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.

103

Album Review

Sanda Weigl: Gypsy in a Tree

Read "Gypsy in a Tree" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
May 28, 2011

Anyone who has lived the myriad lives of the Diaspora as Sanda Weigl has, is qualified to speak for the generations of pain and joy, torture and triumph of human life that has come to pass for her people, and the Gypsies as well. Fleeing the repressive regime of Romania and falling afoul of the even more dictatorial post-war East Germany, she was jailed, gagged and just about forced to live the Gypsy life herself, until she left Europe altogether. ...

216

Live From New York

The Fiery Furnaces / Holly Golightly / Gary Lucas / The Reverend Horton Heat

by Martin Longley
May 27, 2011

The Fiery Furnaces Rockwood Music Hall May 4, 2011 Each time The Fiery Furnaces performs in its adopted home city, the venues shrink in size, the shows becoming ever more intimate. Surely this can't be a result of diminishing popularity or shrinking ticket sales? This must be a deliberate strategy, when the sibling songwriting team of Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger jump down from The Bowery Ballroom to The Mercury Lounge and, for this ...

163

Album Review

Jeremy Udden's Plainville: If the Past Seems So Bright

Read "If the Past Seems So Bright" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
May 27, 2011

Named after his rural Massachusetts hometown, Plainville is Brooklyn-based saxophonist Jeremy Udden's heartfelt roots music-inspired project. In the New England Conservatory graduate's own words, “I listened to a lot of rock growing up, I continue to do so. So a lot of my music is about reconciling that...." From singer-songwriters like Neil Young to alt-rock icons The Pixies, Udden's musical influences run the gamut, much like those of his peers and fellow band mates. If the Past Seems So Bright ...

Big Band Caravan

Stan Kenton Orchestra - DePaul University Jazz Ensemble / Captain Black Big Band / Washington State University

by Jack Bowers
May 27, 2011

Stan Kenton Orchestra / DePaul University Jazz EnsembleDouble Feature, Vol. 1Tantara Productions2010 Some of us are old enough to remember double features, but they were in movie theatres, not concert halls or recording studios, and, as memory serves, were never quite as enchanting or memorable as this one. The first half of this elegant Double Feature showcases the Stan Kenton Orchestra in two concerts, from the St. Francis Hotel in San ...

176

Album Review

Jakszyk, Fripp & Collins: A Scarcity of Miracles

Read "A Scarcity of Miracles" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
May 27, 2011

It's been the subject of much discussion. The closest thing to a King Crimson record, after founder/guitarist Robert Fripp closed up shop on the brief 40th Anniversary tour? Hardly. A Scarcity of Miracles may be called “A King Crimson ProjeKct" on the cover, but there's little to link the music to any of King Crimson's past lives. Or is there? With four of A Scarcity of Miracles' participants past Crims--Fripp; drummer Gavin Harrison, from the 2008 tour; ...

140

Album Review

Djam Karet: The Heavy Soul Sessions

Read "The Heavy Soul Sessions" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 27, 2011

High expectations are always prevalent for astute followers of the inspiring and prolific Southern California-based progressive rock unit, Djam Karet. Indeed, they are among the elite within the genre. Going strong since 1984, the band surges forward with The Heavy Soul Session, recorded live in the studio sans compression techniques. Hence, the full-bodied sound heightens the band's overall impact. With streaming guitars, multifarious synth phrasings and mind-numbing rhythmic structures, the program is balanced by a fluid modus operandi. ...

210

Album Review

Rob Mazurek's Starlicker: Double Demon

Read "Double Demon" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 27, 2011

It may seem like an anomaly to suggest that a jazz ensemble has to strip down to power up, but Starlicker does just that. Cornetist Rob Mazurek disassembled his Exploding Star Orchestra (which regularly has more than a dozen players) and Quintet into just a trio, with remaining players, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and drummer John Herndon. Sans numbers and electronics, Starlicker packs a powerful unadorned punch.Double Demon is as much about DIY indie-rock as it is about jazz. ...

Album Review

Lou Volpe: Here and Now

Read "Here and Now" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
May 27, 2011

Lou Volpe is a guitarist who, in the mold of George Benson and Pat Martino has the groove down pat, but with the harmonic and melodic sensibilities to put a personal stamp on all his flights. He's worked with the likes of Chet Baker, Herbie Hancock and Roberta Flack, bringing all of that experience to Here and Now. Comfort in his zone might imply predictability, but what Volpe does is timeless, with “Prince Charming" encapsulating what makes ...

187

Mix Tape

Now's the Time: Miles Davis 1945-1989

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
May 27, 2011

Franck Bergerot's Miles Davis: Introduction à l'écoute du jazz moderne (Seuil, 1996) suggests that you can hear a lot of Davis' musical world in his 45-second solo on Charlie Parker's “Now's the Time," beginning at 1:45. This is one among many dimensions of Davis' musicianship—nocturnal, blues-tinged, largely without the mute, alternating between a tenderness and a kind of aggression, as on the desultory attitude toward the composition on “Stella by Starlight." The spacious, ethereal nature of the 1945 solo is ...

133

Album Review

Jon Lundbom and Big Five Chord: Quavers! Quavers! Quavers! Quavers!

Read "Quavers! Quavers! Quavers! Quavers!" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
May 26, 2011

For their sophomore outing on Hot Cup Records and fourth overall, Brooklyn guitarist Jon Lundbom and Big Five Chord take a skewed look at jazz with rock sensibilities--or should that be the other way round? Lundbom can be hard to pin down: he has been compared to the likes of Derek Bailey and a young John McLaughlin, nearer the latter end of the spectrum on this showing. Along for the ride are alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon and bassist Moppa Elliott, ...