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.

326

Album Review

Greg Ward's Fitted Shards: South Side Story

Read "South Side Story" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
September 21, 2010

Like many musicians, Chicago saxophonist/composer Greg Ward (now based in New York) is juggling multiple gigs: working with names from Al Jarreau to Von Freeman; recording diverse projects with Mike Reed's People, Places, and Things or electronica artist Guillermo Scott Herren aka Prefuse 73; and even conducting an orchestra for hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco. In this ever-changing environment, it would be easy to lose identity, but his brilliantly conceived and exceptionally executed debut, South Side Story, proves otherwise, revealing ...

499

Take Five With...

Take Five With Peter Dragotta

by AAJ Staff
September 21, 2010

Meet Peter Dragotta: Peter Dragotta is a trumpeter, wind synthesist, composer and producer who performs under the name pharmacopia. For over 20 years he has connected his jazz origins with ambient, house, electronica and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock, pop, and classical music melding them into soundscapes of deep intensity.Peter's interest in both acoustic and electric music demonstrates his comfort in melding pop, rock and funk, alongside modern jazz. These distinctive sensibilities establish ...

329

Album Review

Mason Brothers Band: Two Sides, One Story

Read "Two Sides, One Story" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 21, 2010

After spending 20 years performing under the leadership of others, British brothers Brad and Elliot Mason step out front, taking charge of an all-star band that redefines the trumpet-trombone front line of drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers of the '50s and '60s. The round and mellow combination of Brad Mason's trumpet with Elliot Mason's trombone sounds almost like the early Crusaders. With pianist David Kikoski, bassist Scott Colley, drummer Antonio Sanchez, and saxophonist Chris Potter joining the ...

185

Album Review

Jon Irabagon: Foxy

by Glenn Astarita
September 21, 2010

Saxophonist Jon Irabagon is a promising talent who has garnered notoriety via his work with the clever and explosive quintet, Mostly Other People Do the Killing. On Foxy, legendary drummer Barry Altschul and bassist Peter Brendler provide sturdy support throughout the 78-minute sax solo extravaganza. On the opening title track, Irabagon launches an interconnecting sequence of cuts. With a take-no-prisoners approach, the saxophonist meshes free-bop, free-jazz and swing, his spirited line of attack underscored by thick and ...

152

Album Review

Johnny Griffin: Live at Ronnie Scott's

Read "Live at Ronnie Scott's" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
September 21, 2010

Once known as the “fastest tenor in the west" for executing fast notes with ease, saxophonist Johnny Griffin leaves one last recording to remember him by with Live At Ronnie Scott's. The album documents a two-night engagement in May 2008, at the legendary London jazz club, to celebrate the artist's eightieth birthday, and features a host of jazz luminaries, all there to pay tribute to a man known as “The Little Giant" of the tenor saxophone.Griffin, who passed ...

959

Interview

Chucho Valdes: The Music Never Ends

by Joan A. Cararach
September 20, 2010

Chucho Valdés arrived at his All About Jazz interview confident: of his music and of Spain's victory in the South African FIFA World Cup. It was July 11th 2010, and for the first time in its history, Spain's national team had reached a World Cup final, in South Africa. A Cuban interested in football? “A lot of people watch football in Cuba now, especially the Spanish league. I began to get excited about football in the last three years, in ...

277

Album Review

Chucho Valdes & The Afro-Cuban Messengers: Chucho's Steps

Read "Chucho's Steps" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
September 20, 2010

The semiology contained on pianist Chucho Valdés' magnificent Chucho's Steps points to the character of the music before the disc has even been taken out of its sleeve. First there's the name of the group and its reference to drummer Art Blakey's ferociously swinging Jazz Messengers. Then there's the title of the opener, “Las dos caras" ("Both Sides"), which hints at the two jazz traditions, American and Afro-Cuban, defining its particular style--an idea reinforced by the image of a crossroads, ...

201

Album Review

Jacob Melchior: It's About Time

Read "It's About Time" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 20, 2010

Tucked away in a very excellent piano trio offering, drummer Jacob Melchior's It's About Time, is a single vocal performance by Frank Senior of the Coots/Lewis standard, “For All We Know." Pianist Tadataka Unno and bassist Hassan JJ Shakur provide a very gentle undercurrent beneath Senior's smoky, Jon Hendricks-influenced vocals. Unno and Shakir, quietly introduce the piece, the arco bass giving the piece a slight antique, movie soundtrack feel. Melchior is unobtrusive, gently guiding the ...

412

Take Five With...

Take Five With LaGrand

by AAJ Staff
September 20, 2010

Meet LaGrand:LaGrand has been involved in either playing music or music production since he was six years old. He has a degree in Recording Engineering, and has been engineering and producing professionally since 1992. Having built a solid reputation of professionalism, knowledge, integrity, calmness and more, LaGrand has had many opportunities to work with many national and international dignitaries, companies and artists. His drive towards excellence in all he does is unsurpassed. Listen to LaGrand work ...

242

Album Review

Matt Bauder: Paper Gardens

Read "Paper Gardens" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
September 20, 2010

The album title, Paper Gardens, parallels saxophonist Matt Bauder's work for an architecture firm, concerning the design of a new garden for an elementary school. Upon his initial visit, he observed construction paper models of the proposed garden, which served as the basis for this curiously interesting, avant-garde, chamber-jazz foray. Here, Bauder forges a homogenous program, touching upon minimalism and sound-sculpting motifs to complement the improvisational opuses interspersed at key intervals. Partly constructed on horn- and string-based extended ...