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.

376

Live Review

Randy Newman: Ottawa, Canada, March 28, 2011

by John Kelman
April 3, 2011

Randy NewmanCentrepointe Theatre, Ottawa, Canada March 28, 2011 While it's not been the 25 years that he cited as the time that's passed since his last Ottawa performance--he was actually in town for the 2007 Ottawa Bluesfest--it was his first time playing in a theater setting in Ottawa since the mid-1980s, when he delivered a solo show in the Opera of the National Arts Centre in support of Trouble in Paradise (Reprise, 1983). Still, with ...

170

Album Review

Jack Donahue: Parade

by Dan Bilawsky
April 3, 2011

Parade is an odd name for an album that's largely built on material of a subtle nature. This CD takes its name from the opening track, “Before The Parade Passes By," but vocalist Jack Donahue doesn't barrel through this song--or most others--like a fast-moving float. He usually prefers to use his pipes to tell a story, and he gently caresses the lyrics of any given piece with charm and respect. His sincerity comes through loud and clear in his delivery ...

254

Album Review

Schlippenbach Quartet: At Quartier Latin

Read "At Quartier Latin" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 3, 2011

Released as part of the limited edition box FMP im Rückblick--in Retrospect (1969 - 2010), this recording by pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's Quartet, At Quartier Latin, is an incomparable time capsule that documents a crucial period in European improvisation and the development of today's jazz luminaries. Available separately from the 12-CD box, this disc brings together two live recordings--originally released as The Hidden Peak (FMP, 1977) and Three Nails Left (FMP, 1975)--featuring Schlippenbach's trio, which was regularly expanded ...

193

Album Review

David Lopato: Many Moons

Read "Many Moons" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
April 3, 2011

Pianist/composer, David Lopato's long career has included turns with prominent players in the fields of avant-garde jazz and classical, world music, theater, free improvisation and modern jazz. In particular, he has done outstanding jazz work with Gerry Hemingway, David Mott, Wadada Leo Smith and Joe Lovano. Given the wide and varied circles Lopato travels in, it isn't useful to have preconceived notions about any particular music as his defining genre. Nevertheless, Many Moons, his second solo piano release, covers the ...

213

Album Review

Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet: System of 5

Read "System of 5" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
April 3, 2011

One of the major attributes of System of 5 pertains to the modality of New England area pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which lies between modern jazz, with heavy rhythmic nods to Thelonious Monk, and a newer slant that parallels the current state of jazz imperialism. Backed by a new band, the musicians overlap mainstream persuasions with tricky time signatures and passionate improvisational implementations. The pianist abides by a democratic process, but also incorporates well-rehearsed complexities into the grand schema.

226

Album Review

Al Di Meola: Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody

Read "Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody" reviewed by Stephen Wood

by Stephen Wood
April 3, 2011

Those who follow the guitar world are likely to be familiar with Al Di Meola, either from his stint with Return to Forever or his own,four-decade solo career. As wide-reaching as the possibilities of his fretboard, from electric jazz fusion to acoustic world music, Di Meola has built a reputation as a fantastic guitarist. Unencumbered by any particular genre, he remains true to form on Pursuit of a Radical Rhapsody; his exciting Pat Metheny-meets-Baden Powell-meets-Joe Satriani-meets-Andres Segovia style in full ...

551

From Far and Wide

New York's New Music And Arts Series M.A.K.

by AAJ Staff
April 3, 2011

New York City has a brilliant new arts foundation, and a related music series. Nikka Arts is a music and arts foundation, founded by New York singer and composer Lola Danza and her business partner JB, of aboptv.com. The organization aims to provide a space where musicians and artists can present their creative work, and also attract money to record inventive musicians who, like most artists now, are not offered contracts by major labels. Nikka Arts is ...

179

Live Review

Tia Fuller: Wayne, NJ February 13, 2011

by David A. Orthmann
April 2, 2011

Tia FullerWilliam Paterson University Jazz RoomWayne, NJFebruary 13, 2011 Who is Tia Fuller? Oddly enough, the question came to mind after the conclusion of a performance at William Paterson University's Jazz Room. During the seventy-five minute set, Fuller deftly juggled a handful of identities: audience tour guide; purveyor of positive, uplifting messages; leader of a fierce band; composer and arranger; and, perhaps most importantly, a positively hellacious saxophonist. With the help of ...

409

Album Review

Peter Evans Quintet: Ghosts

by Mark Corroto
April 2, 2011

The Peter Evans Quintet's Ghosts acts as a sort of back-to-the-future recording--that is, if the present were 2021. This inaugural release on the trumpeter's own label has a standard trumpet/piano/bass/drums setup, plus the incorporation of real-time, live electronic processing to make up the full quintet. Listening to any recording by Evans often prompts the dubious query, “What did I just hear?" since this über-talent is equally comfortable in the worlds of jazz, classical, and free improvisation. Like his ...

245

Live Review

Geoffrey Keezer and Joe Locke Duo: Half Moon Bay, CA, March 13, 2011

by Bill Leikam
April 2, 2011

Geoffrey Keezer/Joe Locke Duo Douglas Beach House Half Moon Bay, CA March 13, 2011 There are wonderful, well-produced, rehearsed bands that play the Douglas Beach House (aka Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society), but on occasion, within those gems, a high-caret diamond arrives and astonishes the audience. That's what came down when pianist Geoffrey Keezer and vibraphonist Joe Locke teamed up and landed at the Douglas Beach House on March 13, 2011. The audience was more ...