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.

234

Extended Analysis

Jokleba: Jokleba! / nu jok?

by John Kelman
June 26, 2011

Jøkleba Jøkleba! / nu jøk? Universal Music AS, Norway 2011 (1992) It was the show of the year. When veteran bassist Dave Holland had to pull out of his performance at Norway's Vossa Jazz 2011 due to a serious family illness, the festival approached another veteran with a desperate plea for help. From 1991-96, Jøkleba was a Norwegian collective that wasn't quite yet a super group, but has ultimately proven to be one: keyboardist ...

197

Album Review

Swingadelic: The Other Duke: Tribute To Duke Pearson

Read "The Other Duke: Tribute To Duke Pearson" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 26, 2011

Most four-letter words come with a negative connotation attached, but that's not always the case. When big band fans hear the word “Duke" uttered aloud, positive thoughts tend to take over and Duke Ellington immediately comes to mind. His legendary compositions and historic recordings elevated him to the very top of the jazz world, and one need only utter that four-letter word to cheer up many a big band lover. Ellington is, without a doubt, the most well-known “Duke" in ...

281

Extended Analysis

Billy Jenkins: Jazz Gives Me The Blues

by Chris May
June 26, 2011

Billy JenkinsJazz Gives Me The BluesVOTP Records2011 If the title Jazz Gives Me The Blues suggests that London guitarist/vocalist Billy Jenkins is hacked off with jazz, you would be right. Kind of. What Jenkins objects to is the gentrification and institutionalization of jazz, once--a quantum leap from its stereotype today--a rebel music, which ignored or actively fought against conventions of all stripes, and was the home of autodidacts for whom “going ...

269

Album Review

Dida Pelled: Plays and Sings

Read "Plays and Sings" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
June 26, 2011

Youthful precociousness is one thing. There is typically an element of immaturity present. Fully developed and evolved at a young age is something else entirely. Israeli Dida Pelled has emerged fully formed as singer and instrumental soloist in New York City, after completing her obligation to the Israeli military and relocating there (not unlike fellow countryman/saxophonist Idit Shner). In New York, Pelled made the acquaintance of trumpeter Fabio Morgera who, in turn, brought her to the attention of Red Records' ...

272

Album Review

Susana Santos Silva Quintet: Devil's Dress

Read "Devil's Dress" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
June 26, 2011

Jazz is an American art form, brewed up in a musical gumbo in New Orleans in the early twentieth century. The music drew on an African tradition, but a European influence seeped in. The Big Easy was a cosmopolitan city, even in its beginnings. European jazz, borrowed from America but originating in and played by European artists, is quickly--more than a hundred years after the music's American emergence--gaining more respect and notoriety. Artists like violinist Stéphane Grappelli and guitarist Django ...

257

Contributor News

Taking Shape!

by Michael Ricci
June 26, 2011

Dear fellow contributor, All About Jazz continues to improve as we further upgrade our appearance, optimize our performance, and launch new features. As always, we have some important and timely news to share, so please read on...Index 1. Team Concept: Baseline Expectations 2. Design Changes3. Contributor Profile Changes4. Article Changes5. Opinion and “Reassessing" Pieces Wanted6. My iTunes Playlist: Submit Yours Today!

183

Album Review

KoMHtA: KoMHtA

Read "KoMHtA" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 26, 2011

Multi-instrumentalist Mark Huotari and his fictitious band-mates execute a delightful sequence of musical events on the download-only KoMHtA. With traces of classic British progressive-rock and psychedelia amid a contemporary slant, the music is constructed on layered instrumentation, whispery themes and sublime melodies. Huotari's affable arrangements boast polytonal treatments and catchy hooks, although he doesn't depend on slash-and-burn rock tactics. It's all consummated by a tasteful approach, grounded on a highly entertaining framework. Neither overly saccharine or needlessly complex, ...

Album Review

Adam Kolker: Reflections

Read "Reflections" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
June 25, 2011

If, by some twist of fate, winds and reeds player Adam Kolker were not to be a musician, he would certainly have made a name for himself as a painter. Here too he would have had a choice of media, for he would have done extremely well as an impressionist whose canvases recalled the brilliance of Monet, or a water colorist who would have done the Japanese tradition proud. As it happens, he seems to have accomplished all of this ...

253

Live Review

Inntoene Festival: Diersbach, Austria, June 10-12, 2011

by Sebastian Scotney
June 25, 2011

Inntoene Festival 2011 Diersbach, Austria June 10-12, 2011 I overheard a conversation at the Inntoene Festival in Austria. In a mock-incredulous tone, one New York musician was asking another: “Straight up. You're telling me. That this whole farm place. Is owned. By a trombonist?!“ Cue laughter and the gentlest of fist pumps. That statement does have its slight inaccuracies, but they shouldn't be allowed to spoil what is not ...

182

Album Review

Rachael And The Red Socks: Melodies And Time

Read "Melodies And Time" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
June 25, 2011

Melodies And Time creates a quandary for those who seek to put music into neat little boxes. It begins with a hint of Lal Waterson, one of Britain's finest and most underrated songwriters; adds arrangements worthy of Robert Kirby's work with Nick Drake; and melds pastoral tones with African instruments. There are touches of jazz and blues, a few shuffle rhythms, and the romantic harp of leader and composer Rachael Gladwin. It all makes Rachael and the Red Socks' debut ...