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

Rick Stone Trio: Fractals

Read "Fractals" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 17, 2012

Trio recordings hold a special place in jazz. Bass and drums, teaming with a piano or guitar, give the front man the most room for instrumental self expression (saxophone out front is a different matter). Though he may not be the busiest of guitarists in terms of recording, with a good stretch of time between Samba de Novembre (Jazzland, 2004) and Fractals, Rick Stone shines in the format. Teaching at Jazzmobile and Hofstra, and playing regularly around New York City ...

Live Review

Phronesis' Pitch Black: London, UK, November 16, 2011

by Matthew Ellis
January 17, 2012

Phronesis Pitch Black Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall London, England November 16, 2011Latecomers might have thought the Purcell Room was experiencing technical difficulties. The punctual, however, knew the lights were out for Pitch Black. This project, unveiled at Brecon, featured Phronesis playing in total darkness. Officially the show simulates the experience of bassist [Jasper] Høiby's blind sister but it also indulges the trio's penchant for challenges.

Illuminated for the first half, the visual contact underwriting ...

Album Review

Gary Smulyan: Smul's Paradise

Read "Smul's Paradise" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
January 17, 2012

Recognized as one of the premiere baritone saxophonist in jazz today, Gary Smulyan has long had an affinity for the classic jazz organ trios and on Smul's Paradise he finally pays tribute to the format joining forces with Mike LeDonne, a master of the Hammond B3 organ. Not since saxophonist Ronnie Cuber performed with Lonnie Smith in the early '70s, has a baritone saxophonist led a typical organ trio. One major difference with this recording however; that the saxophonist fronts ...

Album Review

San Francisco Latin Jazz Society: Now What

Read "Now What" reviewed by Lewis J Whittington

by Lewis J Whittington
January 17, 2012

Now What is raucous, adventurous music from The San Francisco Latin Jazz Society--the first of two winter 2012 releases from this electric, bluesy ensemble--and a reminder that Stateside studio jazz is not permanently lurching toward predigested pop territory as it might sometimes seem. On its website, SFLJS states it has had many aliases, including New Latin Jazz Society, Descarga Libre, the Psychedelic Mambo Cult, Los Pinguinos and Latin Jazz Descarga.This album recalls Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970) ...

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Interview

Bela Fleck (BEY-Lah Fleck): See Curious, Creative Mind

by R.J. DeLuke
January 17, 2012

Béla Fleck has taken his instrument--the banjo--to heights that seemed unimaginable prior to couple decades ago. There have been virtuoso players in its long history, but the sounds Fleck elicits through electronics, and the musical landscapes he treads upon, are groundbreaking. He's got all that in his pocket. But as a twenty-something musician whose prowess was gaining notoriety with the bluegrass crossover band New Grass Revival, Fleck still had his heart set on other things. He had a ...

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Album Review

Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu featuring Jaques Morelenbaum: Alma

by Dan Bilawsky
January 16, 2012

Trying to keep pace with the musical projects of pianist Omar Sosa or trumpeter Paolo Fresu is an almost-athletic pursuit. Calling either man prolific is an understatement, but what's more impressive than the quantity of music they release is the quality of their output. Both have tapped into an eternal wellspring of creativity that eludes most artists, with an ability to conjure the spirits of sound at will. Their first encounter dates back to 2006, when Sosa ...

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Album Review

Lars Jansson Trio with Ensemble MidtVest: Worship Of Self

Read "Worship Of Self" reviewed by Chris Mosey

by Chris Mosey
January 16, 2012

Pianist Lars Jansson's music is beyond category. Its roots are in jazz but, especially on Worship Of Self, it also embraces the Western classical tradition, bringing to mind the genius of Leonard Bernstein. Jansson hails from Sweden's second city, Gothenburg, but frequently visits Japan with his trio and is a self-proclaimed Zen Buddhist, and his meditative compositions reflect this. In his sleeve notes, Jansson says they are “built on melodic, tonal and atonal language," and quotes American ...

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Album Review

Samuel Blaser Quartet: Boundless

Read "Boundless" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 16, 2012

In his relatively brief tenure as a professional jazz musician who derives influences from classical music studies and John Cage-tinted abstractions, Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser's craft teems with curiously interesting applications and concepts. He's recorded for other prominent European record labels, but debuts on the historic Swiss-based hatOLOGY label with Boundless.Blaser imparts a penchant for innovation, fusing experimentation with structure and loosely organized tenets within a larger compositional picture, and his band of proven futurists share a common ...

Album Review

Lord Kelvin: Radio Has No Future

Read "Radio Has No Future" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 16, 2012

William Thomson, better known as Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), was a Scottish physicist, engineer and inventor who defined absolute zero--the theoretical absence of all thermal energy. The musical incarnation of Lord Kelvin comes from Norway--certainly a cold place on the globe--its three members meeting while attending the famous Trondheim Conservatory. Like its debut, (Dances in the Smoke (Jazzland, 2009), the trio's sophomore release is, however, steaming hot. All three members of the trio have busy and varied musical ...

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AAJ PRO

Publicist? How to Maximize Your Client's Coverage at All About Jazz

by Michael Ricci
January 16, 2012

All About Jazz was part of the 2012 APAP JazzConnect track and participated in the “Platforms That Move Jazz Forward“ session. One clear takeaway for me was learning that some publicists don't fully understand how to use All About Jazz to positively impact a client's promotional campaign. I also learned that some publicists are unfamiliar with our services, while yet others greatly underestimate our reach. This handy how-to guide should clarify All About Jazz's value, while giving a ...