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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Interview

Rudresh Mahanthappa: Hybrid Energy

by Anil Prasad
May 2, 2011

Rudresh Mahanthappa is a man on a mission. He's driven to integrate the saxophone into a vast panorama of settings far beyond its typical range. His output is often reflective of his Indian-American heritage, with an engaging hybrid approach that merges avant-jazz and South Asian elements. His current quartet, also consisting of microtonal guitarist David Fiuczynski, bassist François Moutin and drummer Dan Weiss, is emblematic of that direction.In addition to his own band, Mahanthappa leads or co-leads several ...

293

African Jazz

Owiny Sigoma Band: Rising From The East

by Chris May
May 1, 2011

Owiny Sigoma BandOwiny Sigoma BandBrownswood Recordings2011 Along with its close neighbors, Tanzania and Uganda, Kenya--as viewed from Europe or North America--is one of the final frontiers in African music. Indirectly, this is the result of the decades-long, overwhelming impact of Zairean rumba on east Africa, and its fall-out. From the 1960s through the 1980s, Zairean emigré bands dominated the Kenyan scene, discouraging the emergence of indigenous styles; only taarab, the Muslim ...

187

Album Review

Terell Stafford: This Side of Strayhorn

Read "This Side of Strayhorn" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 1, 2011

Some music just stands out from the crowd, and certainly Billy Strayhorn's tunes do exactly that. What would the great composer/bandleader Duke Ellington have been without his collaborator? He still certainly would have been considered one of the America's greatest artists, but it's hard to imagine an Ellington “greatest hits" offering--if one could be achieved, considering the Duke's immense output--without Strayhorn's gorgeous and familiar “Lush Life," “Take the 'A' Train," “Lotus Blossom," or “Chelsea Bridge." This Side of ...

138

Album Review

Dan Weiss: Jhaptal Drumset Solo

Read "Jhaptal Drumset Solo" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 1, 2011

The use of Indian rhythms in jazz--in some way, shape or form--has become somewhat commonplace. While spicing up some improvised music with the addition of a sitarist or tablaist might be enough of an Indian-based excursion for jazz musicians who merely want to gloss over the surface of possibility, drummer Dan Weiss is no such dabbler. His extensive studies with Pandit Samir Chatterjee--a virtuoso tablaist and, as evidenced from his work with Weiss, a fine educator--have helped Weiss to expand ...

241

Album Review

Cinzia Spata: Into The Moment

Read "Into The Moment" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
May 1, 2011

Although Italian singer/lyricist Cinzia Spata has been singing professionally for over 20 years, her discography is pretty sparse. Into The moment is only her third album, and appears six years after 93 03 (Azzurramusic, 2005). The wait's been worth it: the album is a stylish mix of American Songbook classics and lesser-known tunes from some of jazz's most intriguing composers, plus one Spata original, the extraordinary “Carlos." The quintet of backing musicians is top quality, an experienced ...

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Album Review

Garage a Trois: Always Be Happy But Stay Evil

Read "Always Be Happy But Stay Evil" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
May 1, 2011

Once the most cerebral of groovemeisters, when guitarist Charlie Hunter collaborated with saxophonist Skerik, vibraphonist Mike Dillon and drummer Stanton Moore, Garage a Trois reinvented itself two years ago when keyboardist Marco Benevento took the guitarist's place, a process that now continues with Always Be Happy But Stay Evil. In contrast to the kamikaze attack of Power Patriot (Royal Potato Family, 2009), Garage a Trois begins this disc with the odd timbre of one of Benevento's synthesiszer-like keyboards, ...

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Album Review

Valeria Proano: Retrato En Blanco Y Negro

Read "Retrato En Blanco Y Negro" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
May 1, 2011

Valeria Proaño began her professional singing career at the age of 15 and for the past 16 years has been performing in the U.S. and around the world, singing jingles for TV and radio as well as performing as backup vocals for major Latin music artists. Retrato En Blanco Y Negro (portrait in black and white) is the Miami-based singer's long-awaited debut, blending an interesting selection of pop and jazz classics with traditional and contemporary Brazilian flavors, as well as ...

521

Live Review

Jazzkaar 2011: Tallinn, Estonia, Days 7-8

by John Kelman
May 1, 2011

Days 1-3 | Days Days 4-6 | Days 7-8 Dave Liebman Quintet / European Jazz Orchestra Jazzkaar Festival 2011 Tallinn, Estonia April 26-27, 2011 As Jazzkaar 2011 heads into the home stretch, it's important to remember that, with Tallinn selected as European Capital of Culture for 2011, there's a whole lot more to come, with a wide range of activities taking place all the way up to year's end. ...

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Live Review

Foltin: Skopje, Macedonia, April 13, 2011

by Nenad Georgievski
April 30, 2011

FoltinMCM ClubSkopje, MacedoniaApril 13, 2011 Does humor belong in music? In the case of Foltin, it certainly does. Their live performances are famous for becoming jump-ups and are more energized and charged than their recorded output. Theirs is a pseudo cabaret cartoon music that offers plenty of suggestions for why it sounds like it does, but it won't take long for anyone to figure out what it is all about. The band has a ...

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Album Review

Seabrook Power Plant: Seabrook Power Plant II

Read "Seabrook Power Plant II" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
April 30, 2011

Guitarist Brandon Seabrook is one of the most imaginative six-string virtuosos currently operating in the fertile Brooklyn scene. His enviable talents have been featured in an eclectic variety of projects since the mid-1990s, including Beat Circus, Naftule's Dream and the Peter Evans Quartet, with an extremely percussive technique on tenor banjo adding further mystique to his idiosyncratic artistry. The shrewdly named Seabrook Power Plant is his flagship power trio, featuring his brother Jared on drums and regular Evans' collaborator Tom ...