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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Rhythm In Every Guise

Introducing Shawn Baltazor

by David A. Orthmann
March 11, 2011

Forty-five minutes prior to New Tricks' opening set, Shawn Baltazor began to tote his drum kit from a parking space down the street from Trumpets Jazz Club. Four drums were neatly stacked and secured to a rolling luggage carrier. An oversized sack contained bulky metal hardware and miscellaneous equipment. A cymbal bag with a shoulder strap completed the load. Despite the weight and mass, Baltazor cheerfully refused help on the fifty yard trek, explaining with a smile that it's all ...

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Album Review

Brian Landrus Quartet: Traverse

Read "Traverse" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
March 10, 2011

The baritone saxophone: a low-down, honking, raw and randy piece of musical metal, isn't it? What about the baritone saxophone as a romantic, seductive and rather beautifully mellow instrument? Not so likely? Well, once it's placed in the hands of Brian Landrus, the romantic side of the instrument isn't just likely, it seems to be exactly how it was destined to sound. Landrus is a master of this rather unwieldy instrument, and leads a top-flight quartet on Traverse, a set ...

270

Live Review

Matthew Shipp Trio: London, UK, February 17, 2011

by John Sharpe
March 10, 2011

Matthew Shipp TrioThe VortexLondonFebruary 17, 2011 “I'm not that keen on piano trios but you can't fault this one." Thus did one listener at north London's Vortex greet the interval after the first set from pianist Matthew Shipp's new trio partway through a 6-date European tour. How right he was. Drummer Whit Dickey boasts a long association with Shipp, dating back more than two decades, including four years joint tenure in saxophonist David S. Ware's ...

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Multiple Reviews

Duos: When The Sum Is Greater Than Its Parts

by Mark Corroto
March 10, 2011

The defining characteristic of all great partnerships in cinema, from the male-bonding buddy movie to the classic Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy films, is the tension created between two self-assertive characters, before their eventual collaboration. The same can be said of jazz and improvisational duos. By matching two authoritative players, sparks fly and, if the two cooperate for sympathetic ends, the session produces a worthy result. Below are a few duos of exemplary character. Ellery Eskelin & ...

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Album Review

Nicholas Urie: My Garden

Read "My Garden" reviewed by Wilbert Sostre

by Wilbert Sostre
March 10, 2011

The combination of poetry and music is not new. Spain and Latin America have a great tradition of poetry musicalization. As part of the Nueva Trova style of the 1970s, singers like Silvio Rodriguez, Mercedes Sosa, Atahaulpa Yupanqui and Roy Brown set the poetry of some of Latin America's best writers to music. Being that jazz is mostly an instrumental form, its fusion with poetry is not that common, which is one of the aspects that makes Nicholas ...

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Album Review

Gene Ludwig: Love Notes Of Cole Porter

Read "Love Notes Of Cole Porter" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 10, 2011

The release of Gene Ludwig's Love Notes Of Cole Porter is a bittersweet event. While this collection of music shines a spotlight on one of the great, under-recognized organ talents in the world of jazz, it also marks the final recording from this mainstay of the Pittsburgh jazz scene. Ludwig passed away suddenly in the summer of 2010, leaving behind his loving wife Pattye, a rich legacy and solid reputation within the jazz community, and an unreleased collection of Cole ...

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Extended Analysis

Damani Phillips: The String Theory

by Victor Verney
March 10, 2011

Damani PhillipsThe String TheorySelf Produced2010 The idea of adding strings to a jazz combo has long been a divisive issue among the music's aficionados. It's often disparaged by many purists as a commercial sell-out, similar to the “fusion" concept of marrying jazz with rock. One self-proclaimed hard bop hardliner, Ken Blanchard, has blogged that “strings can make the most obscure bop tenor palatable to a larger audience by packaging him in ...

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Album Review

Matt Panayides: Tapestries of Song

Read "Tapestries of Song" reviewed by Jack Huntley

by Jack Huntley
March 10, 2011

In the era of frenetic fretboard technique, the art of developing a patient groove sometimes seems lost in the shuffle, but Matt Panyides skillfully cultivates that very asset on Tapestries of Song. This is not to suggest that Panyides' music lacks for technical aptitude, as his guitar playing displays nothing but virtuosity. Specifically, Panyides' playing has the unhurried finesse of a craftsman. Teamed with Rich Perry's dexterous tenor sax, and the solid rhythms of drummer Dan Weiss and bassist Steve ...

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Mr. P.C.'s Guide to Jazz Etiquette and Bandstand Decorum

March 2011

by Mr. P.C.
March 9, 2011

Dear Mr. PC: What is the appropriate punishment for blue-hairs caught streaming out of the venue before The Bad Plus have actually finished their set? It's so inconsiderate and should be punished severely. Greg

Dear Greg: What is this Bad Plus? Do they play swing music, or the Latin bossa nova, or “contemporary" jazz? Actually, it couldn't be “contemporary" jazz, or those punks with blue hair--drawn to anything with a cutting-edge ...

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Album Review

Keiko Matsui: The Road...

Read "The Road..." reviewed by Jeff Winbush

by Jeff Winbush
March 9, 2011

It's a new year, record label, management, and hairstyle for Keiko Matsui, but her first album since 2007's Moyo (Shout Factory!) finds the Japanese pianist still in fine form. The Road... isn't as radical a shift in direction as Moyo was, as Matsui added African influences to her unique melding of musical styles, but it is a worthy continuation of the journey she began four years ago.“Secret Pond" is another entry in the stately and quiet gracefulness of ...