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.

1,020

Live Review

Norwegian Road Trip, Part 5: Molde Jazz, Days 1-2

by John Kelman
July 22, 2010

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 [Editors Note: From July 6 to July 26, 2010, All About Jazz Managing Editor John Kelman will travel throughout Norway to cover both the Kongsberg Jazz Festival (also participating in Silver City Sounds) and Molde Jazz. He'll also spend a week between the two famous festivals in Oslo, where he'll check out the scene, talk to musicians and labels, ...

327

Album Review

Bobby Avey: A New Face

Read "A New Face" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
July 22, 2010

The CD is called A New Face, referring to the set's leader, pianist Bobby Avey. He was an even “newer" face on 2006's Vienna Dialogues (Zoho Music), a duet set with veteran saxophonist David Liebman that explored the music of pre-twentieth century classical composers, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Mahler and Brahms.For this, Avey's debut as a leader, the pianist has put together modern-thinking jazz trio, in the mode of Jason Moran or Vijay Iyer. Liebman's back, sitting in on ...

609

Live Review

Vision Festival 2010 - Opening Night

by John Sharpe
July 22, 2010

Prologue | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 Opening Invocation, The Blues Escaped, Stomp It, Rob Brown New Quartet, Broken Flowers, In Order To SurviveVision FestivalAbrons Arts Center23 June 2010 After three days of activity across various downtown venues, the Vision Festival returned to the well-appointed Abrons Arts Center for the core part of the proceedings. Everything a small ...

241

Album Review

Various Artists: Larkin's Jazz

Read "Larkin's Jazz" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
July 22, 2010

Philip Larkin is one of the best-loved British poets of the twentieth century--the man who claimed in Annus Mirabilis that “Sexual intercourse began in nineteen-sixty-three..." A librarian at the University of Hull in the north-east of England, he was a complex character whose poems were often witty and well-observed but could also appear cynical and contemptuous. He was also a lifelong jazz fan, declaring in the opening line to The Dance: “Drink, sex and jazz--all sweet things, brother..."

207

Album Review

Willie Buck: The Life I Love

Read "The Life I Love" reviewed by Nic Jones

by Nic Jones
July 22, 2010

It's always a joy to hear the Chicago blues when it isn't cut with anything, and this is as pure as it comes. Willie Buck has been leading bands in the city for over forty years and this material was committed for posterity some twenty eight years ago. Passing time hasn't diminished it however and it sounds as uplifting now as it would have done back then. Buck knows how to read a lyric and as a ...

255

Live Review

Mundell Lowe Quartet Live At The Saville Theater

by Robert Bush
July 22, 2010

Mundell Lowe Quartet Saville Theater, San Diego City College San Diego CA July 13, 2010 Tuesday night's affair was standing-room-only for the rare appearance by Mundell Lowe, an iconic figure in the annals of jazz history. Lowe cut his teeth as an improviser in the Roosevelt administration--that he continues to perform with such vitality two years into the Obama era is nothing short of amazing. Lowe has the rare distinction of gigging ...

255

Take Five With...

Take Five With Max Blumentrath

by AAJ Staff
July 22, 2010

Meet Max Blumentrath: Jazz organist Max Blumentrath, (born in 1986 in the very west of Germany), graduated from the conservatory of Enschede, the Netherlands in May 2010. In fall 2010, he will contine his studies in Dresden, Germany. He took classes and masterclasses from international reknowned organists like Larry Goldings, Joey DeFrancesco, Alberto Marsico, Matthias Bätzel, John Hondorp, Arno Krijger, Carlo DeWijs and Steinar Nickelsen. From 2008-2009 he was an exchange student at the conservatory of Barcelona, Spain. ...

277

Album Review

Marshall Allen / Matthew Shipp / Joe Morris: Night Logic

Read "Night Logic" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
July 21, 2010

Unlikely combinations sometimes deliver the most enjoyable results. Take the unexpected pleasure to be derived from what must have one time seemed unpromising pairings such as chili and chocolate or garlic and bread. So the partnering of Sun Ra Arkestra regular Marshall Allen with pianist Matthew Shipp and long time associate Joe Morris yields an astonishing and joyful return on Night Logic, a live recording detailed with in-your-face sound from NYC's Roulette, spread generously over ten self-contained abstract improvisations spanning ...

628

Interview

Giacomo Gates: An Unconventional Backstory

by Sean Dietrich
July 21, 2010

Giacomo Gates brings a rich, full-bodied timbre to the vocal jazz table. His pure vocalese approach has earned him lauds among critics, who hail him a champion artist in the modern jazz genre. He's been performing alongside the most recognized artists in the industry, using only his voice to produce a broad range of spectral color. Gates can be found singing melodies, lyrics, and even singing bass lines or flute solos.The vocalese medium has been expanding since Eddie ...

400

Album Review

Dino Saluzzi: El Encuentro

Read "El Encuentro" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
July 21, 2010

Since first emerging on the ECM label in 1983, Argentinean bandoneonist/composer Dino Saluzzi has demonstrated that even the most ethnic of instruments needn't be stylistically pigeonholed. From the solo recital of Kultrum (1983) and unorthodox improvisational pairing with Norwegian drummer Jon Christensen on 2005's Senderos, to the all-star grouping of 1986's Once upon a time--Far away in the south, affectionate, chamber jazz setting of Responsorium (2003) and outgoing, family-driven Dino Saluzzi Group's Juan Condori (2006), the bandoneonist has proven, time ...