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.

187

Album Review

Jose Rizo's Mongorama: Jose' Rizzo's Mongorama

Read "Jose' Rizzo's Mongorama" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
June 11, 2011

Mongorama. The name just sounds like fun--and this is a fun record, despite being crafted by musicians who take the Afro-Cuban music and legacy of Mongo Santamaria very seriously. Organized by jazz DJ Jose Rizzo, the band highlights a mix of Santamaria classics, blended with newer compositions in the same tradition. Any album that associates itself so closely with a great conguero like Santamaria is bound to feature lots of hand drumming, and Mongorama does not disappoint. Joey ...

181

Live Review

Lionel Loueke Trio: Half Moon Bay, CA, May 22, 2011

by Bill Leikam
June 11, 2011

Lionel Loueke TrioDouglas Beach HouseHalf Moon Bay, CaliforniaMay 22, 2011 Knowing only that guitarist Lionel Loueke had an international reputation, expectations were put away, as we entered the concert curious to see and hear his unique trio. Born in the West African country of Benin, Loueke was accompanied by his stalwart sidemen, Swedish-born bassist Massimo Biolcati and Hungarian drummer Ferenc Nemeth. The playlist was selected from Loueke's two most recent albums, Mwaliko and the ...

252

Album Review

Natacha Atlas: Mounqaliba

Read "Mounqaliba" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 11, 2011

Vocalist Natacha Atlas seems to embody the modern musical millennia: She was born in Brussels and raised in one of its Moroccan suburbs; her compositions and singing reach into and crisscross storied European and Arabic musical traditions. Primarily co-written and performed with multi-instrumentalist Samy Bishai along with pianist Zoe Rahman, a chamber orchestra and 20-piece Turkish ensemble, Mounqaliba is most likely the clearest representation of Atlas' ambitious vision so far. “What I hope I have achieved is to match the ...

386

Album Review

Tedeschi Trucks Band: Revelator

Read "Revelator" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
June 11, 2011

The Derek Trucks Band has grown into a finely-tuned big band, adding the guitarist's wife, singer Susan Tedeschi, to the masthead and front lineup, resulting in a fresh sound that eschews every blues and soul cliché that could be feared from such an ambitious project. All of the principles bring with them a loam of experience that informs every molecule of this music. Guitarist/vocalist (and fellow Allman Brothers Band alum) Warren Haynes, on his Man In Motion (Stax, 2011), has ...

192

Album Review

The New Gary Burton Quartet: Common Ground

Read "Common Ground" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
June 10, 2011

In a career now entering its sixth decade, vibraphonist Gary Burton has participated in plenty of one-off recordings, paying tribute to everyone from tango master Astor Piazzolla to mallet-men who have come before, like Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson. His discography has been nothing if not unfailingly consistent--every recording meticulously conceived and flawlessly executed. A project, perhaps, rather than an ongoing concern, but Burton's last record, Live (Concord, 2009), remains as exhilarating a concert recording as the vibraphonist has done, ...

236

Reassessing

John and Beverley Martyn: The Road To Ruin

by Chris May
June 10, 2011

John and Beverley MartynThe Road To RuinUniversal/Island2005 (1970) The posthumous release of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter John Martyn's Heaven And Earth (Hole In The Rain, 2011)--the basic tracks extensively overdubbed, though not edited, by producers Garry Pollitt and Jim Tullio following Martyn's death in 2009--is welcome. Compositionally, it is not one of Martyn's greatest albums, but it contains enough gritty blues/rock guitar, and retentions of the spacey vocal style with which Martyn forged some ...

113

Album Review

Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble: Galactic Diamonds

Read "Galactic Diamonds" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
June 10, 2011

Some people favor the big statement: the bling of an over-large jewel, the blinding distraction of too many sparkly things. Others have the good taste to know that the small stones shine most brightly. Pianist, composer and melodica player Steve Hudson is one of those people, and the debut recording from his Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble, Galactic Diamonds, is a collection of little gems. The idea of a Chamber Ensemble might suggest a classical aggregation; as does ...

233

From the Inside Out

Voices Instrumental in Jazz

by Chris M. Slawecki
June 10, 2011

Natacha AtlasMounqalibaSix Degrees Records2010 Vocalist Natacha Atlas seems to embody the modern musical millennia: She was born in Brussels and raised in one of its Moroccan suburbs; her compositions and singing reach into and crisscross storied European and Arabic musical traditions. Primarily co-written and performed with multi-instrumentalist Samy Bishai along with pianist Zoe Rahman, a chamber orchestra and 20-piece Turkish ensemble, Mounqaliba is most likely the clearest ...

162

Take Five With...

Take Five With Jevon J.

by AAJ Staff
June 10, 2011

Meet Jevon J.: Jazz musician originally out of Miami, Fl. Went through Miami Southridge's music department. Left the music scene to join FIU on full jazz and classical scholarships, but was derailed due to personal reasons. Left for the US army after only two years at FIU. After six-plus years, came to Tampa, Fl where I returned to playing music.Instrument(s): Trumpet, flugelhorn.Teachers and/or influences? Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, David Sanborn, ...

207

Album Review

Elvers: Elvers

by John Eyles
June 10, 2011

Formed in 2008, before becoming known as Elvers, this improv trio gigged for awhile as Watson, Marsh and May. Maybe because that sounded too much like a '70s prog-rock group, they searched for another name, rejecting entries such as Between Gnomes, Corpse Embers or Yobs Set Fire to Sheep, and deciding upon Elvers. All three players have long experience on the London improvising scene. Trumpeter Ian R. Watson and bassist Peter Marsh played together in the sextet Lob, ...