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.

131

Album Review

The Andrew Dickeson Quintet: Weaver of Dreams

Read "Weaver of Dreams" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
December 12, 2011

Australian drummer Andrew Dickeson makes a strong recording debut as leader with a well-chosen selection of standards. Dickeson has been a sideman for over 25 years, having begun his professional career when he was 13. Born into a musical family, he began playing the drums when he was 10. He moved briefly to New York in 1991 where he studied with Art Taylor and Vernel Fournier and was a finalist in the 1992 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Drums Competition. ...

147

Album Review

New York Standards Quartet: Unstandard

Read "Unstandard" reviewed by Larry Taylor

by Larry Taylor
December 12, 2011

It's a pleasure when a group of great jazz players take American standards and reshape them with their own unique stamp. This happens on New York Standards Quartet's Unstandard, where the musical gambit--the direction these musicians take the originals--is often surprising. Pianist David Berkman leads the way, handling arrangements and contributing originals, all the while taking impeccable solos. This is a joint effort, and veteran drummer Gene Jackson is invaluable, impressively powering the pace, aided by bassist Yosuke ...

160

Interview

Stefano Bollani: And Now For Something Completely Different

by Ian Patterson
December 12, 2011

Impersonating singer Paolo Conte and other Italian cultural icons comes as naturally to pianist Stefano Bollani as interpreting the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Michael Jackson, Brian Wilson, or Maurice Ravel--or indeed, writing novels. To say that Bollani is multitalented is a bit like saying Art Tatum could play the piano a bit. Oh, and Bollani plays the piano a bit like Art Tatum, when he's of a mind. However, as Orvieto (ECM, 2011) --a live recording with pianist Chick ...

129

Extended Analysis

Various Artists: Benin Yoruba Music - Voices Of Memory

by Chris May
December 11, 2011

Various ArtistsBenin Yoruba Music: Voices Of MemoryOcora2011 In the days before the web shrank the world, hearing traditional music made in a distant country meant getting on a plane and going there yourself. Rewarding, but expensive. Plan B involved checking the catalogues of two record companies, Ocora, based in France, and Folkways, based in the US, who specialized in field recordings from all over the globe. Sometimes, the music you wanted ...

125

Album Review

Miho Wada: Para Ti

Read "Para Ti" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer

by Lawrence Peryer
December 11, 2011

Good things can indeed come in small packages. Flutist Miho Wada's Para Ti, for example, clocks in at just a hair over 20 minutes, with five melodic and catchy songs that manage to combine sharp musicianship with a sense of whimsy and fun. Para Ti was issued as a companion piece to a Wada's PLAY M!HO, a musical score book geared towards teaching jazz and improvisation to children. The music here is serious but does not seem ...

170

Extended Analysis

Various Artists: This May Be My Last Time Singing - Raw African-American Gospel On 45rpm 1957-1982

by C. Michael Bailey
December 11, 2011

Various ArtistsThis May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel on 45rpm 1957-1982Tompkins Square Records2011 In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was a renewal in interest in American prewar folk music, particularly early jazz, rural blues and black gospel music. This occurred primarily because a small knot of British and American, slightly obsessive-compulsive, record collectors and/or academics turned their attention from old jazz on 78rpm discs to similarly esoteric ...

113

Album Review

Luis Conte: En Casa De Luis

Read "En Casa De Luis" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 11, 2011

Luis Conte may not be a household name, but anybody with access to music in the past thirty years has probably heard his playing. Conte has served as the percussion colorist of choice for the musical elite and, with appearances on hundreds of albums that touch on virtually every genre, from jazz to pop to film scores to Latin music and beyond, his playing has become the rhythmic undercurrent on the soundtrack of our lives. While Conte remains a first-call ...

126

Album Review

The Jeff Gauthier Goatette: Open Source

Read "Open Source" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
December 11, 2011

Open Source would have made a good alternative name for violinist Jeff Gauthier's ensemble, as it draws inspiration from myriad sources. Goatette continues its near twenty-year journey into territory ranging from avant-garde and sci-fi soundscapes, and deep funk grooves colored by searing electric guitar, to an altogether more pastoral melodicism reminiscent of the Mahavishnu Orchestra at its most serene. Now a sextet with the addition of trumpeter John Fumo, the widely traveled musician steers a course between post-bop and electric ...

127

Album Review

Carol Morgan: Blue Glass Music

Read "Blue Glass Music" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
December 11, 2011

Trumpeter Carol Morgan is an improviser par excellence, having literally written the book on it, and her style has matured fast over the course of five years and four albums. Blue Glass Music showcases the trumpeter's explorative solos, which are often edgy, like on “I Love You," complemented by Joel Frahm's bluesy tenor and taking the trend of thought where she leaves off and bringing it full circle to the melody. This ethereal dance of the horns ...

Live Review

Dave Burrell Trio: New York, NY, September 10, 2011

by Garrison Fewell
December 10, 2011

Dave Burrell TrioCrosscurrent 3 Festival Poisson RougeNew York, NYSeptember 10, 2011For its third annual edition, Crosscurrent moved the festival from its home in Botticino, Italy to New York City. Following the sonic delights of the Vision Festival in June, Crosscurrent 3 offered an additional array of creative music ensembles led by Wadada Leo Smith, Dave Burrell, Wayne Horvitz, Taylor Ho Bynum and Joe McPhee. Dave Burrell has long been a ...