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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Afrobeat Diaries

Part 13 - The Complete Works of Fela Anikulapo Kuti

by Freddy Charles
November 11, 2010

Fela Anikulapo KutiThe Complete Works Of Fela Anikulapo KutiWrasse Records2010 Who knew? Who imagined, even a few years ago, that the life and music of Fela Anikulapo Kuti would inspire the biggest Broadway musical sensation of 2010 and the concurrent release of this lovingly put together, definitive collection of his recorded work? Kuti's fans have long proclaimed his relevance to all times and to all peoples, but to see the dawn ...

108

Album Review

Norbert Stein Pata, Horns & Drums: Silent Sitting Bulls

Read "Silent Sitting Bulls" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
November 11, 2010

Silent Sitting Bulls is the second release by this quartet, and it's clear that the time they've spent together has not been wasted. The outcome is an exceptional level of musical coherence, and it's not stretching a point to put their music alongside that of some of Arthur Blythe's ensembles as a model which, while it shows deep knowledge of the history of improvised music, also appreciates that a lot of its life's blood is generated by unassuming innovation.

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Album Review

Anna Webber: Third Floor People

Read "Third Floor People" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
November 11, 2010

Those who stand up and give the finger to the status quo must be honored. New York saxophonist/flautist Anna Webber does exactly that, with a recording that brags not one, but two bass-less quartets. Third Floor People is a collection of 11 original compositions by Webber, employing two quartets--one from Montreal and one from New York City. The structure of the quartets are both drums and guitar, with either alto saxophone (Montreal People) or trumpet (New York People).

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Album Review

Scott Lee: Leaving

Read "Leaving" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
November 11, 2010

Scott Lee is a bassist who sports a persuasive compositional pen. An educator, session ace, and solo artist, Lee and his constituents impart a highly-rhythmic slant on the progressive-jazz vernacular amid a few intermittent nods to the avant-garde spectrum throughout Leaving. His quartet instills a rite of passage, chocked full of nifty theme-building exercises, intriguing harmonic propositions and the swing element. The redeeming values of “Two Ways" are symmetrically balanced in a heady, odd-metered take on jazz-funk. With ...

510

Interview

Mike Keneally: Behind the Creative Mind

by Matthew Warnock
November 10, 2010

Percussionist Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 series grew out of an interesting and challenging premise. The accomplished drummer recorded an hour-long improvisation and then submitted the same recording to other artists, including John Czajkowski, Phi Yaan-Zek, Trey Gunn and Alex Machacek, and asked them to compose accompanying music to pair with his improv. Though this approach to composition sounds difficult to say the least, the results have proven to be highly inventive and musically smooth, if one didn't read the liner ...

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Album Review

Gary Husband: Dirty & Beautiful Volume 1

Read "Dirty & Beautiful Volume 1" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
November 10, 2010

For some, recruiting an all-star cast means nothing more than a budget to support it, but in the case of Gary Husband's Dirty & Beautiful Volume 1, it reflects the many friendships the keyboardist/drummer has built over the years--all clearly happy to help deliver the album that should, by all rights, put him more squarely on the map as a leader in his own right. John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Robin Trower, Level 42...all well-known names in jazz and rock/pop circles; ...

292

Album Review

Ches Smith & These Arches: Finally Out Of My Hands

Read "Finally Out Of My Hands" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
November 10, 2010

Despite its brief 35-minute runtime, Finally Out Of My Hands is one of the year's most intriguing releases. The debut recording of Ches Smith & These Arches, this visceral studio session features an unorthodox instrumental combination courtesy of some of New York's finest improvisers. Leading the unusual quartet from his trap set, Smith is joined by Downtown luminaries Mary Halvorson (electric guitar), Andrea Parkins (accordion, organ and electronics) and Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone). Eschewing conventional roles, they erase preconceived boundaries ...

721

Interview

Brian Rasic: The Life of Brian

by Nenad Georgievski
November 10, 2010

Good photography can say more than a thousand words--it captures the moment and immortalizes it. Known for his brilliant photography, Serbian-born, London-based photographer Brian Branislav Rasić is known for producing some of rock's most memorable images. For more than three decades, Rasić has photographed the greatest artists in the music world and beyond. Rasić took his first steps by photographing local musicians in Belgrade, Serbia, as well as bands coming from abroad. A career in music photography was a natural ...

174

Album Review

David S. Ware: Onecept

by John Sharpe
November 10, 2010

Never one to be daunted, David S. Ware's first release after his kidney transplant was a solo live recording of three improvisations on three different instruments. Saturnian (Solo Saxophones, Volume One) (AUM Fidelity, 2010) garnered a strongly positive critical response. Now he has gone one stage further, following up with an even better studio date backed by the experienced pairing of longtime collaborator William Parker on bass and veteran drummer Warren Smith, both holdovers from Ware's quartet which made the ...

236

Album Review

Bettye LaVette: Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook

Read "Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
November 10, 2010

Cross Nina Simone with Tina Turner and you get Bettye LaVette. Finally receiving the attention she deserves, LaVette finds herself on a most receptive world stage. LaVette appeared at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors, in tribute to The Who's Peter Townsend and Roger Daltrey, singing “Love Reign O'er Me," from Quadrophenia (Polydor, 1979). Video of the performance shows a stunned and humble Townsend and Daltrey, hearing their iconic song sung by an icon. Interpretations is a bold and are breathtaking ...