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.

208

Album Review

Ben van Gelder: Frame of Reference

Read "Frame of Reference" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
November 21, 2011

It's hard to believe that Frame of Reference is a debut. The compositions are beguiling, spirited yet poised, and doused with the arid phrasing of a seasoned master. But there's also a youthful exuberance that accompanies 22 year-old saxophonist Ben Van Gelder, who studied music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and travels between New York and his homeland in TRhe Netherlands in pursuit of his passion for jazz. Van Gelder's energy is echoed by an adept quintet ...

298

Interview

Noah Haidu: Carving Out His Place

by R.J. DeLuke
November 21, 2011

New York-based pianist Noah Haidu came to jazz through the blues, listening to the searing, soulful guitar moans of Buddy Guy and Albert King. But his training, at the age of six, had its advent in classical music. He also likes to experiment with electronics.All these things go into the musical blender of one of the New York scene's young piano talents; out of it comes Haidu's open approach to the instrument--part in the jazz tradition and part ...

236

Multiple Reviews

Roine Stolt and Neal Morse: Degrees of Separation

by John Kelman
November 20, 2011

2011 has been a banner year for progressive rock, the genre that emerged in the late 1960s, peaked in the mid 1970s, and was threatened with extinction (certainly from a commercial perspective) with the advent of punk and new wave. Of course, prog never went away, and the music of seminal bands such as King Crimson, Genesis, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Gentle Giant continues to sell well, forty years after some of them first emerged. If anything, prog's ...

150

Take Five With...

Take Five With Sarah Montes

by AAJ Staff
November 20, 2011

Meet Sarah Montes: Sarah grew up with very diverse musical influences. Her mother, a professional ballet dancer, had the family record player continually spinning with Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and various Broadway musicals. And when the records stopped, her father played flamenco guitar; singing in syncopated rhythms that inspired Sarah's musical soul. And it was that background that gave Sarah the foundation for her musical dreams.With over 3,000 performances in 52 cities around the world to her ...

201

Album Review

Sidony Box: Pink Paradise

Read "Pink Paradise" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 20, 2011

Pink Paradise, by the French power trio Sidony Box, may sport the pinkest cover art since vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson's Happenings (Blue Note, 1966). The music, though, couldn't be more different. Hutcherson put together a bop quartet with pianist Herbie Hancock to craft a mellow and meditative sound. Sidony Box wails with a guitar, sax and drums trio, bursting with urgency--a blazing and obstreperous crew.Even when the band drifts, as it does on the opening “Last Star," it does ...

156

Album Review

Bob Downes Open Music: New York Suite

Read "New York Suite" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
November 20, 2011

British flautist/saxophonist Bob Downes recorded some compelling albums in the early '70s and then, coinciding with his permanent relocation to Germany at the end of the decade, disappeared from the UK jazz scene. The music didn't stop with his migration though, as he subsequently produced several solo flute albums for his own label, Openian. In this archival recording from 1979 recorded in London, Downes augments his usual trio into a quintet with the addition of the late trombonist ...

161

Album Review

Jon Crowley: At the Edge

Read "At the Edge" reviewed by William Carey

by William Carey
November 20, 2011

It's a shame that the word “fusion" has gone out of vogue. More than that, it seems to carry a bit of a negative connotation to many people nowadays. This seems odd, since so much of what is going on in jazz at the moment is firmly in the tradition of that once proud genre. So many players, such as drummer Brian Blade and bassist Drew Gress, not only adopt more of a rock approach in having a band, but ...

235

Live Review

The Voodoo Experience: New Orleans, USA, October 28-30, 2011

by Mike Perciaccante
November 19, 2011

The Voodoo Experience City Park New Orleans, LA October 28-30, 2011 Halloween in New Orleans can only mean one thing. Voodoo...a three day music festival, highlighted by a blending of high profile national and local musical acts representing many different genres. It also features food, amusement park rides, interactive art installations--including The Kinetic Voodoo Fountain, The Cone, and The Heron--corporate giveaways located within tents sponsored by Toyota and Garnier, retail therapy in the form of official ...

166

Album Review

Esther Phillips: Performance

Read "Performance" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
November 19, 2011

The decades-long battle with drug addiction, which ultimately led to her untimely demise, contributed to vocalist Esther Phillips' status as a tragic second-tier figure in the larger annals of popular music history, but her music itself was often a triumph of soul-stirring ecstasy. By the time Phillips arrived at CTI's sister label, Kudu Records, her early career hits--made under the name “Little Esther"--were a distant memory. A string of albums for Atlantic Records in the late '60s helped bring her ...

158

Take Five With...

Take Five With Diego Perugini

by AAJ Staff
November 19, 2011

Meet Diego Perugini: Diego was born in Sarteano, Siena, Italy. A sideman to many important Italian artists, now he has decided to make his own music and... here we are.Instrument(s): Guitar.Teachers and/or influences? I teach in 3 schools in tuscany. The most important artists that changed my life are: Dominic Miller, Pat Metheny, Donald Fagen, Bobby McFerrin, Bireli Lagrene I knew I wanted to be a musician when... ...