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.

163

Extended Analysis

Billie Holiday: Four Classic Albums Plus

by David Rickert
May 22, 2011

Billie HolidayFour Classic AlbumsAvid Records2011 Back in the 1950s, when the American people were buying television sets and driving gas guzzlers on brand new superhighways under the threat of nuclear war, singer Billie Holiday was still turning out fine performances on record and on stage, defying a lot of expectations raised by her wayward lifestyle. Holiday only had a few years left--she died in 1959--but continued performing right up to the ...

117

Album Review

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica: Third River Rangoon

Read "Third River Rangoon" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 22, 2011

The “Mr. Ho" of Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica is vibraphonist Brian O'Neil, who has put together a vibraphone quartet, also featuring flute, percussion and bass, for Third River Rangoon. The music, dubbed “exotica," drifts back and forth across the less than distinct border between third stream chamber jazz and classical, with hints of world music influenced by a tropical island Tiki god thrown in for good measure.Mr. Ho's previous exotica release explored the artistry of Mexican composer Juan Garcia ...

213

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith's Organic: Heart's Reflections

Read "Heart's Reflections" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 22, 2011

For Mies van der Rohe, the saying “less is more" might be true. But for trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, more is always more. Heart's Reflections is his fifth release for Cuneiform Records and, like his three prior efforts, a double CD.Organic, one of Smith's numerous working bands, is a continuation of his Yo Miiles! project with guitarist Henry Kaiser, the jazz/rock love child of Miles Davis' electric era. Organic was first recorded as the second disc on Smith's ...

206

Live Review

James Taylor and His Legendary Band

by C. Michael Bailey
May 22, 2011

James Taylor and His Legendary BandVerizon Arena TheaterNorth Little Rock, ArkansasApril 29, 2001 Sentiment and nostalgia are potent motivators for the Baby Boom generation. This explains why musical acts like the Rolling Stones and Eagles remain not only viable, but certain moneymakers--bands which came of age with the post-World War II- generation, a large and varied group of Americans born between 1946 and 1964. These bands developed extensive and popular songbooks during their lengthy ...

231

Take Five With...

Take Five With Joyce Spencer

by AAJ Staff
May 22, 2011

Meet Joyce Spencer:A native of South Louisiana, Joyce Spencer began playing the clarinet in 5th grade, but switched to tenor saxophone in the 12th. During this time, her musical influence included blues, jazz, zydeco, gospel, classical and R&B. She later included the alto sax and flute at McNeese State University where she received a bachelor's degree in instrumental music education. After a 20-year hiatus, Joyce began playing again in churches and many other venues. After several attempts to ...

191

Album Review

Mark Alban Lotz: Istanbul Improv Sessions May 5th

Read "Istanbul Improv Sessions May 5th" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
May 22, 2011

Istanbul Improv Sessions May 5th is an apt, if rather prosaic, title for this collection of improvisations, all of which were recorded in one day during 2010 in Istanbul. The leader and producer of the sessions is flautist Mark Alban Lotz, a German-born resident of Holland with over a dozen albums to his name. Lotz' collaborators all come from the Istanbul improvisation scene which, on the evidence of this album, seems to be full of invention, ability and humor.

201

Album Review

Eric Alexander: Don't Follow the Crowd

Read "Don't Follow the Crowd" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
May 22, 2011

The title of Eric Alexander's Don't Follow the Crowd is somewhat ironic, as it is one in a string of recordings, on the HighNote label, that have all been cast from the same mold. Alexander can be counted on to deliver well-crafted, straight-ahead jazz albums that may not break any new musical ground, but are beautifully played and impeccably recorded, with a selection of swinging blues and ballads. If, perhaps, a little more aggressively played than 2009's Revival ...

229

Album Review

Harris Eisenstadt: Canada Day II

Read "Canada Day II" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
May 22, 2011

When drummer Harris Eisenstadt debuted a new band on Canada Day 2007, he quite simply called it “Canada Day." Since then, Eisenstadt has nurtured the band through an open concept. He lets the musicians find their own voices, as they navigate his compositions and find a cohesive stream of tributaries that blend into one cohesive flow.Eisenstadt wrote half the songs around the time his son was born and found inspiration for the other tunes at other signposts of ...

149

Album Review

Jazzlab: Octo Portraits

Read "Octo Portraits" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
May 21, 2011

There is much more to Jazzlab's molten Octo Portraits than a sense that the ensemble is so finely attuned to each other as to create works of timbral excellence and nuanced textures. The outstanding voices of the individual instrumentalists are not hidden in this bubbling liquefaction, beaming radiantly through the crack in the door each time it is opened for soloing--which is every once in awhile. The result is an enriched mixture of programmatic and improvised music of the highest ...

305

Book Review

LZ-'75: The Lost Chronicles of Led Zeppelin's 1975 American Tour

by Phillip Woolever
May 21, 2011

LZ-'75: The Lost Chronicles of Led Zeppelin's 1975 American Tour Stephen DavisHardcover; 217 pagesISBN: 978-1-592-40589-3Gotham Books2010 It's been a long time since they rocked and rolled, but even more than 30 years after calling it quits, Led Zeppelin remains one of the music business' top selling acts, be it measured through recordings or related memorabilia. After decades of deciphered decibels and scrutinized scandal, there ...