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.

140

Album Review

Russ Kassoff: Bird Fly By

Read "Bird Fly By" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 30, 2010

Bird Fly By opens, appropriately enough, with Russ Kassoff's unaccompanied piano establishing an easygoing vibe on Gus Kahn / Walter Donaldson's flapper-era standard, “Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." He's soon joined by bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Dennis Mackrel for a groovy romp that's all but certain to leave the listener smiling. Listening to that prefatory number is all that's needed to understand that Kassoff clearly loves what he is doing--and that he does it remarkably well. ...

929

Live Review

New Voices and the American Song Book

by Franz A. Matzner
October 29, 2010

Monk Vocal CompetitionKennedy CenterWashington, D.C.October, 2010 One of the premier jazz events of the year, the annual Thelonious Monk competition rarely fails to deliver. Each year the jazz elite gather to celebrate the legacy of Thelonious Monk and to recognize up-and-coming talents of the jazz world via a competition that rotates among instruments. When hosted by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., an aura of political weight is inevitably added to ...

285

Album Review

Charlie Hunter: Public Domain

Read "Public Domain" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
October 29, 2010

There's no particular insight in the suggestion that most musicians lay their musical lives bare through their recorded work: near-instantaneous, fully formed leaps into greatness for some; more gradual upwards curves for others; and for all, even the occasional misstep. Still, there are times when it seems as though a little discretion would go a long way. Amongst endless reissues fattened out with often superfluous bonus material and new releases from promising young artists not yet ready to make the ...

833

Extended Analysis

Lew Soloff: Sketches Of Spain

by Karl Ackermann
October 29, 2010

Lew SoloffSketches Of SpainSheffield Lab 2010 Sometimes it feels as though trumpeter Miles Davis never left the stage--his afterlife in airplay, books, t-shirts, reissues and tributes is ubiquitous. But even for those jazz fans who would rather not languish in nostalgia, Davis, like saxophonist John Coltrane, continues to set a standard against which to gauge a whole range of jazz styles, from traditional through fusion to avant-garde. Cover versions of Davis typically ...

238

Album Review

Alex Brown: Pianist

Read "Pianist" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
October 29, 2010

Even for a pianist with as prodigious a talent as Alex Brown, having a heavyweight in the music pantheon such as Paquito D'Rivera produce the debut album, must have largely been a dream. However, to pull off a debut as fine as this is a feat in itself. As a pianist, Brown has remarkable technique. Although he may still be searching for his true voice and that may take time, he appears to be closer than most. He is truly ...

436

Take Five With...

Take Five With Scott Feiner

by AAJ Staff
October 29, 2010

Meet Scott Feiner:Scott Feiner's musical story is not a common one. Not only is he an American pandeiro player, but he also introduced this Brazilian hand drum to the world of jazz in a highly personal way. A native of New York City, Feiner received a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies/Guitar at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut, where he studied jazz history with the legendary saxophonist Jackie McLean. In the ...

160

Album Review

Ken Thomson and Slow/Fast: It Would Be Easier If

Read "It Would Be Easier If" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
October 29, 2010

Ken Thomson, New York based saxophonist and composer, describes the music of Slow/Fast as “21st Century Third Stream." It's an apposite description, for it certainly brings together elements of jazz and classical music, but it underplays the third element of Slow/Fast's sound--the influence of rock. All four members of Slow/Fast, heard on the band's debut, It Would Be Easier If, have roots in rock music, and it's these roots that most clearly inform the excitement and aggression to be found ...

304

Album Review

Junko Onishi: Baroque

Read "Baroque" reviewed by Keith Henry Brown

by Keith Henry Brown
October 29, 2010

The world has been a slightly less happy place since Junko Onishi's last record. After establishing herself as one of the finest young jazz pianists around with her debut, Wow (EMI, 1993), Onishi released a string of fine Blue Note recordings: Live At The Village Vanguard Volume 1 and Volume 2 (both 1994); the superb Cruisin' (1994), featuring her majestic “Eulogia"; and Piano Quintet Suite (1995).With Fragile (Blue Note, 1999)--a virtual rock covers album that took ...

150

Album Review

Rich Halley: Live at the Penofin Jazz Festival

Read "Live at the Penofin Jazz Festival" reviewed by Gordon Marshall

by Gordon Marshall
October 29, 2010

Tenor saxophonist Rich Halley gives the great cornetist, Bobby Bradford, the first solo on Live at the Penofin Jazz Festival, as well he should. Bradford is a veteran of the melodically oriented free jazz scene, going back to his days in the late '50s with Ornette Coleman, who is Halley's starting point. When Halley himself comes in on the number, “The Blue Rims," he doesn't so much come out of the woodwork as come out like the woodwork itself, something ...

221

Album Review

Harvie S: Cocolamus Bridge

Read "Cocolamus Bridge" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose

by Raul d'Gama Rose
October 28, 2010

The re-imagining of a traditional Irish ballad, “Eili Gheal Chiuin," does more than define the breathtaking skills of bassist Harvie S, as he takes wing on Cocolamus Bridge. It sets him apart as one of the very few virtuoso bassists of today. He has courage way beyond the narrow definition of the word, and has a fecund mind that is continually searching for new horizons towards which to stretch, taking with him a bass violin that sings with almost limitless ...