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.

175

Interview

Mindi Abair: Defining the ‘It’ Factor

by Trish Richardson
December 13, 2011

It. What is It? How does one know if one has It? And more importantly, where does one get It? It. Such a small, unassuming word, barely taking up any space on the page. But just what is It? It. It is that almost indefinable, though easily recognizable “X" factor. It's quite obvious when someone has It--and when someone doesn't. It can be the difference between having a career in show business and not having one. ...

116

Album Review

Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone: Departure of Reason

Read "Departure of Reason" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
December 13, 2011

Departure of Reason is guitarist Mary Halvorson and violist Jessica Pavone's fourth duo recording, following Thin Air (Thirsty Ear, 2009), On and Off (Skirl, 2007) and Prairies (Lucky Kitchen, 2005). As leading lights of the fertile Brooklyn scene, their unique musical vocabulary encompasses a wealth of seemingly unrelated genres, from flamenco and folk to madrigal and metal; their seamless transitions between these disparate styles serve as the underlying foundation for experimental improvisations that skirt the tenuous divide between free jazz ...

140

Album Review

McCoy Tyner: McCoy Tyner: Extensions

Read "McCoy Tyner: Extensions" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
December 13, 2011

Languishing off-catalogue for many years, McCoy Tyner's Extensions may be the pianist's most unjustly neglected album. Strange days, for not only is the music ineffably vibrant, but Extensions is the only recording ever to feature Tyner alongside pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane, who replaced him in saxophonist John Coltrane's group in 1966. The album has one foot in the echoes of John Coltrane's “classic quartet," of which Tyner was a member from 1960-65, and the other in the astral jazz ...

103

Album Review

Francesco Cafiso: Moody'n

Read "Moody'n" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
December 13, 2011

"Youth will be served." That is a saying appropriately describing the meteoric rise to success that Sicilian alto saxophonist Francesco Cafiso has achieved since he turned “professional" at nine years old. With Moody 'n, Cafiso plunges deeply into the BeBop canon performing a handful of classics and, in doing so demonstrates both the bravado of a young man and refined musical maturity beyond his years. The alto saxophone BeBop legacy is a lengthy and robust one from ...

105

Album Review

Kaze: Rafaele

by Dave Wayne
December 13, 2011

Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and pianist Satoko Fujii are as furiously creative as they are prolific. These days, they release new music in batches of three or four CDs, each with different personnel, though often with some compositional overlap--completely forgivable, since the same material sounds completely different (often rewardingly so) in the hands of a different ensemble. It is rare, however, that they feature others' compositions--a fact Fujii herself remarks upon in Rafaele's brief liner notes. Kaze, one of Fujii and ...

115

Mix Tape

McCoy Tyner: Vol. Three 1961

by Lawrence Peryer
December 13, 2011

Vol. One, 1959-60 | Vol. Two, 1960-61 | Vol. Three, 1961 This music was recorded over a six month span but illustrates the breakneck speed with which the bleeding edge of jazz was transforming. In late May and early June 1961, McCoy Tyner was part of the John Coltrane group that recorded the ground-breaking Impulse! album Africa/Brass. By early November, the month that record was released, the core group of Coltrane, Tyner, Elvin Jones, Reggie Workman and notably, ...

221

Website News

All About Jazz's Year in Review: 2011

by Michael Ricci
December 12, 2011

Dear AAJ Reader, 2011 proved to be a transformative year as we undertook several steps to completely rebuild All About Jazz and expand its focus. And the improvements and expansion will continue long into 2012. Please read on for the details... What A Year! We worked some serious magic this year restructuring our technology, making it more scalable and adaptable to support both All About Jazz and our coming soon website Jazz Near You. Improvements were ...

147

Album Review

Excess Luggage: Hand Luggage Only

Read "Hand Luggage Only" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
December 12, 2011

Given this Norwegian trio's two keyboards-plus-drums instrumentation, there may be the expectation of something avant-garde, or perhaps something reminiscent of '70s-era prog rock. However, on Hand Luggage Only, Excess Luggage's core values are firmly oriented towards aggressive, swinging modern jazz. This is clear from the CD's first track, the bobbing, weaving “Annoying You." The title may refer to the tune's mechanical-sounding, syncopated, repetitious melody--though nothing about it is truly annoying. Another thing that's immediately apparent is how well the instrumentation ...

112

Album Review

Mark Alban & Islak Kopek: Istanbul Improv Sessions May 4th

Read "Istanbul Improv Sessions May 4th" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
December 12, 2011

Flautist Mark Alban Lotz played two concerts of improvised music with different bands of musicians in Istanbul in May 2010. Istanbul Improve Sessions, May 5th (LopLop Records, 2011) was the first to be released. The performance from the previous day, with Islak Köpek, now makes its appearance and finds Lotz playing in real time duo, trio and larger group settings. The music has been released as it was played except for some trims at the beginning and end of each, ...

160

Year in Review

Chris May's Best Releases of 2011

by Chris May
December 12, 2011

2011 produced a bigger than usual crop of engaging new albums and important reissues. In no special order, here are ten new releases and five reissues: la crème de la crème. Waitiki 7 In Hi-Fi (Pass Out) Dub Colossus Addis (Real World) Alice Coltrane Impulse! ...