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.

236

Album Review

Heiner Stadler: Tribute to Bird & Monk

Read "Tribute to Bird & Monk" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
May 5, 2011

Originally released in 1978 as a double LP by Tomato Records, Tribute to Bird & Monk is as revelatory now as when it was awarded a five star review in Downbeat over three decades ago. This unique tribute transcends convention, featuring a stellar cast of musicians performing under-sung German composer Heiner Stadler's polyphonic orchestrations of be-bop standards written by Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. The lineup Stadler selected for this project spans the entire spectrum of jazz tradition. ...

592

Extended Analysis

Kronomorfic: Micro Temporal Infundibula

by Robert Bush
May 5, 2011

KronomorficMicro Temporal InfundibulapfMentum2011 Kronomorfic, based in Southern California, is a group of virtuoso improvisers, all blending their individual talents toward a greater ensemble aesthetic. Co-led by Los Angeles drummer/hand percussionist Paul Pellegrin and San Diego saxophonist David Borgo, Kronomorfic synthesizes the ancient with the future--using very complex rhythmic strategies as the unifier. Pellegrin and Borgo met some years back when both were students at UCLA's ethnomusicolgy department. That's ...

172

Album Review

Freddie Hubbard: First Light

Read "First Light" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 5, 2011

It's fitting that the third wave of Sony Masterworks' CTI reissue campaign includes Freddie Hubbard's First Light, which was the third and final album in Hubbard's holy trinity on CTI. While the trumpet titan continued to record for Creed Taylor's imprint after this session, the work that followed First Light never fully measured up to his earlier successes for the label. Red Clay (CTI, 1970) was a bristling session with fulsome fusion meeting head-on with heady hard bop, ...

213

Album Review

Alan Adams: My Notes

Read "My Notes" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
May 5, 2011

Solo piano recordings of all-original music often bear the burden of being dumped in the same genre bin with George Winston, Jim Brickman and David Lanz. For Portland, Oregon native Alan Adams, this would not be only unfair, it would be unfortunate. Music this finely crafted and wrought was made not only to be listened to but heard and enjoyed, both actively and passively. My Notes is a collection of fourteen Adams original compositions with a decidedly ...

201

Album Review

Yellowjackets: Timeline

Read "Timeline" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
May 5, 2011

Timeline is Yellowjackets' 21st album, in a career spanning 30 years--an impressive return, and an indication of the group's enduring appeal and continued motivation and commitment to making music. As ever, there are signs of evolution, with the addition of trumpet widening the sonic palette. However, pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante's sparing use of synthesizer-- which has given an orchestral depth to much of the group's music over the years--and saxophonist Bob Mintzer's switch from EWI to bass clarinet, steers the music ...

170

Album Review

Marcin Wasilewski Trio: Faithful

Read "Faithful" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
May 5, 2011

The Marcin Wasilewski Trio's Faithful makes its entry as one of the better albums of 2011 to date, with a selection of original titles that are melodic, highly sophisticated and thoroughly enjoyable. The piano trio--piano, bass and drums--is one of jazz's cornerstone ensembles. As such--and with perhaps thousands of albums recorded in this instrumental combination--the standards of excellence are very high. There is no reason to ever listen to a mediocre piano trio record, because surely there is ...

218

Live Review

Louis Moholo-Moholo Quintet: London, UK, March 17, 2011

by John Sharpe
May 5, 2011

Louis Moholo-Moholo QuintetThe VortexLondon, UKMarch 17, 2011 As George the besuited MC said in his introduction, when you saw the lineup you knew this was not one to miss. And the packed audience at north London's Vortex was testament to the fact that his view was widely shared. Even though South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo remains a frequent visitor to London since relocating to his homeland on a permanent basis, his visits are still something ...

231

Album Review

Jimmy Haslip: Nightfall

Read "Nightfall" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
May 4, 2011

Electric bassist Jimmy Haslip hasn't had a prolific solo career, Nightfall being his third release in eighteen years, since his debut, Arc (GRP, 1993). Haslip's energy has mainly been devoted to the Yellowjackets, the band he co-founded with pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante thirty years ago--a milestone celebrated with the release of Timeline (Mack Avenue Records, 2011), which finds Haslip and the band in truly fine form. That the Yellowjackets has overshadowed Haslip's solo career is unsurprising, though Haslip has also distinguished ...

243

Multiple Reviews

Two Helpings of Hurst: Bob Ya Head and Unrehurst Volume 2

by Dan Bilawsky
May 4, 2011

Robert Hurst has been an in-demand bassist for more than a quarter century, yet his leader dates have been sporadic and scant. Hurst came to prominence in the mid 1980s, first as a member of Out Of The Blue and then as a key figure in bands lead by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonist Branford Marsalis, but he significantly broadened his experiences when he joined Branford in the The Tonight Show band. When the saxophonist departed, Hurst stayed on with ...

201

Album Review

Dave Juarez: Round Red Light

Read "Round Red Light" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 4, 2011

The quintet that came together to record Round Red Light is a unique conglomeration of established talent, rising-star scene-stealers, and artists who are only starting their ascent and journey upward in the world of jazz. While guitarist Dave Juarez falls into the last category, his debut album should go a long way in creating a buzz around the Barcelona-born musician. Juarez presents a nine-song program of originals which often take shape around Seamus Blake's magnetic and magnificent ...