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.

Live Review

Oddarrang: Espoo, Finland, November 18, 2011

by Anthony Shaw
December 6, 2011

Oddarrang Louhisali Espoo, Finland November 18, 2011 Finnish drummer Olavi Louhivuori and his band Oddarrang returned to the stage with the sparse chamber-style jazz from their second album in the elegant setting of Espoo's Cultural Center, just outside Helsinki. As expected from a group whose debut album was released four years previously, and with only a few gigs in the ensuing years, this performance was concentrated if not tenuous to begin with, but consolidated as ...

142

Take Five With...

Take Five With Richard Lewis

by AAJ Staff
December 6, 2011

Meet Richard Lewis: “Classically trained under minimalist composer Brian Wilshere and by turns jazz drummer, folk guitarist and composer of scores, [Richard Lewis] has created a perfect synthesis of his various influences and experiences. His album, Untitled is a small marvel, full of hidden treasures, for which he summons not only flighty bursts of avant-garde piano and folky guitar picking but also organ, accordion and banjo. The talent and technical prowess of this top-level musician are placed beyond ...

100

Album Review

Darius Jones: Big Gurl (Smell My Dream)

Read "Big Gurl (Smell My Dream)" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
December 6, 2011

In Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) (AUM Fidelity, 2009), alto saxophonist Darius Jones scored a stunning debut that placed the newcomer firmly on the avant jazz map. Since then, the reedman has put himself about town, tasting artistic success with drummers William Hooker, and Mike Pride's ensembles, collective Little Women and in duet with pianist Matthew Shipp. But now he returns in the company of the trio first heard on a bonus track from his inaugural outing, comprising ...

134

Album Review

Ibrahim Maalouf: Diagnostic

Read "Diagnostic" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
December 6, 2011

Much like his uncle, the celebrated author Amin Maalouf--who brought Levantine raconteur to the western novel--trumpeter/composer Ibrahim Maalouf infuses his jazz with Middle Eastern musicality. On Diagnostic--the last installment of a trilogy--Maalouf actually draws from many different sources to create a unique sound that remains definitely in the jazz tradition. The all-woman, Franco-Brazilian Batacuda group Zalindê brings a Latin sound to pieces like to “Maeva in Wonderland," especially after the midpoint, when Maalouf switches from trumpet to ...

135

Album Review

Aki Takase/ Han Bennink: Two For Two

Read "Two For Two" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
December 5, 2011

The pairing of these two international jazz musicians--Japanese pianist Aki Takase and Dutch drummer Han Bennink--for an hour's worth of duets yields a worthy tribute to both Thelonious Monk and free jazz. The pair's Two For Two might have been better inscribed as Instant Monk.Although Takase and Bennink only cover two Monk compositions, reed man Eric Dolphy's tribute, “Hat And Beard," and the pianist's own “Hommage To Thelonious Monk," the entire sixteen tracks percolate a Monk constitution. Chalk ...

131

Multiple Reviews

Dave Douglas: Greenleaf Portable Series, Volumes 1-3

by John Kelman
December 5, 2011

While many jazz artists have a variety of ongoing projects at any given time, few are as stylistically spread out as Dave Douglas. Since his emergence in the mid 1990s as a member of saxophonist/cottage industry proprietor John Zorn's flagship Masada quartet, the intrepid trumpeter has explored an almost unprecedented variety of detailed projects. In his early days he had his string quintet, where violin, cello and bass intersected with trumpet and drums on albums including Parallel Worlds (Soul Note, ...

117

Album Review

Andre Goudbeek / Le Quan Ninh / Peter Jacquemyn: Uwaga

by Jerry D'Souza
December 5, 2011

The Alchemia, in Krakow, Poland, has long been the venue for a series of free jazz and improvised music concerts. The lineup never flags for want of extraordinary musicians, and time has witnessed the likes of Ken Vandermark, Barry Guy, William Parker and Peter Brötzmann on that stage. Alto saxophonist André Goudbeek, bassist Peter Jacquemyn and percussionist Lê Quan Ninh, who recorded this CD at the club in October 2008, fit right into its ambience. Before coming together ...

114

Album Review

Sebastian Liedke Trio: Zeitenwende

Read "Zeitenwende" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
December 5, 2011

This second release from Germany's Sebastian Liedke Trio is initially so unassuming that it is only on repeated listens that the music unfolds in understated complexity. Within the treatments of its six original tunes, the contemplative nature of the music is infused with a bristling energy. Roughly translating to a “turning point," Zeitenwende is, indeed, that for bassist Liedke. Parting company with his original drummer and pianist, Liedke is now partnered with Lucia Martinez and Felix Otterbeck in those respective ...

225

Contributor News

2011: Extreme Makeover

by Michael Ricci
December 5, 2011

Dear fellow contributor, 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 and don't forget to submit your year end lists in the next 2-3 weeks. Index 1. Year End Lists Wanted 2. What A Year! 3. Expansion Effort Continues 4. “Reassessing" ...

194

Interview

Dave Douglas: A Creative Consciousness

by Dave Wayne
December 5, 2011

Considering trumpeter Dave Douglas' musical career, one word that comes to mind is “consistency." Sure, he's led a dizzying variety of bands playing in all sorts of styles. Yet, of the 30-odd recordings he's led, not one veers from the central mission of presenting challenging, original jazz. An inveterate musical risk taker, Douglas has always led several different bands simultaneously. Back in the mid-1990s, he had Parallel Worlds, Tiny Bell Trio, and the Dave Douglas Sextet--each with different instrumentation and ...