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.

306

Album Review

Sandro Albert: Vertical

Read "Vertical" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
November 23, 2010

Ever since the path-breaking, horn-like excursions of guitarist Charlie Christian in Benny Goodman's band, the language and literature of the guitar have forever been changed. Today's exponents, from Pat Metheny to Fred Frith, have stretched its boundaries, albeit from dramatically different perspectives of the musical spectrum. Sandro Albert fits somewhere in the dynamic pantheon of guitarists, a musician who comes from a long line of musicians in the fertile tradition of Brazilian guitarists, amongst them Laurindo Almeida, Carlos Barbosa-Lima and ...

613

Interview

Sandro Albert: A Bard’s Journey

by Raul d'Gama Rose
November 23, 2010

His voice is soft and as lyrical as the music he composes and plays. Hearing the young and immensely talented guitarist, Sandro Albert speak can calm even the most frayed nerves. Nervousness was never an issue, but it is always exciting to speak with an accomplished musician. Albert is certainly one. He was born in Brazil and grew up there. Not long ago he moved to the United States--first to Los Angeles, then to New York City, which he has ...

677

Live Review

New Universe Music Festival: Day 1, November 20, 2010

by John Kelman
November 23, 2010

Day 1 | Day 2 The New Universe Music FestivalRaleigh, North CarolinaNovember 20-21, 2010 With so many jazz festivals taking place around the world--and new ones emerging each and every year--just as it's become increasingly challenging, in this world of DIY recordings, for artists to filter through and be heard, how does a new festival find its way into the public eye, to reach fans whose entertainment dollars are being stretched more than ever before?

293

Album Review

Chris Dahlgren: Mystic Maze

Read "Mystic Maze" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
November 23, 2010

Critics don't always get it right. Surprisingly, their keen critical faculties can desert them and, sooner or later, they are left looking and sounding foolish. In the first half of the twentieth century music critics were routinely dismissive of Hungarian composer Béla Bartók's work, often with a level of vitriol rarely seen in these enlightened times. Somewhat belatedly (for Bartók, who died in 1945), Lexicon, led by the Berlin-based American bassist Chris Dahlgren, has taken up the cudgels on the ...

155

Album Review

Henry Brun and the Latin Playerz: 20th Anniversary

Read "20th Anniversary" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins

by Woodrow Wilkins
November 23, 2010

A collector's edition is only as good as the source material. In the case of Henry Brun and the Latin Playerz, the source is an eclectic representation of their work. Brun, a native of the Bronx born to Puerto Rican parents, plays congas and a variety of other percussion instruments. His career includes an international tour with the U.S. Air Force band, Tops in Blue, and work with Maynard Ferguson, Bob Hope and Lucille Ball. He formed the ...

227

Album Review

The Tokyo Quartet: Beethoven: The "Late" Quartets

Read "Beethoven: The "Late" Quartets" reviewed by AAJ Staff

by AAJ Staff
November 23, 2010

Just as any real and informed music fan is familiar with the Duke Ellington “Blanton Webster Band," Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue (Columbia, 1959), and Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens recordings, so should they also be immersed in Beethoven's famous late string quartets. There are pre-echoes of twentieth century popular music harmony here, but additionally, there is a depth that travels beyond music. These late quartets--said to summarize all Beethoven's musical explorations--have been recorded by the ...

270

Live Review

Great vibes in Cape May N.J.

by Sandy Ingham
November 23, 2010

Cape May Jazz FestivalCape May, NJNovember 12-14, 2010 Just a few bars into his first tune, “All Blues," I knew Joe Baione would make my day. Or night, as it were.Vibraphonist Baione's quartet wasn't a headliner at the 34th semiannual Cape May Jazz Festival. Those honors belonged to Les McCann with Javon Jackson, to the Yellowjackets, to Terell Stafford and Tim Warfield, to Ralph Peterson. Their sets had been enjoyable. But this listener, at ...

389

Album Review

Kevin Eubanks: Zen Food

Read "Zen Food" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
November 22, 2010

As the former Tonight Show's music director for 18 years, guitarist Kevin Eubanks admirably performed the necessary duties of leading the house band, trading comedic barbs with host Jay Leno, and whatever else it took to get the job done. But before the glamor and glitz of Hollywood, most folks probably didn't know that Eubanks was and still is a superb jazz musician who has performed with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, bassist Dave Holland, and released a number ...

860

Interview

Kevin Eubanks: Refocusing and Looking Forward

by Matthew Warnock
November 22, 2010

For millions of people across the U.S. and abroad, Kevin Eubanks will always be associated with The Tonight Show band, after his 18 years alongside Jay Leno. But for those who have followed Eubanks' career off the set, where he has been a highly prolific composer and recording artist, it's his work as a guitarist that makes him memorable. Sure, his infectious laughter and banter with Jay Leno was fun to watch night after night, but six-stringers in the audience ...

275

Live Review

Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Festival 2010

by Patricia Myers
November 22, 2010

Sedona Jazz on the Rocks FestivalPoco Diablo ResortSedona, AZ October 2, 2010 After a year's hiatus due to financial problems, the 29th Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Festival promised a “ReJAZZination," aimed at boosting attendance by having more blues and R&B. Unfortunately, the festival's original jazz focus suffered because the sounds were mostly blues, pop and rock, the same kind of shift in recent years at many other festivals. Attendance was a slight increase over ...