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.

407

Extended Analysis

Various Artists: Music of Central Asia, Volumes 7 - 9

by Greg Camphire
October 2, 2010

Various ArtistsMusic of Central Asia, Volumes 7--9Smithsonian Folkways2010 The three 2010 CD/DVD releases covered here are just a taste of a stunning and comprehensive nine-volume Music of Central Asia set from Smithsonian Folkways that spans various musical traditions and innovations from a vast, overlapping region including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and more. Each volume contains a CD, DVD and 40-plus-page booklet, with a wealth of information that details the history, ...

177

Take Five With...

Take Five With Ron van Stratum

by AAJ Staff
October 2, 2010

Meet Ron van Stratum: Drummer/percussionist from The Netherlands. Has worked with Jim Beard, Scott Kinsey, Mike Stern, John Beasley, Mike Mainieri, Eric Gale and others. Currently teaching at Conservatory of Maastricht (NL). Has three CDs out as a leader, and is a clinician for Yamaha drums, and Meinl cymbals and percussion.Instrument(s):Drums, percussion.Teachers and/or influences? Joe Zawinul, Jim Beard, Scott Kinsey, Peter Erskine, Vinnie Colaiuta, Elvin Jones, Pat Metheny.Your sound ...

194

Album Review

Mick Rossi: Songs From The Broken Land

Read "Songs From The Broken Land" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
October 2, 2010

Pianist Mick Rossi is an exemplar of the cross-fertilization between jazz and classical music worlds. While closely collaborating with Philip Glass for the last ten years, he is also very active in the downtown New York City jazz scene. Songs From The Broken Land is a much reworked, official release version of a project included in a previous All About Jazz review, Mick Rossi: Spontaneous Improvisation. The pianist's efforts have created a much stronger work, one that ...

127

Album Review

Ken Wheeler & The John Dankworth Orchestra: Windmill Tilter

Read "Windmill Tilter" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
October 2, 2010

It's easy to forget how long Canadian-born Kenny Wheeler has been making music. This, the first of his infrequent large ensemble recordings, was originally released back in 1969, and some thirteen years prior to that he was working in the quintet of baritone saxophonist Buddy Featherstonhaugh. Windmill Tilter offers the best of both worlds: not only is there Wheeler's highly distinctive writing for large ensemble, but there are a couple of quintet tracks, featuring Wheeler in the ...

307

Album Review

Marcus Persiani: Uptown Suite

Read "Uptown Suite" reviewed by Leonard Epstein

by Leonard Epstein
October 2, 2010

Hailing from Chicago, Marcus Persiani has largely managed to escape the limelight, while establishing himself in New York City as an in-demand leader and sideman. The pianist's debut as a leader, Uptown Suite, could be called a manifesto of his considerable and diverse musical abilities, a complete disc of original compositions reflecting a collage of personal experiences. Throughout, Persiani effortlessly juggles two different ensembles while playing music that explores three main themes: his roots in Chicago; his ...

699

Big Band Report

These Are a Few of My Favorite....Charts

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2010

Whenever the topic of desert islands arises among jazz fans, the focus is invariably on which albums (discs) one would choose to cram into a suitcase if one were ever stranded on an otherwise barren island. While the consideration of particular arrangements seldom governs the debate, I really think it should. After all, few albums, however admirable, can be entirely engaging--highs and lows are inevitable, and some selections inescapably bestow more pleasure than others. A classic arrangement, on the other ...

194

Album Review

Ingrid Laubrock: Anti-House

by Chris May
October 1, 2010

Her music has grown exponentially in the intervening years, but there are passages on saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock's Anti-House which resonate strongly with her 2004 album, Forensic (F-IRE), the disc which announced her emergence as a soloist and bandleader of propitious substance and originality. The connection is the beat. Until now, Laubrock's post-Forensic albums, notably Sleepthief (Intakt, 2008) and Paradoxical Frog (Clean Feed, 2010), have found her more involved with sonic experimentation on her horns, and in-the-moment micro-interaction with her fellow ...

524

Extended Analysis

Frantisek Uhlir: Bass Devotion / BassSaga

by Jerry D'Souza
October 1, 2010

Frantisek Uhlir TeamBass Devotion / BassSaga Multisonic2010 In 2010, bassist František Uhlíř is celebrating his 60th birthday with a double-disc CD release. Being an inventive person, he has combined a live quartet recording from earlier in the year, Bass Devotion, with a studio recording from 1984, BassSaga. Together, the discs illuminate a sonic spectrum that crafts subtlety as richly as it does sizzling energy.Uhlíř embraces the quartet as the František ...

158

Album Review

Exploding Star Orchestra: Stars Have Shapes

Read "Stars Have Shapes" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
October 1, 2010

Stars Have Shapes is dedicated to the memory of recently deceased seminal free jazz innovators Fred Anderson and Bill Dixon, both of whom played with cornetist Rob Mazurek's all-star ensemble on separate occasions, including the magnificent summit meeting Bill Dixon With Exploding Star Orchestra (Thrill Jockey, 2008). Featuring a rotating cast of renowned Chicago improvisers, the Exploding Star Orchestra has become a mainstay in the Windy City's jazz scene and a significant part of Mazurek's growing discography.Sequenced like ...

532

Take Five With...

Take Five With Marzio Scholten

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2010

Meet Marzio Scholten: Marzio Scholten (1982, Granollers, Spain) is regarded as one of the most talented and promising modern jazz guitarists and composers in The Netherlands. In 2006, he graduated from the renowned Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he studied with Jesse van Ruller, Yuri Honing and many others. Motherland, his critically acclaimed debut as a leader, was released in 2008. With this album he has proven to be one of Holland's leading jazz guitarists. In 2009, Marzio ...