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.

129

Album Review

Bill O'Connell: Rhapsody In Blue

Read "Rhapsody In Blue" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
January 15, 2011

Internationally recognized composer/pianist Bill O'Connell has long been associated with Latin jazz, having established and cemented his reputation in the genre with past recordings like Black Sand (Random Chance, 2001) and Latin Jazz Fantasy (Random Chance, 2004). However the classically trained O'Connell is also well adept at playing other forms of jazz, including hard bop and mainstream--which, he does so well on Rhapsody In Blue. Naturally, O'Connell infuses this recording with a good measure of deep Latin grooves on several ...

395

Album Review

Verneri Pohjola: Aurora

by Bruce Lindsay
January 14, 2011

Finnish trumpeter/composer Verneri Pohjola comes from a well-established family of jazz musicians: both his father, famed bassist Pekka Pohjola, and his younger brother, trombonist Ilmari, join him here. Pohjola was voted Musician Of The Year by Finnish jazz critics in 2004, but Aurora is his debut as leader. This is a work of immense beauty which benefits not only from Pahjola's expressive trumpet playing and writing, but also from exceptional musicianship from every single one of its 15 players.

676

Extended Analysis

John Zorn: Dictee / Liber Novus

by Warren Allen
January 14, 2011

John ZornDictée / Liber NovusTzadik2010 If the ever-productive multi-instrumentalist John Zorn's compositional oeuvre yields one simple theme, it is the sheer variety of his interests and vision. Perhaps none of his personal oeuvres better encapsulate this than his file card compositions. These are usually extended pieces that consist of a vast number of diverse musical ideas, written down on file cards, which Zorn then cuts between in the studio, often at a ...

385

Album Review

Tom Rizzo: Imaginary Numbers

Read "Imaginary Numbers" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
January 14, 2011

Los Angeles-based guitarist Tom Rizzo originally released Imaginary Numbers as a self-produced offering from his website, with the title Imaginary Numbers--Guitar Plus Eight. The disc has, fortunately, been picked up by Origin Arts, joining several other notable guitarists at the label including Corey Christiansen, Larry Koonse, Mimi Fox and John Stowell. Origin Art continues to accumulate first rate guitar talent in their virtual West coast offices. It should not be neglected that Rizzo's recording employs a nonet, ...

347

Live Review

Joe Lovano with Family and Friends: Cleveland Heights, December 28, 2010

by Matt Marshall
January 14, 2011

Joe LovanoNighttownCleveland Heights, OhioDecember 28, 2010 Late into the third set of his homecoming gig with family and friends at Nighttown, saxophonist Joe Lovano took to the mike to remind all in attendance that “Cleveland has always had a creative music scene goin' on." It felt part pep talk, part classic eureka moment of the chronically pessimistic Clevelander, sprung this night from the combustive heat of a wonderfully overstuffed room: “Wait, wow, this is our ...

320

Album Review

Lol Coxhill / Roger Turner: Success With Your Dog

Read "Success With Your Dog" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
January 14, 2011

Listening to soprano saxophonist, Lol Coxhill on Success With Your Dog, it is tempting to dwell on the thought that Coxhill pushes the straight horn further, much further, than the late Steve Lacy. It is, of course, natural. Coxhill emerged around the same time as Lacy, and both men came long after Sidney Bechet, and the man who sent them on their journey of musical discovery, John Coltrane. By this time, both men's paths had been made clear, and in ...

898

Year in Review

David A. Orthmann's Best Releases of 2010

by David A. Orthmann
January 14, 2011

2010 was a banner year for newly recorded jazz.. Nathan Eklund Group Coin Flip(OA2 Records) Dmitry Baevsky Down With It(Sharp Nine) Champian Fulton The Breeze and I(Gut String) Tobias Gebb/Unit 7 Free at Last(Yummyhouse) Sarah Manning Dandelion(Posi-Tone) David Bixler and Arturo O'Farrill The Auction Project(Zoho) Eli DegibriIsraeli ...

411

Album Review

Delfeayo Marsalis: Sweet Thunder

Read "Sweet Thunder" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
January 14, 2011

Acclaimed trombonist and member of the first family of jazz, Delfeayo Marsalis launches Sweet Thunder: Duke & Shak, an original theatrical jazz production culled from live performances in thirty-six locations across the country. The play was born from Marsalis' affinity for the music of Duke Ellington and the poetry of Shakespeare: first brought to the musical stage in the 1957 production of Such Sweet Thunder at the Shakespeare Festival I Stratford, Canada. Both Ellington and Billy Strayhorn were invited to ...

341

Album Review

Yoni Silver: Peep Holes

Read "Peep Holes" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
January 14, 2011

Israeli bass multi-instrumentalist Yoni Silver is one of the most gifted and original voices in Israel's tiny free improv and indie scene. He is a versatile musician, and has collaborated with such free spirits as veteran clarinet improviser Harold Rubin and young vocalist/keyboardist Maya Dunietz, with whom he released A Mono Musical Suite For Three Manic Musicians (Self Produced, 2008). Silver was also a member of saxophonist Albert Beger's quintet on Listening (Earsay, 2004), as well as the alternative rock ...

300

Album Review

Loose Tubes: Dancing On Frith Street

Read "Dancing On Frith Street" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
January 13, 2011

Twenty years after the legendary Loose Tubes played its final gigs, Dancing On Frith Street, a live album taken from those valedictory performances at London's Ronnie Scott's Club in September 1990, offers a chance for jazz fans of a certain age to reminisce, and an opportunity for those who missed the band's performances the first time around to check out its live sound. Thankfully, this superbly produced, atmospheric and exciting album enhances the band's reputation. It should also bring it ...