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.

230

Live Review

Vision Festival: Days 2-3, June 6-7, 2011

by John Sharpe
July 6, 2011

Day 1 | Days 2-3 | Day 4 | Days 5-6 | Day 7 Vision FestivalAbrons Arts CenterNew York, NYJune 6-7, 2011 Having two stage areas allowed the Vision Festival organizers to minimize changeover times by programming consecutive performances alternately, between the main hall and the downstairs theater. Breathless listeners oscillated between the two, able if speedy to catch at least a flavor of most of the acts. Pick of the second day ...

226

Album Review

Wolfgang Muthspiel: Drumfree

Read "Drumfree" reviewed by Jack Huntley

by Jack Huntley
July 6, 2011

Wolfgang Muthspiel is a hypnotically adept guitarist who seems to have a penchant for exploring the percussion-less musical setting. His previous album, Live At The Jazz Standard (Material Records, 2010), was a technically impeccable guitar duo with Mick Goodrick, and in some ways, Drumfree is a natural extension of the ideas investigated on that album. But here there is an added emotional intensity somewhat overlooked before. Joined by saxophonist Andy Sherrer and bassist Larry Grenadier, the trio explores a range ...

343

Take Five With...

Take Five with Simon Little

by AAJ Staff
July 6, 2011

Meet Simon Little: I'm a session bassist living in London. I was born in London and started learning the double bass at school in Dorset with Barry Glynn. I went on to study at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London (1999-2003) receiving tuition from Kevin Rundell, Jeff Clyne and Steve Watts. I first picked up an electric bass aged 15 and have never looked back...Most people know me as the bassist ...

249

Album Review

Marius Neset Golden Xplosion: Golden Xplosion

Read "Golden Xplosion" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 6, 2011

Norwegian tenor saxophonist Marius Neset burst onto the jazz scene with JazzKamikaze while still a teenager, its debut--Mission 1 (Stunt, 2006)--revealing a saxophonist of remarkable maturity and imagination. He shook the life out of simple musical ideas, and in that respect his playing was reminiscent, even then, of the great tenor explorer Sonny Rollins. Traveling at the Speed of Sound (Stunt, 2007) and Supersonic Revolution (Seven Seas, 2010) provided further proof of his prowess within the bounds of this exciting ...

367

Album Review

Michael Benedict & Bopitude: Michael Benedict & Bopitude

Read "Michael Benedict & Bopitude" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
July 6, 2011

Drummer Michael Benedict's Bopitude is of a very special variety...Hard Bopitude. Michael Benedict & Bopitude is chockfull of hard bop from the likes of Clifford Brown ("Joy Spring"), Grachan Moncur III ("Frankenstein") and Bobby Timmons ("Moanin'"). Pianist Bruce Barth brings his bop togs to the festivities and the classic Jazz Messenger lineup (trumpet and tenor saxophone out front) is reassembled. The disc opens with a brisk reading of Dexter Gordon's “Cheese Cake." Originally released on Gordon's Go ...

295

Album Review

Chris Dingman: Waking Dreams

Read "Waking Dreams" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
July 5, 2011

Many jazz releases suffer from the same old “song and dance" syndrome--a couple of obligatory ballads (song narrative) sprinkled between numbers of up-tempo (dance) tracks. This repeated programming can get old very fast. But this is not the case with Waking Dreams , the long overdue and brilliant debut by vibraphonist Chris Dingman. Emerging as a stylist with a pliable touch and warm presence, Dingman carries the deep tradition of patriarchs (Milt Jackson) and vibrant contemporaries (Stefon ...

363

Interview

Marty Khan: Outward Visionary

by Seton Hawkins
July 5, 2011

The world of jazz owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Marty Khan. In 1976, when the standard wisdom held that jazz was dead or hiding in lofts, Khan founded his organization Outward Visions and quickly began organizing successful national and international tours for creative artists, including Sam Rivers and Dave Holland, Anthony Braxton, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, George Russell, and the World Saxophone Quartet.Operating in accordance with a business aesthetic that focused on sustainable growth driven ...

234

Live Review

Undead Jazz Festival: Day 3, June 25, 2011

by Daniel Lehner
July 5, 2011

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Undead Jazz FestivalNew York, New YorkJune 23-26, 2011 Most jazz festivals in their later incarnations look for fancier, more illustrious places to play than they did at inception. The third night of the Undead Jazz festival momentarily shifted that trend in reverse. After spending their first night where they originally began, in the hip, bustling, restaurant-and-bar laden streets of Greenwich Village, ...

213

Album Review

Freddie Hubbard: Straight Life

Read "Straight Life" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 5, 2011

On the surface, Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life doesn't seem like a record that should have ever found much success on the CTI label. This record lacks any grandiose arrangements or classical-jazz crossovers, two of the three tracks are far too long to garner much airplay, and those same two tracks--"Straight Life" and “Mr. Clean"--are far rawer and more groove-oriented than standard CTI-issue material. That the programming is so odd--with a guitar and flugelhorn ballad following thirty minutes of soul-funk jamming--also ...

238

Extended Analysis

Hubert Laws: In The Beginning

by Dan Bilawsky
July 5, 2011

Hubert LawsIn The BeginningCTI Masterworks2011 (1974) The release of a double album during the LP-era could be a double-edged sword. This format provided a platform for artists to elaborate on their ideas and serve a hefty portion of music to their fans and potential followers, but a single record forced musicians to self-edit a bit more, making them more likely to come out at the other end with a concise artistic ...