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.

146

Mix Tape

Essential CTI: Part 1

by Douglas Payne
February 21, 2011

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Founded by legendary producer Creed Taylor in 1970, CTI Records achieved a legacy that is unrivaled in jazz. CTI produced records that were not only commercially successful but many that were superbly and artistically satisfying. Some of them are immortal. This is the first of three such sets devoted to the “Essential CTI" recordings. TrackNameTimeArtistAlbum1 Red Clay12:11Freddie HubbardRed Clay2 Sugar10:6Stanley TurrentineSugar 3 Fire And Rain7:57Hubert LawsAfro-Classic4 ...

275

Album Review

Cuong Vu 4-Tet: Leaps of Faith

Read "Leaps of Faith" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
February 20, 2011

The order and presentation of music on a recording or in a recital are every bit as important in the music producer's skill set as is choosing what music to include. Had trumpeter Cuong Vu introduced his Vu-Tet's Leaps of Faith with the title piece, or “Child-Like (for Vina)," it would have been easy to dismiss the recording as a well-intentioned experiment, descending into noise and chaos before making its point. Instead, Vu and co-producer/bassist Luke Bergman wisely introduce the ...

218

Interview

Yuzima: Soulful Rocker

by Ernest Barteldes
February 20, 2011

New York-born Yuzima is not your average singer-songwriter. For starters, it's hard to pigeonhole exactly what kind of influences he has, as he incorporates various genres and makes them his own, as can be heard on his self-titled debut.Live, Yuzima is very charismatic, and has a fiery stage presence, as witnessed firsthand, by playing with him at New York's Brooklyn Bowl on January 16th, during the annual Beatles on Ukulele event (I played bass; he sang “The Long ...

396

Album Review

Matthew Shipp: The Art Of The Improviser

Read "The Art Of The Improviser" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
February 20, 2011

By now, critical listeners have formed an opinion about the music of pianist Matthew Shipp. Like his musical predecessors Cecil Taylor and Thelonious Monk, Shipp is an uncompromising voice that tends to force listeners to queue up in line, either for him or against him. With the release of The Art Of The Improviser, he has essentially summed up his first fifty years on two CDs of resolute and committed music.Like his previous 4D (Thirsty Ear, 2010), Shipp ...

318

Take Five With...

Take Five With Zack Cross

by AAJ Staff
February 20, 2011

Meet Zack Cross:I am from a very WASPy suburb of Washington, DC known as Arlington, VA. I started playing piano when I was seven years old, and played only classical music until I was about 13 years old, when my grandfather gave me a Monk greatest hits compilation. I didn't even like it at first, but one day it suddenly clicked and from then I listened to it non-stop. Instrument(s):Piano. Teachers ...

218

Album Review

Peter Sommer: Tremolo Canteen

Read "Tremolo Canteen" reviewed by Florence Wetzel

by Florence Wetzel
February 20, 2011

Like food, music can be hastily prepared and obvious, or it can be thoughtfully concocted, with delicious subtleties of flavor and seasoning. Saxophonist Peter Sommer's standout Tremolo Canteen is happily the latter, full of intricate layers and quiet surprises, performed by four excellent musicians who came of age in the Denver jazz scene. Sommer's tenor lines are strong and multifaceted, and yet at the same time there's a quality to his playing that's refreshingly understated. He can ...

291

Album Review

Peter Beets: Chopin Meets the Blues

Read "Chopin Meets the Blues" reviewed by Greg Simmons

by Greg Simmons
February 20, 2011

While a knowledge of romantic pianist Frederic Chopin (1810--1849) can add to the experience of listening to pianist Peter Beets' Chopin Meets the Blues , it is by no means essential to enjoying it. This is a jazz album first and foremost, and a very good one at that. Beets uses Chopin's charts as a jumping off point, and does not constrain himself by the mood or tempo of the original music. The opener, “Nocturne in Eb Major, ...

264

Take Five With...

Take Five With Tyson Ailshie

by AAJ Staff
February 20, 2011

Meet Tyson Ailshie: Tyson Ailshie hails from Denver, Colorado, where he writes and performs straight-ahead jazz music in trio and duo settings as a group leader. Combining original compositions with deep grooves and intimate settings of eclectic jazz standards, he is beginning to make a name for himself in the Denver area, having performed most recently at Regis University, FRCC's Art Gallery Series, ACC's Waring Theater, Dazzle, The Twisted Olive, The D Note Jazz Festival. Colleague Randy Russell says of ...

176

Album Review

Assaf Kehati: Flowers And Other Stories

Read "Flowers And Other Stories" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
February 20, 2011

Dynamic tension and release is an under-explored avenue in jazz. While composers and performers of this music seem to come out of institutes of higher learning with advanced harmonic knowledge, allowing them to create stunningly complex chords that resolve in an amiable fashion, these very musicians are often incapable of using the same techniques when dealing with volume concerns. Dynamics, like melody and harmony, play a key part in shaping any musical performance, and guitarist Assaf Kehati is keenly aware ...

261

Mix Tape

George Shearing Quintet

by Douglas Payne
February 20, 2011

The great pianist George Shearing (1919-2011) helmed a classic jazz quintet from 1949 through 1978. The best of these recordings were made while Shearing was contracted with Capitol between 1955 and 1969. Here is a sample of the finest of the George Shearing Quintet's recordings. TrackNameTimeArtistAlbum1 Strange2:53George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet2 Yesterdays3:14George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet3 Out Of This World3:21George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet4 Cuban Fantasy2:28George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet5 'Round Midnight3:01George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet6 If ...