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.

288

Take Five With...

Take Five With Akua Allrich

by AAJ Staff
November 1, 2010

Meet Akua Allrich: Jazz vocalist Akua Allrich is a musician of extraordinary talent and crowd-moving passion. For the past two years she has been electrifying audiences in and around the nation's capital with sold-out performances. With the 2010 launch of her independently produced album, A Peace of Mine, the young artist's music and concerts are creating a significant buzz with critics and music-lovers alike, and the rest of the world will have an opportunity to hear her. Said ...

255

Album Review

Pete Malinverni Trio: A Beautiful Thing

Read "A Beautiful Thing" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 1, 2010

The great tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins once said: “[music]...if you don't make mistakes you're not really trying." Pianist Pete Maliverni seems to have taken this statement to heart, going into the studio with his working trio--bassist Lee Hudson and drummer Eliot Zigmund--to record A Beautiful Thing, producing a music full of inspired flexibility, much like what would be heard on a live date.The set underscores advice that would be well-taken by any jazz musician--any artist for that matter--that ...

109

Album Review

Andy Farber and his Orchestra: This Could Be The Start Of Something Big

Read "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
November 1, 2010

Whatever happened to big bands that swing? While the big bands of yesteryear provided music for dancing and a healthy appreciation for swinging soloists and hip arrangements, that isn't the case today. Many of the most popular--and critically acclaimed--large ensembles in modern times are winning fans with highbrow conceptualism and compositions that, as brilliant as they are, won't have anybody dancing anytime soon. Fortunately, a few venues in New York City are still happy to house some ...

111

Album Review

Colin Dean: Shiwasu

Read "Shiwasu" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins

by Woodrow Wilkins
November 1, 2010

"It's so relaxing," says the person introduced to a type of jazz found to be pleasing, palatable--and inoffensive. The challenge for an artist is to create ambient music that can be accepted by those unfamiliar with jazz, without putting others to sleep. Acoustic bassist Colin Dean makes it happen with Shiwasu. Dean was born on Long Island, New York. A student of New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in ...

398

AAJ PRO

Advertisers: Improved banner placement and more opportunities to reach your audience

by Michael Ricci
November 1, 2010

Dear advertiser: All About Jazz is celebrating its 15th year on the web with a relaunch, making significant changes to our appearance and expanding our advertising services. Please read on for the details. Improved Banner Placement Our goal with the recent redesign was to modernize our appearance, elevate the banners so they appear higher on each page, and bring greater awareness to our global calendar of events and our photo gallery. The new website appears less ...

151

Live Review

Charles Lloyd New Quartet: Los Angeles, California, September 25, 2010

by Greg Camphire
October 31, 2010

Charles Lloyd New QuartetNate Holden Performing Arts CenterLos Angeles, California, USASeptember 25, 2010 The audience at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles witnessed something akin to a Saturday night prayer service on September 25th, 2010. As Charles Lloyd led his New Quartet in support of their latest release, Mirror (ECM, 2010), the expansive set list drew on tunes from throughout Lloyd's long career. But the group dwelled fully in the present ...

152

Live Review

Djavan at Best Buy Theater, October 26, 2010

by Ernest Barteldes
October 31, 2010

DjavanBest Buy TheaterNew York, NYOctober 26, 2010On the American leg of his 2010 tour, Brazilian-born Djavan chose two divide his live show into two distinctive parts: the first featured music from his current release, Aria (Luanda, 2010), a CD containing several covers from the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Chico Buarque and other Brazilian composers, while the second was a collection of his own hits, which hit a note with the numerous expatriate fans present ...

229

Album Review

Footprints: When You Dream

Read "When You Dream" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
October 31, 2010

Saxophonist Joshua Kwassman and trumpeter Christoph Siegrist front this maiden effort from Footprints, a New York-based quintet that surpasses freshman potential and arrives entirely shaped in its own unique style. The sophistication of the compositions, and the maturity and innovation in the playing, all belie the fact that these are very young players. The two leaders have played impressive venues such as Dizzy's Club at Lincoln Center, the Montreux Jazz Festival and JazzPeru. Both Siegrist and Kwassman have played for, ...

294

Take Five With...

Take Five With Colin Dean

by AAJ Staff
October 31, 2010

Meet Colin Dean:Colin Dean was born and raised in Long Island, New York. The son of a drummer, he has been surrounded by music his entire life. He attended the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City and received a BFA in jazz performance in May 2006. While at the New School he studied with masters including Buster Williams, Reggie Workman, Junior Mance, Bobby Sanabria, Rachel Z, Bill Kirchner, Vic Juris, ...

145

Album Review

Peter Erskine / Bob Mintzer / Darek Oles / Alan Pasqua: Standards 2, Movie Music

Read "Standards 2, Movie Music" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
October 31, 2010

Sometimes, the most powerful statements are those delivered directly: gentle, yet forceful in their complete commitment, and without the trappings of excess.With the sudden, unexpected passing in 2008 of Dave Carpenter--the talented and busy West Coast bassist who had played with everyone from Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman to Scott Henderson, Allan Holdsworth and Lee Ritenour--drummer Peter Erskine and pianist Alan Pasqua had to find a new bassist for their longstanding trio, last heard on Standards ...