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.
Sign in to customize your My Articles page —or— Filter Article Results
Rodrigo Amado: The Healing
by John Sharpe
The Healing unites tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and drummer Chris Corsano in a tremendous set that tempers visceral power with nuanced exchange. An archival release, it documents a 2016 live date at Lisbon's ZBD Club, marking the second recording by this duo, after a 2014 session issued as No Place To Fall (Astral Spirits, 2019). However the Portuguese reed player and American percussionist have been comrades since 2012 in a quartet completed by bassist Kent Kessler and saxophonist-trumpeter Joe McPhee ...
Continue ReadingJohn O'Gallagher, Flora Purim, And Lena Bloch
by Jerome Wilson
This program features recent releases by John O'Gallagher and Lena Bloch as well as older music from Flora Purim, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and The Art Ensemble of Chicago. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Franz Koglmann “A White Line" from A White Line (Hat Hut) 00:57 Steven Feifke Big Band “Word Travels Fast" from Kinetic (Outside In) 8:20 Host ...
Continue ReadingThe Philosophy Of Jazz
by Ian Patterson
The Philosophy Of Jazz Kevin Le Gendre 105 Pages ISBN: 978 0 7123 5503 2 British Library 2025 If you had to recommend just one book on jazz history to a neophyte, which would it be? Ted Gioia's The History of Jazz (Oxford University Press, 1997) is rightly regarded as a definitive account, but at nearly 600 pages it may deter readers looking for a lighter introduction. What if ...
Continue ReadingCarl Medsker's Best Jazz Albums Of 2025
by Carl Medsker
Best of 2025? A bold claim, given the fire hose of content from which to drink. In my drafts from the torrent, I discovered many engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking releases. The ones on this list were the most often replayed throughout the year and will remain in rotation into the future. Whether energizing or calming, joyful or somber, intellectually stimulating or simply toe-tapping fun, all were a balm for troubling times. And now, 2026 is upon us, no doubt with ...
Continue ReadingNoah Preminger: Dark Days
by Jack Kenny
Noah Preminger possesses one of the most beautiful tones in jazz, and he knows it. He is not inclined to tarnish that sound--nor should he. It is the product of years of rigorous work. His challenge, rather, lies in his relative youth, in jazz terms. Admired already, Preminger also understands that his best years likely lie ahead. His well-regarded album Ballads (Chill Tone 2025) confirms his lyric gifts, yet it also raises the question: What next? Think of Coltrane--could one ...
Continue ReadingRay Barretto: Together
by C. Andrew Hovan
As of this writing, it has been more than 20 years since we lost the great conguero Ray Barretto. A native New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, Barretto was among the first musicians to bring the conga drum into the standard jazz combo. His unmistakable touch can be heard throughout the early 1960s on a string of jazz classics by Lou Donaldson, Red Garland, Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Mann, and Jimmy Forrest. As the Latin music scene exploded in ...
Continue ReadingMaurizio Zerbo's Favorite Jazz Albums of 2025
by Maurizio Zerbo
2025 will be remembered by critics and jazz fans alike for the exceptional quality and remarkable breadth of its recorded output, driven by polycentric forces and by music not always strictly jazz, yet sharing with the jazz aesthetic its spirit, techniques, and formal approaches. This selection of mine, presented in order of preference, also bears witness to the extraordinary level achieved by Italian jazz, which over the past few decades has earned space, attention, and visibility from institutions ...
Continue ReadingJulius Gawlik: It's All in Your Head
by Nenad Georgievski
When jazz musicians talk about composition, they often mean something closer to architecture--blueprints that guide but do not dictate. Julius Gawlik's debut album takes this idea seriously, treating written material as a starting point rather than a destination. The Berlin-based saxophonist and clarinetist has assembled a quartet that thrives on incompleteness, where sketches become conversations and melodies exist to be challenged. The personnel tells part of the story: drummer Jim Black brings decades of boundary-pushing work, vibraphonist Evi ...
Continue ReadingCharles Tolliver's Music Inc., Late 60's/mid 70's J-Jazz, Roy Brooks Live and More!
by Jon Greenbaum
A generous sampling of J-Jazz from the late '60s through mid-'70s (on the more adventurous end of the continuum) along with some classic cuts from Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, a live loft scene release from Michael Gregory Jackson, something from a Steve Lacy Hat Hut trio date and a few recent releases. Playlist Charles Tolliver Big Band “On the Nile" from Live at the Blue Note (Strata East Records) 00:00 Hiroshi Suzuki / Masahiko TogashiQuintet “Passion" from Variation (Columbia ...
Continue ReadingBill Ware, The Jazz Passengers, Csaba Palotai, Rosa Brunello & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Here is another dip into the river of new albums, focusing releases (and re-releases) worth holding on to.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 The Jazz Passengers feat. Jeff Buckley “Jolly Street" In Love (Sony Legacy) 0:16 Host talks 7:58 Bill Ware and the Club Bird All Stars “All the Way Down" Martian Sunset (Sunnyside) 9:17 Host talks 15:22 Patricia Brennan “Andromeda" Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic) 17:00 ...
Continue Reading
