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.

243

Album Review

The David Liebman Trio: Lieb Plays The Blues A La Trane

Read "Lieb Plays The Blues A La Trane" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
December 29, 2010

Saxophonist Dave Liebman's rise into the jazz big time came from his stint in Miles Davis' band in the early seventies, playing soprano sax on the iconic trumpeter's often maligned but groundbreaking and excellent On the Corner (Columbia Records, 1972). It didn't hurt, profile-wise, working with drummer Elvin Jones, on Live at the Lighthouse (Blue Note Records, 1972). And, of course, the name “Elvin Jones," in a “degree of separation" mode, brings up John Coltrane, whom Liebman describes, in his ...

918

Book Review

Jazz Icons: Heroes, Myths and the Jazz Tradition

by Ian Patterson
December 29, 2010

Jazz Icons: Heroes, Myths and the Jazz Tradition Tony Whyton Hardcover; 219 pages ISBN: 978-0-521-89645-0 Cambridge University Press 2010 From relatively early in its history, the so-called jazz community was divided--sometimes bitterly so--over the definition of jazz, and more significantly, over ownership. That much hasn't changed. As academic Tony Whyton states in Jazz Icons: Heroes, Myths and the Jazz Tradition, jazz's history is usually presented as a ...

492

Extended Analysis

Lola Danza: Vision Quest

by AAJ Staff
December 28, 2010

Lola DanzaVision QuestEvolver 2005 New York jazz singer and composer Lola Danza has a background in avant-garde jazz and, before that, in classical singing. Active on the New York scene since 2007, when she arrived from Boston and Berkelee School of Music studies, the singer has immersed herself in predominantly free jazz performance. Already attracted to the idea of free improvisation in Boston, Danza progressed to completely free expression with an album ...

1,492

Interview

Anil Prasad: Inner Views, Borderless Perspectives

by Joe Lang
December 28, 2010

He may not be a household name and you likely won't hear him mentioned in music journalism classes alongside Robert Christgau, Lester Bangs and Anthony DeCurtis. But for those familiar with his work, Anil Prasad is considered among the most knowledgeable, provocative and forward-thinking music journalists in the world today. In 1994, Prasad was dissatisfied with the lack-of-depth and diversity found in the conventional music journalism landscape and struck out on his own to create Innerviews website, ...

343

Album Review

Matt Ulery's Loom: Flora.Fauna.Fervor

Read "Flora.Fauna.Fervor" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 28, 2010

The music on Flora.Fauna.Fervor might be dubbed episodic, if not for the fact that each new idea steadily evolves from what came before. Bassist Matt Ulery uses kaleidoscopic compositional methods that develop gradually, yet travel to wide-ranging places and often return home to roost. Endless permutations of instrumental combinations and stylistic possibilities are explored, with Ulery's stellar septet pulling the puppet strings and Ulery building the puppets. While this music employs two horn players that could easily ...

351

Album Review

Danielle Freeman: Dorian

Read "Dorian" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
December 28, 2010

With the poise of an opera diva and an ability to scat like Ella Fitzgerald, New York-based singer Danielle Freeman possesses a voice that commands attention with beauty and control on her debut, Dorian. Primarily a duet recording by Freeman and acoustic bassist Matt Wigton, the recording is an austere yet scintillating showcase of voice and instrument, crossing the borders of classical music, jazz improvisation, and modern composition.One of its more intriguing tracks, “CuCuRuCuCu Paloma," draws inspiration from ...

215

Album Review

Koplant No: Koplant No

Read "Koplant No" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
December 28, 2010

Produced in Iowa City, IA., Koplant No may allude to a research project, concentrated in the observation of alien life within a sector on a distant planet. Engineered with depth, space and mood-eliciting soundscapes, the quartet generates an oscillating jazz-fusion electronica schema, treated with melodic choruses, drifting motifs and beguiling storylines. Nothing is sugar-coated from a New Age-like standpoint, although there are plenty of sweet spots interspersed throughout the program. Here, saxophonist Joel Vanderheyden and trumpeter Brian Lewis Smith help ...

330

From Far and Wide

Smalls Jazz Club: Live and So Much More

by Mark Corroto
December 28, 2010

After a few minutes talking with pianist Spike Wilner, Charlie Parker's quote about authenticity in music comes to mind: “If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn..." Actually, the entirety of Bird's thoughts best captures the art of Spike Wilner. Bird goes on to state: “They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."Wilner doesn't seem to have any boundary lines these days. The pianist-turned-club owner, ...

852

Interview

Kellylee Evans: A Nod to Nina, Then Onward

by R.J. DeLuke
December 27, 2010

In a sense, singer Kellylee Evans was fast-tracked into her career in music, deciding relatively late in her still-young life that she would plunge into show business waters; waters that can sometimes be murky and beset with storms.When the Toronto, Canada-area woman made a decision to drop pursuit of a master's degree to pursue singing--a decision made after a near-death experience--it wasn't long before she was working on her first recording, an album created with the aid of ...

285

Album Review

Maya Nova: Open

by Ian Patterson
December 27, 2010

Bulgarian singer Maya Nova cut her teeth in pop, funk and jazz bands in her native Sofia, before relocating to Singapore in 2002. There, she successfully established her presence on the local jazz scene, in addition to holding the post of Main Study Voice Lecturer at the prestigious La Salle College of the Arts. Open, her debut recording, sees Nova wrapping her vocal chords around a selection of mostly standards, extracting the most out of familiar tunes with her surprising ...