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.

209

Live Review

Undead Jazz Festival: Day 1, June 23, 2011

by Daniel Lehner
June 29, 2011

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Undead Jazz FestivalNew York, New YorkJune 23-26, 2011 If 2010's Undead Jazz Festival were the first installment in a series of zombie films, then the first day of the 2011 season was a sequel picking up where our protagonists (or anti-heroes, depending on how you look at it) left off. Before the festival moved down to Brooklyn, it had some unfinished ...

265

Album Review

Jeremy Noller: Music Notes

Read "Music Notes" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
June 29, 2011

What do Illinois and West Africa have in common? More than is apparent, at first glance. Originally from Libertyville, Illinois, drummer Jeremy Noller has studied with the great saxophonist Bunky Green, traveled and performed abroad, and gigged in New York since 2003. An educator whose influences include Wayne Shorter, Noller is also a student of the traditional drumming music of Guinea, West Africa. These experiences inform Music Notes , a worthwhile excursion into music with ebullient rhythms and heartwarming melodies. ...

115

Album Review

Huntsville: For Flowers, Cars and Merry Wars

Read "For Flowers, Cars and Merry Wars" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
June 29, 2011

Jumping to the relative upstart Hubro label, Huntsville continues to mine similar territory to its sophomore Rune Grammofon release, Echoes, Arches and Eras (2009), but there are some significant changes as well. Unlike Echoes--its second disc culled from a live performance teaming the improvising trio with American guitar maverick Nels Cline and his partner in alt-country rocker Wilco, percussionist Glenn Kotche--Huntsville pares things back to essentials, going it largely alone. Even the sole guest appearance by Hanne ...

255

Live Review

Joshua White Quartet: San Diego, CA, June 14, 2011

by Robert Bush
June 29, 2011

Joshua White QuartetSaville Theatre San Diego, CA June 14, 2011 Up-and-coming pianist Joshua White opened up the summer season of Jazz88's concert series on June 14, 2011, leading his own quartet through an evening of music largely dedicated to the works of Thelonious Monk. Still in his 20s, White has been setting the Southern California jazz scene aflame ever since being “discovered" as a teenager at the UCSD jazz workshop some ...

133

Album Review

Susana Santos Silva Quintet: Devil's Dress

Read "Devil's Dress" reviewed by Chris Mosey

by Chris Mosey
June 29, 2011

Matosinhos, a northern suburb of Oporto, Portugal, is renowned for its high quality fish and seafood--and, increasingly nowadays, its jazz. It is home to the 20-piece Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos, best known internationally for its collaborations with veteran US saxophonist Lee Konitz and, most recently, with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel on Our Secret World (Wommusic, 2010).. Now five young members of the band, under the leadership of trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, have come together to produce what they ...

224

Album Review

Chris Taylor: Nocturnal

Read "Nocturnal" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
June 28, 2011

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention, and for guitarist Chris Taylor--whose financial dire straits forced him to abandon Berklee and return to gigging after three semesters-- this has proven to be an undeniable truth. That was thirty years ago, and Taylor's never looked back, gigging in every imaginable situation, and exploiting his natural bent as a composer to produce music for TV shows, commercials and films. Taylor's debut as leader has more than a hint of his cinematic, ...

303

On the Road With...

Lenny White and RTF IV: Northampton, Mass.

by Carl L. Hager
June 28, 2011

Intro | 2 | 3 | 4 [Editor's note: Lenny White and the other members of the legendary jazz/rock band Return To Forever began a world tour last February in Australia, and on Friday, June 24th resume in Northampton, Massachusetts. After that it's north to Canada for three dates, over to Europe for a month, then back to the U.S. for the summer. Throughout the tour you'll have the opportunity to get ...

186

Album Review

Diego Barber: The Choice

Read "The Choice" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
June 28, 2011

The precociously talented Diego Barber is known for the grandeur and majesty of his playing. The fabulous report of the guitarist's tone, his impressive dynamics and exquisiteness of expression are deeply rooted in extraordinary technique. Moreover, Barber is able to make extremely complex harmonic leaps, as well as twist the simplest of melodies into lines uniquely entwined with timbral beauty, ensconced in a dazzling palette of shades. His magnificent abilities were on display on Calima (Sunnyside, 2009), where he appeared ...

265

Live Review

AACM Great Black Music Festival

by Kurt Gottschalk
June 28, 2011

Ars Nova Workshop's AACM: Great Black Music FestivalPhiladelphia, PA June 4-13, 2011 It's been a hot half decade for the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Nicole Mitchell's tenure as co-chair (with Ernest Dawkins) came at a time when her star as a flutist and bandleader was also rising. Co-founder Muhal Richard Abrams was one of the 2010 NEA Jazz Masters honorees. Trombonist and professor George Lewis' invaluable book, A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM ...

133

Album Review

Daniel Bennett Group: Peace And Stability Among Bears

Read "Peace And Stability Among Bears" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
June 28, 2011

The Daniel Bennett Group's trio of bear-related albums, the “Bear Thompson Trilogy," reaches its lovably eccentric conclusion with Peace And Stability Among Bears, a delightful collection of Americana-flavored jazz tunes. The trilogy started with 2007's A Nation Of Bears and 2008's The Legend Of Bear Thompson (both on Bennett Alliance), but while all three are linked by reeds player/composer Bennett--and, of course, bears--the lineup has changed a little over time. This album features a quartet, with guitarist Chris Hersch, bassist ...