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.

477

Film Review

Vienna Philharmonic, Christian Theilemann: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-3

by C. Michael Bailey
March 20, 2011

Vienna Philharmonic, Christian TheilemannBeethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-3Unitel2010 Tempo warning: Christian Theilemann's Beethoven is not the one we have become accustomed to over during the 25 year spasm of “historically informed" or “period" performance. Theilmann's tempi are informed by the late Romantic conductors/composers and evidenced in his Wagner and Bruckner recordings. Tempi this slow have not been heard since Otto Klemperer. This is not a bad thing, but forewarned is forearmed.

358

Album Review

Eric Reed: The Dancing Monk

Read "The Dancing Monk" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
March 20, 2011

Every jazz pianist stands somewhere in the shadow of Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), and Eric Reed has embraced that shadow, with The Dancing Monk. Interpreting the near-mythic pianist/composer's music--let alone making an entire album of his tunes--poses significant challenges to any modern musician, and especially for a pianist. First, Monk's compositions are, indeed, challenging, in and of themselves; full of odd meters, syncopations, and some of the most counter-intuitive melodies ever written. Second, Monk's flat-fingered keyboard work was completely ...

241

Live Review

Josh Nelson Trio: Half Moon Bay, CA, February 20, 2011

by Bill Leikam
March 20, 2011

Josh Nelson TrioDouglas Beach HouseHalf Moon Bay, CAFebruary 20, 2011 Opening the concert, club owner Pete Douglas announced that in its February issue, the editorial staff of Downbeat Magazine had chosen the Douglas Beach House (a.k.a. the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society) as one of the top 150 internationally known great jazz venues. This honor is bolstered by the quality of the jazz musicians who are booked there, like the Josh Nelson Trio with ...

201

Album Review

Toots Thielemans: European Quartet Live

Read "European Quartet Live" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
March 20, 2011

Miles Davis never liked the use of the term “legend," to describe a living musician, but perhaps an exception ought to be made in the case of Toots Thielemans, who ranks with the great Larry Adler as one of the greatest harmonica players, one for whom music has specially been composed. On ˂em˃Live˂/em˃, together with his European Quartet, however, Thielemans plays a collection of standards and a couple of his own compositions, brought to life on his chromatic harmonica, with ...

455

Take Five With...

Take Five With Ken Avis

by AAJ Staff
March 20, 2011

Meet Ken Avis:London, Paris, Geneva, Washington DC guitarist/vocalist Ken Avis never imagined he would live in these cities after growing up in a Northern English coal mining town close to Liverpool. After travelling in over 80 counties, across four continents, he is now based in Northern Virginia with his wife, the stunning French Canadian vocalist Lynn Véronneau. Together they are putting their world experiences to good effect in the eclectic, multi-national music of their band, Véronneau.

173

Album Review

John Burnett Orchestra: Down For Double

Read "Down For Double" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
March 20, 2011

The John Burnett Orchestra is a formidable swing band because, while there's undoubted reverence in their evocations of the era, that reverence is tempered by sparks of originality. Indeed, the tight-but-loose thing which summarizes its collective sound is now pretty hard to come by, which makes this release a cause for celebration. When the band's joined by clarinetist Buddy DeFranco on the warhorse that is “Sing Sing Sing" it's impossible to keep from smiling in view of ...

156

Album Review

Michiyo Yagi / Elliott Sharp: Reflexions

Read "Reflexions" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
March 19, 2011

Tokyo-based koto player Michiyo Yagi and New York-based guitarist/composer Elliott Sharp have been collaborating since the mid-nineties. Yagi, during her tenure as visiting professor of music at Wesleyan University, was looking for role models who transform the conventions of their instruments, experimenting with sound and musical forms. Sharp was one of these mavericks that Yagi was drawn to, along with others including Fred Frith and Marc Ribot. Over the years, this improvising duo, which has kept collaborating ...

273

Live Review

The Monty Alexander Trio: Toronto, March 5, 2011

by Alain Londes
March 19, 2011

The Monty Alexander TrioKoerner HallToronto, CanadaMarch 5, 2011 For a night of swinging blues, in honor of Oscar Peterson, the Monty Alexander Trio was an ideal choice for the continuing series Aspects of Oscar at Toronto, Canada's Royal Conservatory of Music. The regular trio included bassist Hassan JJ Wiggins Shakur and drummer Winard Harper. To kick things off, each musician of the trio was introduced and started playing an easy swin,g one at ...

283

Album Review

Trio Mediaeval: A Worcester Ladymass

Read "A Worcester Ladymass" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
March 19, 2011

Aside from the detour of Folk Songs (ECM, 2007)--which looked to the traditional music of its own country, Norway--Trio Mediaeval has focused primarily on sacred music, dating as far back as the 12th century but, equally, as contemporary as the current millennium, using mass material from England, France, Italy...even modern-day Korea. Trio Mediaeval performs medieval music but, as singer Anna Maria Friman notes in the liners to A Worcester Ladymass, “free from obligations towards a certain system, and there are ...

248

Album Review

Julia Wedman: Biber - Mystery Sonatas

Read "Biber - Mystery Sonatas" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
March 19, 2011

Before Perlman, Mutter and Mullova were Grumiaux, Heifetz and Stern. Preceding them were Berwald, Spohr and Paganini, and prior to them were Benda, Cannabich and Stamitz. Predating those composers were Vivaldi, Corelli and Bach. And, finally, before all of them was Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704). Biber was the foremost violinist and composer for the violin of the early Baroque period. Of his many violin sonatas, the sixteen so- called “Mystery" or “Rosary" sonatas exist as the pinnacle of his ...