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.

255

Album Review

Mort Weiss: Mort Weiss Meets Bill Cunliffe

Read "Mort Weiss Meets Bill Cunliffe" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
March 5, 2011

If it is a Mort Weiss recording, bebop cannot be very far away. Competent bop clarinetists are as scarce as hen's teeth, the most critically accepted being Tony Scott, Buddy Defranco and Weiss. Weiss' most recent recordings, Mort Weiss Meets Sam Most (SMS Jazz, 2006) and B3 and Me (SMS Jazz, 2006), reflect his solid bop reverence. Weiss' Mort Weiss Meets Bill Cunliffe brings the clarinetist into orbit with pianist Bill Cunliffe, another jazz musician sympathetic to ...

131

Album Review

Sanda: Gypsy in a Tree

Read "Gypsy in a Tree" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
March 5, 2011

Try as they might, the world's greatest instrument makers have yet to create anything that comes close to the beauty, joy or emotional intensity of the human voice. If this sounds like a somewhat contentious statement, then Gypsy In A Tree--a follow-up to Gypsy Killer (Knitting Factory Works, 2002)--should provide sufficient evidence, in the form of Sanda Weigl's dramatically evocative vocal interpretations of Roma songs from her childhood homeland. Sanda, as she is known professionally, sings these ...

140

Live Review

The Hyungjin Choi Quartet: Brooklyn, December 7, 2010

by Patrick Hanna
March 5, 2011

Hyungjin Choi QuartetPuppets Jazz BarBrooklyn, NYDecember 7, 2010 When the Hyungjin Choi Quartet played at Puppets Jazz Bar in Brooklyn recently, it was worth battling the brutal weather for an opportunity to see them perform. The band consisted of young musicians with a very unique sound. Drummer Takehiro Shimizu and bassist Elad Muskatel created a solid but free energy, bringing pure love to each sound they made while tenor saxophonist Yacine ...

127

Album Review

Bob Marley and The Wailers: Live Forever

Read "Live Forever" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
March 5, 2011

Like Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley is one of those rare musical figures who achieved mythic status during his own lifetime. The Jamaican reggae master's legacy has grown posthumously-- due, in large measure, to the astute archiving of his recordings. Live Forever documents his final performance. At the time of this September, 1980 show at Pittsburgh's Stanley Theatre, Marley was less than a year from his death due to cancer, so the invocation of his Rastafarian ...

798

In The Biz

The New Artist Development Model: Growing your Brand from the Ground Up

by B.J. Jansen
March 5, 2011

So you are a jazz musician trying to navigate the complex path to build yourself into a sustainable brand? Where do I begin? What are the steps in the New Industry Model? How can I move forward? How can I survive? How can I cut through the clutter? These are all common questions I get constantly from artists and industry veterans alike, who are just overwhelmed by this new environment. So, it is from ...

184

Extended Analysis

Caravan Palace and The Spirit of Zazou

by Chris May
March 4, 2011

Caravan PalaceCaravan PalaceWrasse Records2011 Caravan Palace is a Paris-based sextet which, augmented on its debut album by seven guest musicians, is propelling manouche (French Gypsy jazz) into the digital age. It is to the genre something like the Gotan Project is to tango, but without the dark corners. Live, as AAJ reviewers have noted, Caravan Palace is big fun, heavy on the dry ice and with more lighting-state changes than Diana ...

220

Album Review

The Rempis Percussion Quartet: Montreal Parade

Read "Montreal Parade" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 4, 2011

Descriptive misdirection seems to be an important element in some sectors of the jazz world today. A group called The Nels Cline Singers puts out records where nary a vocalist can be found, and The Rempis Percussion Quartet is two members shy of being a full-fledged percussion outfit. While Cline's band uses a moniker that lacks complete truthfulness, saxophonist Dave Rempis doesn't lie. It's true that only two of the four members of his group wear the percussion tag, but ...

236

Extended Analysis

Gene Ludwig: Love Notes Of Cole Porter

by Justin Vargo
March 4, 2011

Gene LudwigLove Notes Of Cole PorterBig O Records2011 Nearly two years prior to his untimely death in July of 2010, Pittsburgh organist Gene Ludwig recorded this tribute to composer Cole Porter. Thanks to the efforts of Ludwig's wife and the folks at Big O Records, Ludwig's final recording is now seeing the light of day. Coming off of the stellar Duff's Blues (18th & Vine, 2008), a date featuring Bill Warfield's ...

138

Album Review

Hristo Vitchev Quintet: The Perperikon Suite

Read "The Perperikon Suite" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
March 4, 2011

The Perperikon Suite consists of seven tunes inspired by and dedicated to the ancient Thracian capital city. The ruined city is in the east of Bulgaria, home country of composer, guitarist and bandleader Hristo Vitchev. The Perperikon Suite is his third album as leader, while the work itself was premiered at the 53rd Monterey Jazz Festival in 2010. The music, performed by a terrific quintet, is beautiful: it captures images not of a city in ruins but of a city ...

264

Extended Analysis

Scott Tinkler, Bae il Dong, Simon Barker: Chiri

by Ian Patterson
March 4, 2011

Scott Tinkler, Bae Il Dong, Simon BarkerChiriKinmara Records2010 If the earth's core had a voice it would probably sound like Bae il Dong's. Bone-shudderingly powerful and utterly primal, his delivery is both awe-inspiring and just a little unnerving. Dong has the bass profondo of an opera singer and the raw, emotional power of the finest flamenco or qawwali singers. His sound is that of the human soul uncaged; whether song or ...