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.

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Extended Analysis

The Black Butterflies: 1 de Mayo

by Matt Marshall
July 21, 2010

The Black Butterflies1 de MayoThe Black Butterflies2010 While this is just the debut release from The Black Butterflies, a group led by 27-year-old saxophonist Mercedes Figueras, veterans would do well to prick up their ears and take note. The Butterflies deftly blend the Latin rhythms of Figueras' native Argentina with free and post-bop noodling and tantalizing natural-world percussive elements, into full, invigorating music that sprouts, twines and flourishes over the 63-minute ...

137

Album Review

Ken Fowser & Behn Gillece: Little Echo

Read "Little Echo" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
July 21, 2010

Little Echo is a delightful collection of bop-influenced tunes--contemporary, but with the authentic sound of a classic late-'50s or early-'60s ensemble. The quintet sounds like it brings many decades of experience to the recording yet the co-leaders and composers, saxophonist Ken Fowser and vibes player Behn Gillece, are still only in their late-20s. This is their second quintet album although their debut, Full View (Posi-tone Records, 2009), featured a different rhythm section. Fowser's tenor playing is characterised ...

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Album Review

Philip Larkin: Larkin's Jazz

Read "Larkin's Jazz" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
July 21, 2010

The author of the immortal opening couplet, “They fuck you up, your mum and dad/They may not mean to, but they do," the poet Philip Larkin (1922-85) was in 2008 voted “the greatest British writer" of the last half century by the readers of The Times. No longer the newspaper of record it was in the decades prior to its acquisition by the loathsome Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation, who between them have done so much to debase British ...

772

Interview

Christine Tobin and Liam Noble: Unraveling Tapestry

by Bruce Lindsay
July 20, 2010

Christine Tobin is an uncompromising singer whose distinctive voice has graced the British jazz scene since the mid-1990s. Whether singing her own songs or interpreting the work of others, Tobin brings a unique sensibility to each number; creating atmospheric and, at times, emotionally intense performances. Liam Noble, one of the UK's most original jazz pianists, has worked with Tobin for some years as part of her regular band, as well as leading his own projects. Both performers can be expected ...

274

Album Review

Pedro Bermudez: No Limits

Read "No Limits" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
July 20, 2010

The term Latin Jazz has been assimilated into the modern vocabulary to describe a certain genre of music, though they are two distinct words which can stand alone. Such is the case withNo Limits, by pianist Pedro Bermudez. He articulates each track with its own identity with music that does not fall into any one category. Adept at both the Latin and jazz idioms, this record showcases his talents as such. Bermudez came up through the salsa ...

670

Live Review

Vision Festival 2010: Prologue

by John Sharpe
July 20, 2010

Prologue | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 Darius Jones Trio, Tim Berne's Lowest Common DenominatorVision Festival PrologueLocal 269New York CityJune 21, 2010Contrary to the belt tightening going on all around, the Fifteenth Annual Vision Festival sprawled even more languorously this year, with events spread liberally over eleven days in diverse downtown New York City ...

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Live Review

The Pinker Tones & Maldita Vecindad at the Latin Alternative Music Conference, Central Park Summerstage July 10, 2010

by Ernest Barteldes
July 20, 2010

The Pinker Tones & Maldita Vecindad Latin Alternative Music Conference Central Park SummerstageJuly 10, 2010On the last afternoon of the five-day conference that included showcases, panels, networking and an array of performances around New York City, Barcelona's The Pinker Tones took the stage with their eclectic blend of electronics and rock. The band opened with a digital effects-laden tune on the joys of video games, and immediately followed that with “Tokyo," a David Bowie-influenced number ...

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Album Review

Barnacled: Charles

Read "Charles" reviewed by Florence Wetzel

by Florence Wetzel
July 20, 2010

The angelic white goat on the cover of Charles gives no hint as to what might lie inside. Neither does the photo of the band--five men and two women wearing orange jumpsuits and standing in a somber line. Yet Charles is a musical treat: it contains eight songs recorded live by Barnacled, a band from Providence, Rhode Island, that blends electronic and acoustic music into a bold, one-of-a-kind tapestry.The band's unique sound derives in part from its unusual ...

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Album Review

Food: Quiet Inlet

Read "Quiet Inlet" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
July 20, 2010

A reduction in personnel rarely results in a broader musical expanse, but that's just what happened to Food, since trumpeter Arve Henriksen and bassist Mats Eilertsen departed in 2004. Molecular Gastronomy (Rune Grammofon, 2008)--Food's first duo recording, though the use of guests fleshed the group out to a trio--was Food's most accessible album to date, without sacrificing any of its inherent risk and sound of surprise. Quiet Inlet--Food's first for ECM, and featuring Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz on three tracks ...

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Album Review

Syaharani & Queenfireworks: Anytime

Read "Anytime" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 19, 2010

Syaharani is often referred to as Indonesia's queen of jazz, and while she possesses a soulful voice, powerful and touched by the blues, Anytime is essentially a crossover album, and a highly rewarding one at that. When Syaharani's in full flight she evokes early Grace Slick's power, however her extensive range of emotions are more reminiscent of Annie Lennox. Twelve original songs are notable for their strong, memorable melodies and are sweet and breezy without being saccharine. Several songs have ...