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.

587

Interview

Diego Urcola: Musical Ecstasy

by R.J. DeLuke
April 5, 2011

Jazz music, its freedom and emphasis on self-expression through improvisation, has always had a strong pull on its practitioners, its artists. As fans and listeners, those qualities are also treasured. The infectious nature of those qualities is why jazz fans are passionate and loyal. It's music, born and bred in the United States, that has a fan base that stretches across the globe. In the case of a certain young musician in Buenos Aires, just a few decades ...

252

Album Review

Ambrose Akinmusire: When The Heart Emerges Glistening

Read "When The Heart Emerges Glistening" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
April 4, 2011

A new generation of jazz musicians, unimpeded by the idiomatic constraints of tradition, has come of age since the end of the '80s-era culture wars. One such free-thinking artist is young trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, who was first discovered by saxophonist Steve Coleman at the tender age of 19. When The Heart Emerges Glistening is his first recording for Blue Note, following his 2008 debut, Prelude...To Cora (Fresh Sound New Talent). The session exudes a hearty romanticism, with Akinmusire's ...

883

Interview

Ambrose Akinmusire: Emerging Heart

by R.J. DeLuke
April 4, 2011

"My favorite instrument is the cello," said the easygoing young musician in early February, from his apartment in Manhattan, where he referred to himself jokingly as “a hibernating jazzman." His West-Coast roots weren't taking a firm grip in the frigid temperatures of the Northeast. “Me and strings just don't get along. I can play piano; I can play a lot of different things, drums. But strings, I just don't get." Those words came from Ambrose Akinmusire, a trumpet ...

302

Album Review

Ketil Bjornstad / Svante Henryson: Night Song

Read "Night Song" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
April 4, 2011

The relative merits of technical aptitude, when it comes to music, are often hotly debated. Surely possessing more comprehensive and masterful control over the vocabulary of music would be a plus; how, then, can a raw, unschooled bluesman like Robert Johnson resonate in ways that more schooled artists sometimes cannot? Proficiency, then, is really only an acquired tool, a means, a vernacular; and while it's true that there are those musicians who struggle and accomplish much, equally, there are those ...

295

Book Review

Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing

by Florence Wetzel
April 4, 2011

Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing Michael Dregin Paperback; 332 pagesISBN: 978019975625-4Oxford University Press2010 Midnight, Pigalle. The red-light district of Paris glows in a nocturnal carnival of neon and incandescent color.... Welcome to Michael Dregin's engaging Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing, a highly original book that's part history, part detective ...

616

Film Review

Stan Kenton: Artistry in Rhythm - Portrait Of A Jazz Legend

by Jack Bowers
April 4, 2011

Stan KentonArtistry In Rhythm: Portrait Of A Jazz LegendJazzed Media2011 “I thought that [Stan] was an echo of life itself: that life is precious, life is exquisite, and life is magnificent. He lived it, and his legacy points to some of those values. Whether we are able to interpret them or not, they are there." That's noted jazz historian, educator and author Dr. Herb Wong, having (almost) the last word on ...

197

Album Review

Sheryl Bailey 4: For All Those Living

Read "For All Those Living" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
April 4, 2011

Sheryl Bailey 4's For All Those Living has a nice, balanced feel to it, with a lively, up-tempo pace that never becomes frenetic. It's finely played, and rewards serious listening, but none of the musicians are overly showy.The quartet plays as much with Bailey's guitar work as behind it, and is clearly sympathetic to its performers. Already highly respected--and perhaps because of it--Bailey plays with the self-confidence of a guitarist who's surpassed the point of seeking validation through ...

160

Album Review

Samir Zarif: Starting Point

Read "Starting Point" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 4, 2011

The excitement of hearing the voice from a musician of significant new talent knows no bounds. Violinist Majid Khaliq, vocalist Khalil Wilson, bassist Michael Feinberg, composer Gene Pritsker, and now saxophonist and storyteller Samir Zarif, are just beginning to fan the rapidly growing new brushfire of 21st century music. Zarif's talent is significant enough to merit Starting Point, his first album as leader, coming after paying his dues in Texas (where he grew up) and in New Orleans, the cradle ...

138

Album Review

Brulee: New Beginnings

Read "New Beginnings" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
April 4, 2011

Jazz has always been about being musically clever in inventive ways. Consider only Charlie Parker saying, on October 24, 1947, “I'm going to play “Embraceable You," winking, and then playing a completely different melody over the harmonic structure, and the cleverness in jazz is defined. Now, add a sense of humor to the proceedings and the whole creative affair goes from lo-fi to hi-fi at light speed. Likewise, the water in Sonoma County obviously acts synergistically with ...

291

Album Review

Joseph Daley Earth Tones Ensemble: The Seven Deadly Sins

Read "The Seven Deadly Sins" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 3, 2011

The Seven Deadly Sins comprises some of the most monumental music to have been composed and recorded in quite some time. Significantly, this does not only refer to the seven-part suite of the title, but also the second track “Ballade of the Fallen African Warrior," another extended piece with multiple sections. Joseph Daley, master of the tuba and composer extraordinaire--who wrote and arranged all of this music--has been a member of the brass sections of several important bands, including those ...