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.

264

Album Review

Joe Chambers: Horace to Max

Read "Horace to Max" reviewed by Larry Reni Thomas

by Larry Reni Thomas
August 16, 2010

Drummer/vibraphonist/composer/educator Joe Chambers' Horace to Max is an awesome display of versatility and master musicianship; that's impossible to put away, it gets better with each listen. The distinctive blue-and-black colored cover design is similar to those fine Blue Note records of the 1960s and 1970s. The disc possesses a subtle suggestive theme that can only be described as plain old protest music, showing that times have not really changed; despite being written decades ago, the music's lyrics, meaning and intended ...

260

Album Review

Thierry Gomar: Between Two Worlds: Opus II

Read "Between Two Worlds: Opus II" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
August 15, 2010

Between Two Worlds : Opus II features vibraphonist Thierry Gomar in a solo performance, alternating between two three-octave vibraphones: one acoustic and the other electro-acoustic. By means of discrete electronic treatment of the recording on the one hand, and a particularly rich synthesis of musical influences--contemplative music somewhere at the juncture between jazz and contemporary composition--on the other, Gomar and his laptop-toting partner, José Barrachina, skillfully keep things from sounding monochromatic.On the aural evidence, Barrachina's computer interventions are ...

309

Live Review

Kendra Shank and the Geoffrey Keezer Trio Live at the Douglas Beach House at Half Moon Bay

by Bill Leikam
August 15, 2010

Kendra Shank and the Geoffrey Keezer TrioDouglas Beach HouseHalf Moon Bay, CAJuly 25, 2010 Having never heard Kendra Shank but respecting Geoffrey Keezer whose work on the piano is nothing shy of surprising and always engaging this concert at the Douglas Beach House on July 25, 2010 was a must see. Geoff had played the Douglas Beach House several times over the past couple of years and so he was known by the audience. ...

331

Live Review

Music of The Americas: Hermeto Pascoal Group at Symphony Center, August 5, 2010

by Ernest Barteldes
August 15, 2010

Hermeto Pascoal Group Symphony CenterNew York, NYAugust 5, 2010Watching Brazilian-born Hermeto Pascoal perform is a musical experience unlike any other. He has the ability of transforming everyday household items into musical instruments, extracting from them unique sounds that have become his trademark throughout the six decades of his fruitful career.That is what we experienced on August 5 when Pascoal's 7-piece group stepped on stage at New York's Symphony Center. Bassist Ibere Zwarg started ...

194

Album Review

Schlippenbach Trio: Bauhaus Dessau

Read "Bauhaus Dessau" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
August 15, 2010

The Schlippenbach Trio is now decades old; perhaps it's not surprising there are only a few improvised music groups that have lasted that long. In this trio's case the matter of pedigree goes without saying, but whether or not the depth of their familiarity with each others' work makes for sterile, unrewarding music, is a question that easily comes to mind. On this occasion it isn't, as it's far from sterile and unrewarding. Evan Parker, in particular, ...

333

Album Review

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: Couldn't Stand the Weather: Legacy Edition

Read "Couldn't Stand the Weather: Legacy Edition" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
August 15, 2010

The two-disc package of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's second studio Album, Couldn't Stand The Weather, adds to the legacy of this contemporary bluesman through a combination of studio outtakes and a complete concert recording. Disc one contains the original follow-up to Texas Flood (Epic, 1983), that effectively ignited a blues revival in the Eighties. By adding a homage to Jimi Hendrix, in the form of “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)," as a crowning touch, Vaughan thoroughly honored ...

433

Album Review

Kerry Politzer Quartet: Blue in Blue

Read "Blue in Blue" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 15, 2010

Two of the most enduring and popular ensemble set-ups in jazz are the piano trio--piano/bass/drums--and the piano trio, with a saxophone joining in. Pianist Kerry Politzer combines formats on Blue in Blue, with six tunes featuring her trio and four more with guest saxophonist Donny McCaslin.While You Took Me In (Polisonic Records, 2007) featured Politzer in a more pop-leaning mood, Blue in Blue finds her back in mainstream jazz land, sculpting a sound that mixes up piano influences ...

243

Album Review

Chris Colangelo: Elaine's Song

Read "Elaine's Song" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
August 15, 2010

Representing the second album in a decade for Los Angeles-based bassist Chris Colangelo, Elaine's Song documents seven original compositions that he has been working on for two years; time well spent, considering the caliber of the charts. Though the originals are the meat of this musical endeavor, the most ambitious piece of the album, “Falling Grace" is borrowed from bassist Steve Swallow, and provides the bassist a platform to showcase his acoustic bass chops. The other non-original tune in the ...

256

AAJ PRO

What is Wrong with Booking Agencies

by Chuck Anderson
August 15, 2010

There are frequent questions about booking agents and agencies world wide. There are two kinds of agents--those who never return a call or email and those whose “plates are full." There is never room on their rosters. Under what circumstances would an agency expand its roster? There must be a point where an agency loses a client or discovers someone that is worth the effort to expand. How did they get their initial rosters in the ...

572

Live Review

Jeremy Monteiro Big Band: Grand Ballroom, Ritz Carlton, Singapore

by Ian Patterson
August 14, 2010

Jeremy Monteiro Big BnadGrand Ballroom, Ritz CarltonSingaporeJuly 30, 2010 Since '77 pianist/composer Jeremy Monteiro has helped to place Singapore on the map through his role as a jazz ambassador. To celebrate his fiftieth birthday Monteiro assembled his seventeen-piece big band joined by a number of special guests and led a swinging performance in front of a packed ballroom at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The lavish event was part of the ongoing fund-raising efforts of ...