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.

1,867

Interview

David Sylvian: To Blow the Heart Wide Open

by Nenad Georgievski
January 12, 2010

Many artists deliberately avoid taking risks, making changes instead opting for the safe, but David Sylvian is not one of them. Across his illustrious career, Sylvian has always sought to take listeners out of their comfort zone. Self-consciousness and introspection permeate every corner of his works. His most riveting songs have explored various topics, including spirituality and soul-searching for the modern world. His songs are evocative and fragile, confronting the listener about the challenges inherent in being human.

375

Album Review

Trichotomy: Variations

Read "Variations" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay

by Bruce Lindsay
January 12, 2010

The Australian trio Trichotomy formed in 1999 and Variations, recorded in May 2007, is the group's third album--originally released in Australia under the band name Misinterprotato (Jazz Heads, 2008). The band describes itself on its website as a “contemporary music trio," which is “so much more than a traditional jazz trio"--a bold declaration, especially as the piano, bass, drums lineup initially suggests a very traditional jazz trio. But Variations is full of inventive, original and enjoyable music and the “is ...

427

Multiple Reviews

FURT and electronics on Psi

by John Eyles
January 12, 2010

The four latest releases on saxophonist Evan Parker's Psi label tell an interesting story about the past decade as well as about Psi and Parker. Each of the four releases features electronics and includes one or both members of the improvising electronics duo FURT--Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer. After Psi debuted in late 2001, its early releases focused on “good old-fashioned improv" including several re-releases from the 1970s and 1980s. Since 2003, the label has steadily evolved, increasing ...

481

Album Review

Myra Melford's Be Bread: The Whole Tree Gone

Read "The Whole Tree Gone" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 12, 2010

It's been too long since pianist Myra Melford's last release as bandleader, especially as we can now hear what we've been missing. For the second outing by her Be Bread ensemble, the pianist has assembled an all star cast of frequent collaborators. Bassist Stomu Takeishi, guitarist Brandon Ross and trumpeter Cuong Vu are holdovers from the debut disc, here joined by clarinetist Ben Goldberg and Matt Wilson at the traps. Melford herself concentrates solely on piano. Electronics are set aside ...

373

Album Review

Francesco Cafiso Quartet: Angelica

Read "Angelica" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 12, 2010

Angelica claims a spot as a superior quartet set--alto saxophone and a rhythm section--right at the very beginning, not with the Duke Ellington-penned title tune, but with a Billy Strayhorn gem, “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing." Italian saxophonist and jazz prodigy, Francesco Cafiso--just nineteen years old at the time this music was laid down--ignores the “never open with a ballad advice," proving you can't always let conventional wisdom twist your arm. It's a wonderful, tender exploration of the familiar ...

526

Live From New York

John Bunch, The Bad Plus, Daedelus & Dr. John

by Martin Longley
January 12, 2010

The John Bunch TrioSmallsDecember 29, 2009Steeply down the steps, to the intimate confines of Smalls, one of New York City's most laid-back jazz clubs. Normally, this Greenwich Village joint's clientele is younger, perhaps attracted by the single cover charge that allows all-night entry. This facilitates easy coming and going, so that folks can catch maybe three combos over several hours. On this particular evening, though, the haunt was hopping with a majority contingent of ...

270

Album Review

Antonio Ciacca: Rush Life

Read "Rush Life" reviewed by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
January 12, 2010

Antonio Ciacca Quintet's Rush Life is a welcome and valuable addition to the contemporary jazz catalogue, where it will rest easy, knowing its place. There are bits and pieces throughout the nine tracks that serve as hopeful reminders that the album could have been more provocative than it is. What it lacks is not skill, but a cool distance from the cerebral blueprint that's still very visible. The album isn't heralded as groundbreaking, and it isn't. It is a smart ...

279

Album Review

Matt Slocum: Portraits

Read "Portraits" reviewed by Terrell Kent Holmes

by Terrell Kent Holmes
January 12, 2010

Drummer Matt Slocum makes a memorable debut with Portraits, an eloquent and sophisticated collection of mostly original compositions, interpreted smartly by the leader, pianist Gerald Clayton and bassist Massimo Biolcati. The trio tunes here define crispness and diversity, whether it's Clayton's nimble piano on “Cambria," Slocum's quicksilver drumming on the workout “Shadows" or Clayton's lush styling, Biolcati's murmuring pizzicato and Slocum's shimmering cymbals meshing perfectly on the impressionistic “For Alin." They also play light-hearted tunes, like the ...

386

Album Review

100nka and Herb Robertson: Superdesert

Read "Superdesert" reviewed by Robert Iannapollo

by Robert Iannapollo
January 12, 2010

Herb Robertson has to be one of the most intrepid trumpeters around. He seems to be most willing to put himself in anomalous situations: the two-trumpet group he shares with Dave Ballou (MacroQuarktet), work as a sideman in various groups, membership in ad hoc assemblies like a trio with Evan Parker and Agustí Fernández or guesting with Pierre Dørge's New Jungle Orchestra. On Superdesert, Robertson collaborates with the Polish trio 100nka. This reviewer was unfamiliar with 100nka ...

263

Album Review

Ben Goldberg: Go Home

Read "Go Home" reviewed by Sean Patrick Fitzell

by Sean Patrick Fitzell
January 12, 2010

A comfortable familiarity permeates Go Home, the latest project from veteran clarinetist Ben Goldberg and the first offering from his Bag Production Records. Culled from both studio and live cuts, these feel-good romps suggest the intimacy of a jam session. He enlists longtime collaborators Charlie Hunter on seven-string guitar, Ron Miles on trumpet and cornet and Scott Amendola on drums, and their easy rapport fosters the music's success. Trafficking in meaty mid- and slow-cooking tempos, the group ...