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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Book Review

Life

by Phillip Woolever
January 29, 2011

Life Keith Richards with James FoxHardback, 564 pages ISBN: 978 0 316 03438 8 Little, Brown2010 Life is a last laugh lullaby. In guitarist Keith Richards' well-received and heavily hyped reflection, the defiant rock icon, humble blues ambassador and momma's boy family anchor keeps a laid back focus on the world around him since childhood. The Rolling Stones get cast through glass houses from London to Connecticut, with ...

225

Album Review

Chris Crocco: The Chris Crocco Fluid Trio +

Read "The Chris Crocco Fluid Trio +" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
January 29, 2011

The best of creative modern jazz can be visualized like Providence's Waterfire: living, breathing art with the near silence of water and sizzle of fire. True to that spirit, The Chris Crocco Fluid Trio + offers both vitalizing and hushed elements in the sequence of tunes on its self-titled sophomore outing. Crocco, the southern-born, New York-based guitarist reunites with his original trio mates--mentor and saxophone icon, George Garzone, and drummer Francisco Mela. Bassist Peter Siavov rounds out the “+," though ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Omar Tamez

by AAJ Staff
January 29, 2011

Meet Omar Tamez:He studied music with master in composition. He studied with the composer and teacher Nicandro Tamez. Skillful courses of composition and/or conferences with André Richard, Daniel Catán, Mario Lavista, Manuel de Elí¬as, Helmut Lachmann, Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Has made concerts in Mexico, United States, Italy, Instrument(s):Guitars, flutes, kora, kalimbas, and many other small ethnic instruments.Teachers and/or influences? Nicandro Tamez AndrÃ© Richard Daniel Catán, Mario Lavista, Manuel de Elí¬as, ...

233

Album Review

Peter Scherr: Son of August

Read "Son of August" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
January 29, 2011

Bassist Peter Sherr made a splash with his trio recording with Jazz Folk--Jazz in the Stone Age (Self Produced, 2010)--a strange collection of grunge covered jazz. Son of August pairs the bassist with his slide guitar playing brother, Tony Scherr, second guitarist Brad Shepik, and saxophonist Michael Blake, for a curious collection of progressive jazz and retro-proto-rhythm and blues. Among these latter musings is the powerful “Willing." Scherr covers Canadian multi-instrumentalist Chris Brown's “Willin,'" featuring his brother ...

259

Album Review

Univers Zero: Heresie

by Nic Jones
January 29, 2011

This reissue of Univers Zero's second album serves as a reminder as to how its singular vision--especially with the passing of decades (such a tricky notion, given the nature of the music)--has been upheld with an extraordinary collective force of will. The usual terms apply--as much as anything the group has ever committed to record, this is music as overcast, dank and cold as an English Sunday afternoon in January, but to a notably unusual degree, the ...

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Album Review

Bryan and the Haggards: Pretend It's The End of the World

Read "Pretend It's The End of the World" reviewed by William Carey

by William Carey
January 29, 2011

Is it too late for a “best of 2010" list? This 2010 release, by Bryan and the Haggards, has made several of these lists; while it would be easy to approach these jazz renditions of Merle Haggard tunes as some sort of novelty, that couldn't be farther from what tenor saxophonist Bryan Murray and his quintet have accomplished with this set of country ditties. The band's namesake, singer/songwriter Merle Haggard, remains a fascinating character in the history ...

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Album Review

Itamar Erez / The Adama Ensemble: Hommage

Read "Hommage" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 28, 2011

Four years passed between the debut recording of Israeli pianist/guitarist Itamar Erez and this sophomore one. Desert Song (Self Produced, 2006), was recorded with his Canadian quartet, and after relocating to Israel he founded a local quartet, based on the same instrumentation that was introduced by the pioneering, genre-breaking quartet, Oregon. On Hommage, Erez expands his musical horizons, dedicating his compositions to few of his musical inspirations: Brazilian composer and guitarist/pianist Egberto Gismonti; Tunisian oud master Anouar ...

126

Album Review

John Burnett Orchestra with Special Guest Buddy DeFranco: Down For Double

Read "Down For Double" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
January 28, 2011

On his third CD as leader, conductor John Burnett pays tribute to the music of Glenn Miller, Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, among others. The music here was recorded at three different times, from 2000 to 2010, but there is an underlying factor that unites it all. The John Burnett Orchestra swings mightily, abetted by some fine work from the soloists. The makeup of the orchestra underwent changes over the years; Burnett--who calls himself the architect ...

205

Multiple Reviews

Going Solo: One is NOT the Loneliest Number

by Mark Corroto
January 28, 2011

With the advent of new and affordable recording technologies capable of delivering exceptionally high quality sound, the market for idiosyncratic solo recordings is flourishing--in an era when so many are lamenting the death of jazz. Released mostly on small labels or as self-produced projects, the recordings are reminiscent of the cassette culture from the DIY 1980s and 1990s. These gems, produced by creative music's best and brightest, are popping up everywhere, or at least in the places adventurous listeners are ...

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Album Review

Gunslinger: Early Volumes 1

Read "Early Volumes 1" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 28, 2011

DJ Chris Anthem, aka Gunslinger, offers a medley of dance and party tracks founded on a pulsating, groove-oriented modus operandi. With feisty synth lines, catchy riffs and echo-laden vocals, the program casts an appeasing portraiture of retro house beats with a modern periphery. Gunslinger incorporates beefy electro-bass parts into the grand schema, which is a component that works agreeably with the snappy beats. At times, Gunslinger's vocals project mystical attributes, especially during the hazy dream-type ambient-electronica jaunts, largely ...