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.

238

Album Review

Brian Lynch: Unsung Heroes

Read "Unsung Heroes" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
March 23, 2011

Trumpeter extraordinaire Brian Lynch is always willing, quite rightly, to acknowledge the masters who have gone before him. Some of the finest jazz trumpeters never made it big, while others no longer sit as securely in the minds of jazz fans as they once did. Nevertheless, they are all part, as Lynch writes, of “the jazz trumpet tradition" and their talents as players and composers deserve to be remembered and revisited. Unsung Heroes is Lynch's salute to some of these ...

324

Live Review

Ethan Iverson/Larry Grenadier/Paul Motian at the Village Vanguard on March 3, 2011

by Warren Allen
March 23, 2011

Ethan Iverson / Larry Grenadier / Paul MotianThe Village VanguardNew York, NYMarch 3, 2011 The press that followed the rise of The Bad Plus rocked jazz's slightly dusty seismometer. And with it, pianist Ethan Iversion rose to the forefront of the jazz piano world for his heart-pounding work in the Plus' Prog-jazz aesthetic. Yet, at his core, Iverson is a powerful player who mixes cracks of atonality with a stately lyricism that draws broadly ...

209

Album Review

Carlos Franzetti and Allison Brewster Franzetti: Alborada

Read "Alborada" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
March 23, 2011

With Alborada, pianists Carlos Franzetti and Allison Brewster-Franzetti, along with the City of Prague Philharmonic, have attempted an ambitious fusion of jazz and classical music that ventures far beyond simple orchestral arrangements as aural wallpaper. Third Stream--the blending of genres to create a hybrid of sorts--has been around, with varying degrees of success, for about fifty years. It's always been controversial, sometimes challenging, and occasionally just plain bad. There are some folks who still curse Charlie Parker for ...

184

Album Review

Brian Lynch: Unsung Heroes

Read "Unsung Heroes" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 23, 2011

Trumpet tribute albums are a tricky business. There are those in jazz, like Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong, who have been endlessly saluted, creating a culture of mass appeal and celebration that's not always a good thing. On the surface, projects that praise these jazz heroes bring well-deserved exposure to their music and might, but they also narrow the scope of jazz, creating tunnel vision for how the history of this music is viewed. With every tribute to Davis, Armstrong ...

206

Album Review

Frank Macchia: Son Of Folk Songs For Jazzers

Read "Son Of Folk Songs For Jazzers" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
March 23, 2011

Composer/arranger Frank Macchia explores twelve more American folk songs and their reinterpretation through jazz on Son of Folk Songs for Jazzers, a follow-up to his critically acclaimed Folk Songs for Jazzers (Cacophony, 2010), for which he received his third Grammy nod in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category. As with the first album, Macchia uses a fourteen-piece ensemble, with many of the same A-list musicians from the Los Angeles area, among them, Wayne Bergeron, Bob Sheppard, Bill Reichenbach and vocalist Tierney ...

436

Interview

Jim Hart: The Art of Juggling

by Alan Bryson
March 23, 2011

Jim Hart is one of the hottest young musicians on the U.K. jazz scene. His impressive skills are matched by a level of experience and maturity that belie his age. His musicianship elicited this praise from vibes heavyweight Joe Locke: “Some of the best music I've heard in a long time. Definitely the best vibes playing I've heard in a long time." An alumnus of Chetham's School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, ...

206

Album Review

Magnus Ostrom: Thread Of Life

Read "Thread Of Life" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
March 22, 2011

Thread Of Life is drummer Magnus Öström's debut as leader, after 15 years with the Esbjörn Svensson Trio. e.s.t. was one of the most successful jazz ensembles ever to emerge from Europe, gaining not only critical acclaim but also commercial success. It's a hard act for Öström to follow, and it's to his immense credit that, after a sabbatical from the scene to reflect on his plans after Svensson's tragic death in 2008, Öström has gathered a talented new band ...

337

Album Review

Oluyemi Thomas / Sirone / Michael Wimberly: Beneath Tones Floor

Read "Beneath Tones Floor" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
March 22, 2011

Beneath Tones Floor is the last recording of Sirone (born as Norris Jones) and could serve as a fitting memorial to the great bassist as he is featured prominently throughout this egalitarian display. Perhaps best known as one-third of the legendary loft jazz outfit The Revolutionary Ensemble, Sirone also appeared alongside a galaxy of New Thing names including saxophonists Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders and pianist Cecil Taylor, indicative of his astounding tone and sure sense of note placement. ...

533

Interview

Magnus Ostrom: Late Night Playing, Humble Playing

by Bruce Lindsay
March 22, 2011

As the drummer with the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.) Magnus Öström became one of the most successful European jazz musicians of the last twenty years. Influenced by a range of musics, his percussion style was a key element of the band's distinctive sound, while the Trio's success over the 15 years of its existence brought it international fame and brought Öström to the attention of a world-wide audience. After Svensson's death in a diving accident in June ...

216

Album Review

Charito: Heal The World

Read "Heal The World" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 22, 2011

Michael Jackson's music has never been bound by genre lines. Jackson will always be known as the “King of Pop," but his recordings have always had a near-universal appeal that transcends any single category. While odd behavior in his private life--and repeated allegations of misconduct with minors--cast a pall over his image in his later years, his artistry was the one thing that was never in question. When Jackson passed away in 2009, a few things happened. ...