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.
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Sam Norris: Small Things Evolved Slowly
by Neil Duggan
The title of Sam Norris' debut album, Small Things Evolved Slowly, is sourced from an Erik Satie quote: “I took to my room and let small things evolve slowly." It is an apt title, as the album features compositions inspired by Norris' life in London that have been honed and polished in live performances over considerable time, in some cases over several years. In addition, many of the tracks advance in an unhurried manner, taking their time to open up. ...
Continue ReadingNew music with Bill Evans, Lydian Collective, Ron Bosse and Josh Meader
by Len Davis
New music from Saxophonist Bill Evans, british band Lydian Collective, The Fearless Flyers, and Finnish guitarist Varre Vartianen with special guest Mike Stern. Australian guitarist Josh Meader, Daniel Weiss, Roman Bondarenko, Antoine Fafard, Gavin Harrison and Danish guitarist Soren Lee.Playlist Bill Evans “Camel Strut" from Who I Am (Vansman) 00:00 Lydian Collective “Decimal" from Decimal (Self Produced) 06:28 The Fearless Flyers “Patrouille de France" from The Fearless Flyers 4 (Vulf) 13:17 Ron Bosse “Event Horizon" from Live at ...
Continue ReadingEmmet Cohen, Warren Wolf, Miguel Zenon, And More
by Tony Poole
This is the first edition of the new radio-style Jazz First podcast series “They Call It Jazz." This is my first radio work for 16 years, and 30 years since my days at the BBC. I'm a little rough around the edges and a few tweeks are needed, but generally, I am fairly pleased with the overall production. Every week I select ten brand new releases to keep AAJers bang up to date with “what's new." The page features New ...
Continue ReadingClassics from Blue Note and ECM, Brazilian vibes, and brand new releases from around the world
by Andy Crowther
Featuring vinyl purchases from the recent We Out Here festival in the UK, along with tracks from artists who performed there, Blue Note classics, '70s ECM tracks, Brazilian vibes and the best new releases... Playlist Tina Brooks “Good Old Soul" from True Blue (Blue Note) 00:00 Gene Ammons “Canadian Sunset" from Boss Tenor (Prestige) 08:07 Tenorio Jr. “Samadhi" from Embalo (RGE) 13.00 Hank Mobley “Lookin' East" from Reach Out (Blue Note) 16.25 Kenny Dorham “Lotus Blossom" from ...
Continue ReadingDesigning Jazz: The Iconic Album Covers of Reid Miles
by Kristine England
Blue Note Records has embodied the best jazz has to offer for over 80 years. With a catalog of greats, from Horace Silver, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon and countless others from the bop and post-bop eras, to the funky recordings that hip-hop artists have repeatedly sampled, to its current roster, the label remains at the forefront of the genre. It wasn't just the music that set the label ...
Continue ReadingThe Cry!
by Richard J Salvucci
This recording is, at first glance, a bit of an unusual choice by Craft Recording for its Contemporary Records Acoustic Sound Series audiophile vinyl series. Neither Prince Lasha (pronounced Lashay) nor Sonny Simmons make an appearance in Bill Kirchner's The Oxford Companion to Jazz (Oxford University Press, 2000). An earlier reviewer for AAJ allowed as how both players were talented, but probably understood no more about Ornette Coleman's theory of “harmolodics" than the average listener did. Skepticism or, indeed, lack ...
Continue ReadingKenny Wollesen: LATRALA
by Glenn Astarita
When a February 2022 gig at John Zorn's experimental showcase The Stone was unexpectedly canceled due to Covid protocol, Wollesen seized the lemon juicer and booked the band into Shahzad Ismaily's famed Figure 8 studio in Brooklyn for the following two days. The session was engineered by Lily Wen and produced by Will Shore, a composer who plays vibes alongside Wollesen in the utopian art-jazz group Užupis. Playing together for the first time, LATRALA recorded nearly the entire album and ...
Continue ReadingSan Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2024
by Walter Atkins
San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2024 San Jose, CAAugust 9 through August 11, 2024 San Jose Jazz's Summer Fest 2024 was a high-octane weekend of top-flight musicians and artists covering the full spectrum of melodic sounds, in a friendly and accessible location in downtown San Jose. SJJSF 2024 featured multiple outdoor and indoor venues within steps of each other. Compared to previous years, even the relatively cool weather contributed to the overall relaxed and engaging ambience ...
Continue ReadingJuanma Trujillo: Howl
by Jerome Wilson
Guitarist Juanma Trujillo's Howl explores some of the ways acoustic guitar can flourish in a small jazz group setting. Instead of playing simple rhythm parts, he is fully engaged in the music made by his three bandmates. His tangled strumming makes an interesting counterpoint to Kevin Sun's barrelling tenor sax on “Catharsis." On “Howl," his abstract phrases pirouette over the stormy bustle of Matt Honor's drums and Andrew Schiller's bass before Sun storms in, stuttering and wailing off Trujillo's chords. ...
Continue ReadingClassic Episode Flashback - The Saxophone Solo in Pop
by Patrick Burnette
Those crazy hazy lazy days of summer got us in their thrall and scheduling has been tough, so please enjoy this flashback to episode 81: Mike and Pat discuss “Walk on the Wild Side," “Shine On You Crazy Diamond," “Aja," “Waiting on a Friend," “Baker Street," “Just the Way You Are," “Logical Song," “Old and Wise," “Still Crazy After All These Years," “Man Eater," “Modern Love," “Your Latest Trick," “Brass Monkey," “Edge of Glory," “Get It Right," “Talk Dirty to ...
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