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.

108

Album Review

Allen Lowe: Blues and the Empirical Truth

Read "Blues and the Empirical Truth" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
December 16, 2011

Operating on the fringes of the jazz establishment since the early 1990s, under-sung saxophonist Allen Lowe has earned meritorious praise for his distinctive efforts. It is his academic writings documenting the history of American folk music that have garnered him the most widespread critical acclaim however. Lowe's first foray into roots music, his 1994 album Dark Was the Night--Cold Was the Ground (Music & Arts), reconciled modernism with tradition, consequently inspiring his interest in scholarly dissertations like American Pop from ...

143

Album Review

Kristian Borring: Nausicaa

Read "Nausicaa" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
December 16, 2011

Nausicaa is the debut album from London-based Danish guitarist Kristian Borring. It's an assured and confident debut, demonstrating Borring's talents as a composer and player. There are some complex time signatures on display, but they're never overdone and the music remains accessible from the get-go. Borring studied guitar in Holland and in London, gaining a Masters degree from the Guildhall School of Music in 2006. Since then, he's worked with a diverse range of European jazz musicians ...

116

Bailey's Bundles

C. Michael Bailey's Best Releases of 2011

by C. Michael Bailey
December 16, 2011

As in 2010, this end-of-the-year best recordings list is drawn from albums awarded “five stars" on the author's score sheet when first reviewed. Dana LaurenIt's You or No One Vocalist Dana Lauren has a beautifully balanced alto voice that is pliant and malleable, one well suited for jazz. It's You or No One (Self Produced, 2010) was the singer's well-received debut, a smart collection of standards rendered well by top-notch musicians. Lauren sings ...

170

Year in Review

Dan McClenaghan's Best Releases of 2011

by Dan McClenaghan
December 16, 2011

It was a very good year, and whittling it down to the customary ten won't do it. So, without regard to an arbitrary number, here are the top jazz recordings of 2011. Lee Konitz/Brad Mehldau/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian Live at Birdland ECM Records If ever there were an all-star session, this is it. And the stars were aligned this night at Birdland. Veteran alto saxophonist Lee Konitz fronts this highly interactive group. ...

Album Review

Pauline Jean: A Musical Offering

Read "A Musical Offering" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
December 16, 2011

The advent and enduring popularity of music videos has allowed artists to break out and garner an audience based on the recording and online posting of their live performances. This trend has been positive for vocalist Pauline Jean, whose mesmerizing performances of “Yoyo" and her signature song, “Dey/Rasenbleman," have led enthusiasts to seek out her 2009 release, A Musical Offering. “Dey/Rasenbleman" is featured on the record, as well as “Ayiti Remember (Don't Cry)," both in tribute of ...

111

Album Review

Matthias Bublath: Harvest On The Moon

Read "Harvest On The Moon" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 15, 2011

Musicians and farmers may have far different day-to-day routines, but they have at least one thing in common: when their work reaches full maturation, it must be harvested for public consumption. Those digesting the end result of their hard work may not think twice about how it ends up in their hands, but they know the difference between rotten and succulent. Taste, flavor, and freshness are important indicators of a quality product, and these ripe items plucked from the mind ...

146

Reassessing

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out

by Chris May
December 15, 2011

Dave Brubeck QuartetTime OutColumbia1959 As the authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (Penguin, 1992-2008) observed, pianist Dave Brubeck's Time Out has become so familiar that “no one actually hears what's going on anymore." The album is one of two masterpieces made in 1959 sharing that fate. The other is trumpeter Miles Davis' Kind of Blue (Columbia). But Brubeck's album has suffered the most. Davis' studied cultivation ...

Album Review

Calling Signals 09: A Winter's Tour

Read "A Winter's Tour" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 15, 2011

British bassist Nick Stephens has always been a prominent mainstay within Europe's avant-jazz landscape. His affiliation with legendary British free-jazz pioneer and drummer John Stevens looms as one component of the bassist's overall dynamic and legacy. This rendition of Stephen's Calling Signals band was recorded live in 2009 during a brief tour of the U.K., and unites a prominent Scandinavian contingent of reedman Frode Gjerstad and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love. The extended tracks enable the band to stretch, reinvent, ...

103

Album Review

Bill Cunliffe: That Time of Year

Read "That Time of Year" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
December 15, 2011

There's always the danger of getting all schmaltzy with Christmas music, but jazz people are hipper than average and can usually come up with something appropriately cool to spin around holiday time. That's exactly what pianist/composer Bill Cunliffe has done with That Time of Year.Cunliffe is a versatile artist who is comfortable in any size ensemble--from his Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2 (Resonance Records, 2008) to his Grammy-winning arrangement on Resonance Big Band's Plays Tribute to ...

102

Album Review

New World Jazz Composers Octet: Breaking News

Read "Breaking News" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
December 15, 2011

Eight players does not a big band make, but The New World Jazz Composers Octet is a light ensemble offering an assertive sound reminiscent of a big band production. Boasting a cadre of educators and first-rate musicians, the group manages powerful orchestrations employing an exciting horn section, lively percussion and blistering piano work from Tim Ray in its aggressive approach to the music. Breaking News is the Octet's third album, revealing a program of charging hard bop featuring nine compositions ...