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

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: Forever Lasting - Live in Tokyo

Read "Forever Lasting - Live in Tokyo" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
October 15, 2011

The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra, the New York big band founded in 1966, loved to tour Japan resulting in its popular 1974 release of Live In Tokyo (Denon). Continuing the tradition of playing Monday nights at New York's Village Vanguard, as well as performing in Japan, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra--as the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra has been known for decades--presents Forever Lasting--Live In Tokyo a double-CD set capturing a recent live recording in Tokyo. Led by ...

100

Live Review

The Yardbirds & Dave Mason: Westbury, NY, September 9, 2011

by Mike Perciaccante
October 15, 2011

The Yardbirds and Dave Mason NYCB Theatre at Westbury Westbury, New York September 9, 2011 Three members of the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame touched down in Westbury New York on a cool and pleasant Friday evening in early September. The crowd, featuring fans of all ages, buzzed with anticipation as they discussed their anticipated and hoped-for song offerings from both The Yardbirds and Dave Mason. “Do you think they'll play 'Little Games'?" They ...

172

Album Review

5 After 4: Rome In A Day

Read "Rome In A Day" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
October 14, 2011

Rome In A Day is the sixth recording by 5 After 4. Led by drummer/composer Vito Rezza, the Canadian jazz-fusion quartet has an appealingly varied approach. Despite some 21st Century touches, such as Rezza's playful rhythmic displacements during its theme, “10,000 Days" has a down-home funky soul sound that recalls the Crusaders circa Chain Reaction (MCA, 1975). A lot of fusion bands would simply settle in with this sort of sound over the duration of the CD, and that would ...

135

Book Review

Matt Lavelle: New York City Subway Drama, and Beyond

by Florence Wetzel
October 14, 2011

New York City Subway Drama, and BeyondMatt LavelleSoftcover; 196 pagesISBN: 9781462044412iUniverse2011 Jazz autobiographies are a genre all their own, running the gamut from the no-holds-barred disclosures of trumpeter Miles Davis, to the cautious reflections of pianist Paul Bley, to the mystical insights of bassist Victor Wooten. A new and welcome entry is multi-instrumentalist Matt Lavelle's New York City Subway Drama, and Beyond, which has the rare quality of ...

152

Extended Analysis

The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane

by Lawrence Peryer
October 14, 2011

The Andy Sugg Group The John Coltrane Project: Andy Sugg Plays Trane Downstream Music 2011 Recorded live in Melbourne, Australia, on July 17, 2010, saxophonist Andy Sugg and his group bring tasteful and modern sensibilities to the performances on this set. Sugg and his compatriots canvass the all-too-brief ten-year period spanning saxophonist John Coltrane's emergence from the shadow of trumpeter Miles Davis to that of a leader of the jazz avant-garde. The ...

176

Album Review

Michael Kaeshammer: Kaeshammer

Read "Kaeshammer" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
October 14, 2011

It doesn't take a Charles Darwin to realize that the true evolutionary inheritors of Frank Sinatra's and Peggy Lee's brand of “popular" music were Elton John and Billy Joel, and not Harry Connick, Jr. or Michael Buble, the latter being more keepers of the flame than the former innovators. Had popular music not dissembled into the current confused concoction of country, rock and hip-hop, where might it have ended up? At the door of German/Canadian Michael Kaeshammer, that's where.

140

Album Review

The Twenty 20s: Uh! Oh!

Read "Uh! Oh!" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 14, 2011

Are these people nuts? That could be the question when the title tune to the The Twenty 20's Uh! Oh! begins to spin. It sounds like surf guitar legend Dick Dale found a cheeky--but really good--girl singer influenced by Alvin and the Chipmunks, then recruited Phil Spector to produce--on a lower budget than the famed producer was used to. Throw in a couple of horns from the local Salvation Army Band and it becomes one of the more idiosyncratic recordings ...

127

Live Review

Scott Hamilton: Half Moon Bay, CA, September 4, 2011

by Bill Leikam
October 14, 2011

Scott Hamilton and the Larry Vuckovich QuintetDouglas Beach House aka Bach Dancing & Dynamite SocietyHalf Moon Bay, CaliforniaSeptember 4, 2011 The Douglas Beach House was honored with the appearance of tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton and pianist Larry Vuckovich's quintet-- a stellar band comprised of some of the best in jazz, including the great Paul Keller (bass), impeccably precise Chuck McPherson (drums) and Noel Jewkes (saxophones) tenor saxophone, and the Jackie Ryan vocals). Guest artist ...

141

Album Review

Marc Ducret: Tower, Vol. 2

Read "Tower, Vol. 2" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
October 13, 2011

Marc Ducret is among the elite group of modern era guitarists who make a significant imprint on roads previously navigated, with a penchant for exploring bewildering musical vistas. His unique instrumental voice has been a source of wonderment for several decades. On his follow-up to Tower Vol. 1 (Ayler, 2011), featuring a horns-based quintet, Ducret realigns with longtime comrades and influential musicians in their own right--alto saxophonist Tim Berne and drummer Tom Rainey--for a bass-less quartet. Moreover, violinist Dominique Pifarely's ...

180

Extended Analysis

Tammy Scheffer: Wake Up, Fall Asleep

by David Rickert
October 13, 2011

Tammy Scheffer Wake Up, Fall Asleep Inner Circle Music 2011 Tammy Scheffer is a singer of few words. Other that the standard “When You Wish Upon A Star," none of Wake Up, Fall Asleep, Scheffer's 2010 debut recording, has any lyrics. Other than “Star," Scheffer composed all of the songs herself, and prefers to compose melodies without words. Not only does this allow the listener to imprint their own feelings and moods upon the pieces, ...