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.

314

Jazz That Scratches, Swings and Pops

Steve Brown: Atlas Slapped

by Andrew J. Sammut
June 7, 2011

The word bass means bottom. It means support. That's the prime requisite of a bassist, support. Architecturally, it has to be the lowest part of the building, and it has to be strong, or the building will not stand. Musically, it is the lowest human voice. It is the lowest musical voice in the orchestra. It's identifying. If it's a B-flat-major chord, I have to play B-flat, or you won't know it's a B-flat-major chord. We are like Atlas, standing ...

104

Album Review

Tedeschi Trucks Band: Revelator

Read "Revelator" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
June 7, 2011

A natural extension of Already Free (Victor, 2009), the most recent (but hopefully not the last) studio recording by The Derek Trucks Band, the debut album by the Tedeschi Trucks Band broadens the scope of this blues-rooted music with a bigger and proportionately versatile eleven-piece band. The entire unit kicks in on the catchy opener, “Come See About Me," as double drummers match each other's syncopation in front of a hard-pumping horn section. Kofi Burbridge spins out white-hot ...

164

Album Review

Koptor: Fire Sink

Read "Fire Sink" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
June 7, 2011

Time and space have shaped the life of Kevin Brow. The Canadian-born drummer moved to Toronto when he was 19, and went on to play with some of the best jazz musicians including Mike Murley, Pat LaBarbera and David Braid. Six years later he moved to Copenhagen. This was significant in more ways than one: he was trading the environment of mainstream jazz for a freer atmosphere. Copenhagen provided an opportunity for Brow to form his own groups ...

118

Album Review

Colin Vallon Trio: Rruga

Read "Rruga" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
June 7, 2011

The piano trio--piano, bass and drums--can seem something of an anachronism in a time when musical artists make use of synthesizers, electronics, laptops and loops to craft their sounds. But scores of pianists still go to the acoustic trio format as one of their primary means of expression. In looking toward jazz veterans, Keith Jarrett and Ahmad Jamal come to mind. With a newer group of artists, it's possible to point to Bill Carrothers, Brad Mehldau, Greg Reitan, and so ...

122

Album Review

Scoolptures: White Sickness

Read "White Sickness" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 6, 2011

White Sickness is an extension of Scoolpture's 2009 outing for Leo Records, Materiale Umano. Again, the unorthodox lineup intimates the man and machine lineup via the quartet's heavy use of electronics. However, the program is designed with equilibrium, where the live electronics, drums, and sax elements attains equal footing with the effects playing a vital role. The musicians' judicious implementation of the electronic spectrum assists with eliciting vivid imagery and a polytonal basis for delving into semi-structured compositions and improvisation. ...

190

Mr. P.C.'s Guide to Jazz Etiquette and Bandstand Decorum

June 2011

by Mr. P.C.
June 6, 2011

Dear Mr. P.C.: I just finished playing a gig on an army base. I thought it was going to be a social function for the soldiers. But it turned out to be a warfare convention called “BattleCom 2011." In the exhibit hall, vendors were selling lasers for nighttime shooting accuracy, flak jackets, and even grenades. We played in the lounge next door, where attendees could relax with a beer while they contemplated the best way to kill ...

123

Album Review

Anthony Braxton: Trio and Quintet (Town Hall) 1972

Read "Trio and Quintet (Town Hall) 1972" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
June 6, 2011

If Anthony Braxton were to be judged on the basis of his oeuvre alone, he would stand completely apart from any modern composer, bar none. He has an enormous body of work, written for every conceivable permutation and combination of ensemble, from two to over a hundred and also for practically all the modern instruments known to musicians. As a reeds and winds player, he has a staggering technique, but not only this: he dives deep into the soul to ...

373

Take Five With...

Take Five With Benjamin Drazen

by AAJ Staff
June 6, 2011

Meet Benjamin Drazen: Benjamin Drazen is a native New Yorker, and grew up in Roslyn, NY. He got his frist great jazz saxophone education from the late great Dave Burns. (Dave was a master trumpeter with the Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington Orchestras as well as leading his own groups) A graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, Drazen studied with such legends as Jimmy Giuffre, George Garzone, John McNeil, and Cecil McBee. He also studied ...

137

Album Review

David Gibson: End Of The Tunnel

Read "End Of The Tunnel" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
June 6, 2011

Words like “funky" and “groovy" are often bandied about by musicians, reviewers and fans alike. Once upon a time they represented the heights of popular musical achievement; today, they're a little anachronistic, their use more ironic than laudatory. Then something comes along that epitomizes both terms, and reclaims them as badges of honor. Trombonist David Gibson's End Of The Tunnel is such a recording, a quartet album of music that reminds the jazz world just how great funky and groovy ...

137

Album Review

Heiner Stadler: Tribute to Bird & Monk

Read "Tribute to Bird & Monk" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
June 6, 2011

Tribute to Bird & Monk is a scintillating blast recorded in 1978, when the battle lines between innovation and the tradition were clearly drawn. In tackling compositions by Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker, and casting them in a fresh light, arranger Heiner Stadler obviously wasn't shy about playing the provocative agent. Initially it sounds as if he was intent only on realizing music that was as far removed from the source material as possible. However, upon repeated exposure to his ...