" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
January 28, 2012

Variety is the theme of Bill Barner's plainly titled Ten Tunes. Although currently employed by a big band and small swing combos, Barner's career as reed man has spanned different genres, from free jazz and Indian raga and to bluegrass and klezmer, and the disc reflects that versatility, with the leader focusing exclusively on clarinet. Opening with the Chicago-style, blues-rock “Opening Gambit" Stan Smith's blistering guitar work contrasts with the unique and mellow Barner, while the soulful ...