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.

185

Album Review

NYJAZZ Initiative: Mad About Thad

Read "Mad About Thad" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
October 16, 2011

Mad About Thad is a superb homage to the man Charles Mingus once called “Bartók with valves." Thad Jones--middle brother of the Pontiac, Michigan dynasty that produced pianist Hank Jones and his younger brother, drummer Elvin Jones--was one of the true unsung geniuses of the trumpet. He was also less frequently recognized as a composer, except among the musical cognoscenti, and his enormous compositional and arranging contributions to the Count Basie Orchestra may be somewhat obscured by those of Quincy ...

230

Multiple Reviews

Ehran Elisha launches new Israeli label

by Eyal Hareuveni
October 16, 2011

Two releases by New York-based drummer Ehran Elisha are the first ones from a new Israeli creative label, OutNow Recordings, run by three musicians--saxophonist Yoni Kretzmer and guitarists Yair Yona and Ido Bukelman--with a noble mission: “search within yourself for the sound you never stop hearing." These albums present the ever creative Elisha in two different contexts. Ehran Elisha/Roy CampbellWatching Cartoons with EddieOutNow Recordings2011 The title of this 2008 recording ...

175

Album Review

Tim Mayer: Resilience

Read "Resilience" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
October 16, 2011

Resplendent arrangements and artful soloists are in abundance on Tim Mayer's Resilience. For this, the Boston-based tenor saxophonist's debut recording under his own name, Mayer manages to bridge the gap between the often opposing forces of stability and variety, as he builds each tune around the same core quartet while using an ever-changing list of guests as front line partners and featured soloists. While the quartet functions as a stand-alone entity on a delicious ballad that seems ...

192

Album Review

Trophies: Become Objects of Daily Use

Read "Become Objects of Daily Use" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
October 16, 2011

Alessandro Bosetti is repeating. Just as he phrased it on his previous Royals (Monotype, 2010), he is “gloriously repeating." The Italian musician, composer and sound artist continues his loop compositions with the assistance of Japanese fretless guitarist Kenta Nagai and Australian drummer Tony Buck. Bosetti's method--rapidly becoming a signature sound--is to map the musical profiles of spoken word, poetry, or his own non sequitur speech and transcribe the rhythms, pitch, and notes to be played and replayed ...

178

Take Five With...

Take Five With Paris Toon

by AAJ Staff
October 16, 2011

Meet Paris Toon: The man behind the music is Paris Toon: producer, lyricist, composer and driving force of all that he engages in. Paris ritualistically defaults to his “gut" when the time comes to gather musicians and give birth to new songs. This is the method to his rarely observed madness. Since Mothers Favorite Child is a product of this method, it is only natural that its musicians and vocalists would be chosen to provide the soundtrack to ...

313

Extended Analysis

Died In The Wool - Manafon Variations

by Nenad Georgievski
October 16, 2011

Inventive and beautifully direct, Died In The Wool is another masterpiece in a long string of albums that singer and composer David Sylvian has recorded. His varied career portrays a restless creative spirit who makes engaging work, and Died In The Wool is another winner. Few artists at this point of their career would accept such challenges or would stray from their identifiable core. Ever since Blemish (Samadhi Sound, 2003), Sylvian has been commissioning sister records for his ...

Album Review

Lisa Maxwell with the Keith Ingham Quartet: Happy

Read "Happy" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
October 15, 2011

Lisa Maxwell's debut, Return to Jazz Standards (Self Produced, 2010), was well-received when released, marking the New York singer's recovery and comeback from a vocal cord disorder that sidelined her for several years earlier in the decade. Maxwell returns with Happy, a recital of not-so-standard standards, supported by Maxwell's coach, pianist Keith Ingham, and his fine quartet. The result is an evolution in cohesiveness and vision. In a word, Maxwell's Happy is breezy. Her voice has filled ...

197

Multiple Reviews

Rory Gallagher: Against The Grain and Calling Card Reissues

by Doug Collette
October 15, 2011

Guitarist Rory Gallagher produced (literally in most cases) a string of remarkably consistent studio albums during the course of a career that stretched from the early 1970s through to the 1990s. Eagle Records has reissued them all on compact disc and, though it's not wholly clear if the titles have been remastered again, and the pre-existing bonus tracks are generally the same, the cover graphics, including essays and photos, differ from the previously-released edition. The musical virtues of the original ...

232

Album Review

Huntsville: For Flowers, Cars, and Merry Wars

Read "For Flowers, Cars, and Merry Wars" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
October 15, 2011

Hubro Music is a young and adventurous label from Norway. Here, electronics rule the roost, featuring three prominent musicians noted for their many-sided, avant-garde albums for the country's Sofa label. These and other interrelationships accentuate Scandinavia's unique approach to jazz improvisation and off-kilter productions, often confronting rigid classifications. Musically speaking, Huntsville is a prime example of Scandinavia's innovative applications. “Ear/Eye Connector" offers a hyper-Tangerine Dream-like, undulating rhythmic ostinato, tinted with a faint eeriness that overlays the background. ...

127

New York Beat

Computer Music, Part 2

by Nick Catalano
October 15, 2011

Last month we initiated an exploration into the world of non-traditional electronic musical “instruments," by referencing experiments that Wallace Roney had undertaken by including a turntablist in his band a few years ago. It was merely one example of the burgeoning use of the turntable in music, and I noted the interest it had for me when writing about the band one evening at Joe's Pub, in New York City. Use of the turntable was a useful ...