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.

382

Gnome Notes

A Guide to Guides: A Look at Musical Instrument Stores

by Chris Rich
December 17, 2010

I like to research stuff and make useful things with All About Jazz's data. Since mid summer, I've been puttering around with the Musical Instrument Store guide. I have a fairly simple bush method. I type a search like “Musical Instrument Stores New York City" and then use the Google Map entry for the best array of data.From there, I just run through whatever comes up, checking any web site URL for whatever lands in the system until ...

177

Album Review

Erin Bode: Photograph

Read "Photograph" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
December 17, 2010

Vocalist Erin Bode's debut, Don't Take Your Time (MAXJAZZ, 2001), showcased her abilities to coat jazz singing with a user-friendly, pop-oriented patina, but subsequent albums have taken her farther afield from the world of straightforward jazz vocals. Bode showed early promise as a singer/songwriter, with the title track on her debut release, and she's made good on that promise on Over And Over (MAXJAZZ, 2006) and The Little Garden (Native Language, 2008). Both of those albums put ...

465

Contributor News

Your Year End Lists, 2010 Highlights, Contributor Tip Jar and Fund Drive

by Michael Ricci
December 17, 2010

Dear fellow AAJ contributor, It's that time of year, and you know what that means: we're looking for your “best of" lists. It's also a time to take stock in our 2010 accomplishments and tighten our plans for 2011. Please read on...Index 1. Post Your Year End Picks 2. Year in Review 3. Fund Drive 4. Tips: Always, always... 5. Plans for 2011 6. What We're Listening to Now: Writers Wanted!

310

Album Review

Mood Indigo: It's Christmas Eve

Read "It's Christmas Eve" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
December 17, 2010

Texas-based Mood Indigo is a jazz duo composed of multiple-instrumentalists Joe Romano and Susan Elliott. The duo's music tends toward the organic “Hot Club" type: largely acoustic, and elegantly wrought. The pair's first recording, Oh, Solo Duo (Self Produced, 2001), was a well-received collection of standards delivered in a sharp, piquant style that is readily accessible and enjoyable. The same can be said for the duo's holiday offering, It's Christmas Eve. Romano and Elliott toss a lone ...

377

Year in Review

John Kelman's Best Releases of 2010

by John Kelman
December 16, 2010

Selected picks representing the top recorded events in jazz and beyond for 2010. Note that only albums that have been reviewed can qualify.... Jazz New Releases Kurt Rosenwinkel/OJM Our Secret World (Wommusic) OregonIn Stride (Cam Jazz) Paul MotianLost in a Dream (ECM) Vic JurisOmega is the Alpha (Steeplechase) Norma WinstoneStories Yet to Tell (ECM) ...

322

Year in Review

Troy Collins' Best Releases of 2010

by Troy Collins
December 16, 2010

Compiling end of the year lists is never an easy task. Considering the quantity of recordings released in a year's time, attempting to mention every notable album would result in an unfocused list of epic proportions. The titles listed below are among the most exceptional albums of the past year. These few records embody a fertile cross-section of some of the best modern jazz of 2010, spotlighting the sophisticated developments of the post M-Base crowd, erudite advancements to the tradition ...

334

Album Review

Frank Gratkowski / Jacob Anderskov: Ardent Grass

Read "Ardent Grass" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza

by Jerry D'Souza
December 16, 2010

Over the years, reed/woodwind multi-instrumentalist Frank Gratkowski has formed a series of potent combinations with other musicians. His first was with Georg Graewe in 1992 before he went on to fruitful collaborations with Gerry Hemingway, Wilbert DeJoode, Michael Vatcher and Herb Robertson, among others. Gratkowski has the ingrained ability to turn the presence of his musical partners into a creative force that exemplifies the art of improvisation, and does it once more with pianist Jacob Anderskov on Ardent Grass, which ...

266

Album Review

Ray Brown’s Great Big Band: Kayak

Read "Kayak" reviewed by Robert J. Robbins

by Robert J. Robbins
December 16, 2010

Not to be confused with the late, legendary bassist of the same name, San Francisco-based bandleader/arranger Ray Brown, an ex-trumpeter with the Stan Kenton and Full Faith and Credit big bands, drives his own nineteen-piece ensemble populated by the Bay Area's A-list musicians. Brown, whose percussionist father pioneered jazz education in the public schools of Long Beach, New York over seven decades ago, steadfastly maintains the legacy of the recently-deceased Canadian composer/arranger Rob McConnell in his deft yet swinging charts ...

577

AAJ PRO

More Improvements and we need your help!

by Michael Ricci
December 16, 2010

Dear fellow musician: As the year draws to a close, I'd like to wish you a safe and joyous holiday season. And we, at All About Jazz, would like to thank you for your continued praise and encouragement. Reflecting back on 2010, it's been a year of significant improvement, in particular, the sections that support musicians. We made a big push in December (based on your feedback) and we wanted to bring you up to speed ...

105

Album Review

Dave Bass: Gone

by Bruce Lindsay
December 16, 2010

Gone, as pianist and composer Dave Bass reflects in his notes to this fine album, has many meanings: for the Beat Generation, it was a state of mind, but it can also suggest physical absence. Bass himself was gone for 20 years--out of the music business, following a wrist fracture in the mid-1980s. He studied law, eventually becoming a District Attorney in California and then, fortuitously, returned to jazz in 2005. Before his injury, Bass played in ...