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.

235

Mix Tape

Desmond After Dark (With the Dave Brubeck Quartet)

by Michael Ricci
December 15, 2011

Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond's solos kept me connected to the Dave Brubeck Quartet's music. A perfect “dry martini" mix of boundless lyricism and musical excellence. The following tunes were selected from several albums included in the The Dave Brubeck Quartet: The Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection 1954 to 1967 box set. TrackNameTimeArtistAlbum1The Night We Called it a Day6:11Dave BrubeckAngel Eyes2Take Five5:27The Dave Brubeck QuartetTime Out3Georgia On My Mind6:42The Dave Brubeck QuartetGone With The Wind4Angel Eyes7:27Dave BrubeckAngel Eyes5Coracao ...

148

JazzLife UK

The JazzLife UK Gilded Butterfly Awards 2011

by Bruce Lindsay
December 15, 2011

As Noddy Holder and the mighty Slade remind us every year, “It's CHRISTMAAAAAAS." With the Yuletide festivities comes the annual avalanche of End Of Year lists, Best Of awards and Grammy nominations. This year, JazzLife UK adds its own awards to the list: the inaugural JazzLife UK Gilded Butterfly Awards (or GBs). In line with the Grammys JazzLife UK has streamlined the GBs, down from the originally proposed 642 categories to a core group of seven. But it's the seven ...

111

Album Review

Sean McGowan: Sphere

Read "Sphere" reviewed by Florence Wetzel

by Florence Wetzel
December 14, 2011

For many jazz lovers, pianist Thelonious Monk's solo recordings of his own compositions are an exquisite pleasure. The simplicity of a single instrument reveals the compositions' elegant architecture, allowing their angular beauty to become refreshingly clear. The challenge and joy of recording Monk's music solo continues to entice musicians, thus creating afresh some of the twentieth century's most enduring artworks. Guitarist Sean McGowan pays homage to Monk on Sphere, titled after Monk's unique middle name. McGowan has drawn ...

251

Live Review

Barcelona Voll-Damm Internacional Jazz Festival: Barcelona, Spain, November 21-26, 2011

by Bruce Lindsay
December 14, 2011

Barcelona Voll-Damm Internacional Jazz FestivalBarcelona, SpainNovember 21-26, 2011 The Barcelona Voll-Damm Internacional Jazz Festival is an established part of the cultural life of this vibrant Spanish city. The 2011 festival was the 43rd, and once again it brought some exceptionally fine jazz to a host of equally fine venues, attracting stars of the stature of Maria Schneider, Eliane Elias, Randy Weston and Brad Mehldau. Barcelona is Spain's second biggest city and the capital of ...

280

Year in Review

John Kelman's Best Releases of 2011

by John Kelman
December 14, 2011

Selected picks representing the top recorded events in jazz and beyond for 2011. Note that only albums that have been reviewed can qualify.... Jazz New Releases Storms/Nocturnes VIA (Origin) Iro Haarla QuintetVespers (ECM) MotifFacienda (Jazzland) Craig TabornAvenging Angel (ECM) SFJAZZ CollectiveMusic of Stevie Wonder (SFJAZZ) David BinneyGraylen Epicenter (Mythology) Joel Harrison

139

Album Review

Bill Cunliffe: That Time of Year

Read "That Time of Year" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
December 14, 2011

West Coast pianist Bill Cunliffe has released a most welcome holiday disc in That Time of Year. With Christmas coming commercially before Halloween in bigger and more brazen waves each year, having the music of the season reduced to its sheer elements by a well-versed master is refreshing, if not spiritually reviving. Cunliffe's pianism is urbane and lyrical, perfectly suited for interpreting a well- worn and loved repertoire. Cunliffe has previously demonstrated his knack for freshly focused concepts for old ...

Live Review

Joe McPhee and Decoy: Cafe Oto, London, October 29, 2011

by John Sharpe
December 14, 2011

Although at an age when many might be happier looking to past glories, multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee still seeks new answers to the questions posed by music-making on the fly. Given the success of the solutions proffered in the concert which produced the acclaimed Oto (Bo Weavil, 2009), it was only a matter of time before the older man reconvened with British group Decoy to see if there were yet more resolutions to be found. Stopping off in London en route ...

Album Review

FAB Trio: History of Jazz in Reverse

Read "History of Jazz in Reverse" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
December 14, 2011

A trio consisting of violin, bass and drums might seem a little thin, but violinist Billy Bang, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul know a thing or two about this music and their collective effort on this disc combines elements of the intellectual and the physical. The result is, perhaps unsurprisingly, music which appeals in differing measures to both the head and the heart, serving notice of just how infrequently this mix is successfully caught on record.

139

Album Review

Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood: In Case The World Changes Its Mind

Read "In Case The World Changes Its Mind" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
December 14, 2011

In Case the World Changes Its Mind reaffirms the chemistry at the heart of the collaboration between nouveau-jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood and guitarist extraordinaire, John Scofield. Hearing this live recording reveals the delicate, almost precarious, balance of factors that put them finely in tune with each other. Recorded on the 2006 tour to promote the foursome's studio outing Out Louder (Indirecto, 2006), the concert piece demonstrates how the four-man unit functions with judicious serendipity when playing ...

153

Album Review

Darren Johnston's Gone To Chicago: The Big Lift

Read "The Big Lift" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 13, 2011

Canada-reared, but calling San Francisco home since 1997, trumpeter and composer Darren Johnston delves into the Chicago's avant, modern-jazz establishment and kicks off a vibrant set, with prominent constituents of The Windy City's fertile soundscape. With The Big Lift, the trumpeter's ascending status within the outer reaches of jazz attains another hierarchical level. Peppered by an undulating groove-quotient, the ensemble combines a frothy and infectious mode of attack by incorporating the blues, mainstream jazz, and avant-garde musings with ...