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.

307

Interview

Barry Guy: Striving For Absolute Spontaneity

by Maxim Micheliov
May 31, 2011

Barry Guy seems to be one of the most convincing figures in a long line of contemporary innovators whose discoveries possess everlasting value. Being a diverse improviser, a bassist of exceptional technique, an accomplished composer and a big band leader, this artist amazes by the scope of his interests and his variety of his accomplishments. Guy held a concert with Mats Gustafsson in Lithuania on January 11th, 2009. The short-but-eventful visit was crowned by the glorious performance at ...

Album Review

David S. Ware / Cooper-Moore / William Parker / Muhammad Ali: Planetary Unknown

Read "Planetary Unknown" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
May 31, 2011

Saxophone giant David S. Ware's comeback following a kidney transplant continues apace, this time within a new super group comprising some of the brighter magnitude bodies in the free jazz firmament. Ware's post-op output includes potent showings in Saturnian (Aum Fidelity, 2009) and Onecept (Aum Fidelity, 2010) but Planetary Unknown represents the strongest achievement yet. In large part, that is down to the egalitarian outlook of the stellar cast. Bassist William Parker remains a constant in Ware's universe, ...

371

Extended Analysis

Craig Taborn: Avenging Angel

by John Kelman
May 31, 2011

He puts out albums under his own name so rarely, while amassing a discography as a sideman/co-leader that's almost unparalleled in its sheer size and stylistic breadth—with over 100 recordings to date, since he first showed up in saxophonist James Carter's groups of the mid-1990s—that it's cause for celebration any time pianist Craig Taborn gets around to releasing one. Whether expounding upon the more structured environs of saxophonist David Binney's Graylen Epicenter (Mythology, 2011), working the groove on saxophonist Chris ...

115

Album Review

Louis Moholo-Moholo / Dudu Pukwana / Johnny Dyani / Frank Wright: Spiritual Knowledge And Grace

Read "Spiritual Knowledge And Grace" reviewed by Sid Smith

by Sid Smith
May 31, 2011

Accidents are part and parcel of any kind of improvised music. Such occurrences can be fickle things with a capacity to make or break a situation. So, when Chris McGregor was prevented from joining the first night of a Dutch tour by The Blue Notes in 1979, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Dudu Pukwana and Johnny Dyani embraced the accidental non-appearance of their pianist colleague and took to the stage. Another accident, though admittedly much happier one, was the presence ...

198

Multiple Reviews

Martin Vognsen Challenges Border Control

by Eyal Hareuveni
May 31, 2011

Danish guitarist and composer Martin Vognsen's project State Changes According To A Wind, here presented on a 2CD release, offers a unique musical observation about something those of us living in the first world may take for granted: the (relative) freedom to move from one country to another. Vognsen bases his reflections on the main crossing point between the Occupied Palestinian West Bank--under Israeli control--and the Kingdom of Jordan's King Hussein Bridge (aka Allenby Bridge). The first ...

205

Album Review

Mark Rapp's Melting Pot: Good Eats

Read "Good Eats" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 31, 2011

Good Eats could reference trumpeter Mark Rapp's New Orleans heritage, where po-boys, seasoned craw fish, and jambalaya reign supreme. Add some Big Easy-style funk and there is a perfect party setting that provides credence to the city that care forgot adage. Rapp pays homage to alto sax titan Lou Donaldson, who incorporated blues, soul, and funk into the bebop idiom. The band's delivery of modern jazz improvisation and exploratory movements translucently merge with these largely, toe-tapping pieces. Rapp also includes ...

105

Album Review

Andrei Kondakov / Igor Butman / Eddie Gomez / Lenny White: Blues for 4

Read "Blues for 4" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
May 31, 2011

Russian music has a mile-wide streak of tragedy and sorrow running through it. If Americans hadn't invented it first, the blues could have been born on the banks of the Volga River, instead of the Mississippi. But it wasn't, so the closest thing to seeing how that might have turned out is Blues for 4, featuring a pair of Russian musicians, saxophonist Igor Butman with pianist Adrei Kondakov, along with American veterans, drummer Lenny White and the great bassist, Eddie ...

144

Album Review

Lee Konitz / Dave Liebman / Richie Beirach: KnowingLee

Read "KnowingLee" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
May 30, 2011

While there is some truth in the old adage “if it ain't broke don't fix it," it's not always bad to mess with a good thing. Saxophonist Dave Liebman and pianist Richie Beirach have been playing together for over 40 years, in ensembles ranging from the big band of Quest for Freedom (Sunnyside, 2010) and smaller ensemble of Quest and Re-Dial: Live in Hamburg (OutNote, 2010) to duo records like 1985's Double Edge, recently reissued with two early Quest albums ...

162

Album Review

Branford Marsalis / Joey Calderazzo: Songs of Mirth and Melancholy

Read "Songs of Mirth and Melancholy" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
May 30, 2011

The Swedish proverb “Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow," is one that perfectly exemplifies Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, from saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo. Their bond has solidified over time, since Calderazzo took over the piano chair from the late Kenny Kirkland in Marsalis' ensemble in 1998. While Kirkland's talent can never be replaced, Calderazzo has proven his own deep abilities as a vital member of the band--and in his own ...

260

Extended Analysis

Gwilym Simcock, Mike Walker, Steve Swallow, Adam Nussbaum: The Impossible Gentlemen

by Chris May
May 30, 2011

The Impossible GentlemenThe Impossible GentlemenBasho Records2011 You may not have heard of The Impossible Gentlemen, for this is the group's first album, and you may not have heard of one of its two chief protagonists, as he has chosen to spend most of his career away from the metropolitan center of things. So here's a map reference, crude and approximate, but one that gets close to the buried treasure. Imagine guitarist ...