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.

156

Take Five With...

Take Five with Kim Pensyl

by AAJ Staff
July 2, 2011

Meet Kim Pensyl: Kim Pensyl is a prolific jazz recording artist, composer and arranger who has twice been named one of Billboard's Top-20 Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Year. A pianist and trumpeter, he has had four Top-10 albums on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart. He has recorded with jazz legends such as Toots Thielemans, and modern greats like Joey Calderazzo and Bob Mintzer. He has performed at such esteemed jazz venues as The Blue Note and Blues Alley ...

176

Album Review

Raul Mannola: Inner Visions of Flamenco

Read "Inner Visions of Flamenco" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 2, 2011

Born in Brazil, raised in Finland and residing in Madrid, guitarist Raul Mannola has immersed himself in the art of flamenco for the past 25 years. In this time he has won over flamenco musicians, critics and jurists alike, impressed by his notable technique, and more importantly, his evident feel for the music; both attributes abound in this recording. Mannola is, however, an innovator, and he makes elbow room here for non-traditional instrumentation which brings fresh colors and timbres to ...

239

Live Review

TD Toronto Jazz Festival, Days 1-3: June 23-25, 2011

by Alain Londes
July 2, 2011

TD Toronto Jazz Festival 2011Toronto, CanadaJune 24-July 3, 2011 2011 marked the 25th anniversary for a festival that is a key stopping point for artists coming to Canada. Organizers always have to strike the right balance when booking top names and other talented international artists. A key change from previous years was the relocation of the big white tent--housing all the Mainstage concerts--from Nathan Philips Square, in front of City Hall, to the park ...

289

Album Review

Maria Jameau and Blue Brazil: Gema

Read "Gema" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
July 2, 2011

Gema is Maria Jameau's collection of Brazilian, Spanish, and African tunes, with the ostensible intention of showing how big the folk musical tent is. Jameau and her band, Blue Brazil, are centered in the culturally-rich Sonoma County, where the muse is strong for an organic mix of musical influences, all thickened with the roux of Mother Africa. The regions of origin for a given selection is easily identified, but there exists a rhythmic thread passing through all of this music ...

256

Extended Analysis

Goran Kajfes: X/Y

by Chris May
July 1, 2011

Goran KajfešX/YHeadspin Recordings2011 Best known for his work with the timewarp friendly Swedish band Oddjob, Croatian-born trumpeter Goran Kajfeš has released two solo albums during the last decade--on each of which he too has had one foot planted in retro ground and the other in more modern and electronica informed territory. Elements of Home (EMI Svenska, 2001) and Headspin (Headspin, 2005)--together with Oddjob's Ennio Morricone and Lalo Schrifin inspired Clint (ACT, ...

125

Album Review

Alex Sipiagin: Destinations Unknown

Read "Destinations Unknown" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 1, 2011

Life on the road can often wear musicians down, but it can also inspire them to great heights. Trumpeter Alex Sipiagin's travels took him to Taiwan, Spain, Italy, France, Japan and Holland in the months preceding the recording session for this album in January, 2011 and each one of those locales helped to stir his creative impulses. This gripping session of heart-pounding jazz, which possesses the edge and attitude delivered by New York modernists, is the end result of a ...

265

Extended Analysis

The Vinny Golia Octet: Music for Baritone Saxophone

by Robert Bush
July 1, 2011

Vinny Golia OctetMusic For Baritone SaxophoneNine Winds Records2011 Woodwind multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia has been both the beacon and a touchstone for the West Coast free improvising community, particularly in Los Angeles, for over 30 years. Golia started his Nine Winds label in 1977, as a vehicle for distributing his own music, then expanded its mission statement around 1980 to document music from Canada to Mexico that wasn't being heard. Some 200 ...

130

Album Review

Amikaeyla & Trelawny Rose: To Eva, With Love: A Celebration of Eva Cassidy Live

Read "To Eva, With Love: A Celebration of Eva Cassidy Live" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
July 1, 2011

Singer Eva Cassidy was a force of nature, an incandescent slice of lightening that flashed and was no more. Best described as a song stylist, Cassidy was an excellent guitarist capable of interpreting standards from any genre in an almost violently refreshing and personal manner. Cassidy's career lasted barely 10 years and never garnered the attention she deserved. Closing in on 30 years after Cassidy's death from malignant melanoma, it is humbling to consider such immense talent would only garner ...

269

Extended Analysis

Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia

by C. Michael Bailey
July 1, 2011

Aretha FranklinTake a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on ColumbiaColumbia2011 Were we to limit our musical intelligence gathering to banal “classic rock" radio, we would believe that singer Aretha Franklin's career began in 1967, that she only recorded one song, Otis Redding's “Respect," and recorded for a single label, Atlantic. All these assumptions are light years from accurate as evidenced by Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia. At Columbia, Franklin ...

116

Album Review

Tapani Rinne / Tero Majamaki: Inside the temple

Read "Inside the temple" reviewed by Anthony Shaw

by Anthony Shaw
July 1, 2011

With a pedigree stretching back to the founder of Finnish free jazz, Edward Vesala, Tapani Rinne has, over the years, consorted with multiple musicians from his homeland, winning many Finnish awards for his achievements. The main vehicle for exploring his claimed territory--the borders of experimental and techno-jazz--has been RinneRadio, featuring percussionist Juuso Hannikainen and electronicist Verneri Lume. Over 23 years, Rinne has recorded over 15 albums with the band, while maintaining a steady output of solo recordings as well.