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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Amanda Gardier, Ill Considered, De Beren Gieren, Marty Isenberg & More
by Ludovico Granvassu
Today we focus on new albums by two revered European bands, De Beren Gieren and Ill Considered, and a peculiar case of artistic synchronicity: two intriguing records of music inspired by the films of Wes Anderson, which have been independently but almost simulatenously concocted by Amanda Gardier and Marty Isenberg in 2022 and recently released.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 De Beren Gieren “The Houses" What Eludes Us ...
Continue ReadingJohn Zorn’s Masada, Tommy Flanagan, Jeff Parker
by David Brown
This week a trio of works featuring guitarist Jeff Parker, we then work our way tough a pile of recently acquired '80s LPs featuring lots of Tommy Flanagan, some Mulgrew Miller and Ronnie Mathews; and finally, we revisit John Zorn's Masada Quartet--leaders of the Radical Jewish Cultural movement of the '90s--who made their first recordings 30 years ago this week in 1994. Welcome friends and neighbors to The Jazz Continuum. Old, new, in, out... wherever the music takes us. Each ...
Continue ReadingRuth Goller: Basso Profundo
by Chris May
Altogether easier to talk to than is suggested by the stage makeup in the photo above, Ruth Goller reveals herself as totally down-home when, some ten minutes into this interview, the conversation turns to International Anthem, the Chicago-based label that has released her second solo album, Skyllumina. “I feel so lucky to have them," says Goller. “Because whenever I ask them something, the answer is always 'what's best for the music?' Never 'what's best for selling records?' or stuff like ...
Continue ReadingWinnipeg Jazz Orchestra: Tidal Currents: East Meets West
by Jack Bowers
When it comes to appraising contemporary big bands, Canada's Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra is on equal footing with the best of them. For its seventh album, Tidal Currents, the WJO has engaged two of that country's leading jazz composers, Jill Townsend and Christine Jensen, to present in musical terms impressions of places that have a special meaning to them, in particular the bodies of water that inspired them in their younger years and up to this point in time.
Continue ReadingBrad Mehldau: Maybe As His Skies Are Wide
by Mike Jacobs
Long known for his absolute adventurousness, there isn't much that Brad Mehldau hasn't stylistically encompassed. Still, when the pianist released an exploration of the progressive favorites of his youth,--Jacob's Ladder (Nonesuch, 2022)--the results were like nothing else in his catalog. Among the album's most compelling tracks is the re-envisioning of a single famous melodic line from Rush's classic “Tom Sawyer." Mehldau loops it, reharmonizes it, displaces it rhythmically and improvises over all these newfound twists and turns, creating something truly ...
Continue ReadingThis Celestial Engine: This Celestial Engine
by Glenn Astarita
This self-titled debut album is a masterful concoction of genres, melding psychedelic nuances with avant jazz and progressive rock elements. It showcases the talents of Ted Parsons on drums, Dave Sturt on bass, and Roy Powell on keyboards. These musicians are celebrated for their extensive contributions across jazz, metal, rock, and experimental music genres. Operating out of Oslo, Norway, the band draws on their varied musical backgrounds to create immersive soundscapes that transport listeners across cosmic distances.The album ...
Continue ReadingMartin Arnold: Flax
by John Eyles
In 2020, near the dawn of the COVID-19 lockdown, in a benevolent act, the Another Timbre label commissioned a number of selected composers to write pieces that would be recorded for the label. One such commission was for one of the label's esteemed Canadian composers, Martin Arnold, to write a CD-length piece for renowned pianist Philip Thomas who had recently recorded the much acclaimed five-CD box set of Morton Feldman compositions. Remembering discussions he had had with Thomas and having ...
Continue ReadingNew Releases from Betty Bryant, Ruben Caban, Juno Nominees Plus Women Who Wrote With Harold Arlen
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast includes new releases from Betty Bryant, Sarah L King, Ruben Caban and Andrea Superstein, with nods to Juno nominees Jocelyn Gould, Allison Au Christine Jensen and Gentiane MG plus birthday shoutouts to Shirley Crabbe, Jessica Jones, Dena DeRose, Nicole Mitchell, MJ Territo, Elsa Nilsson and Harold Arlen, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by seeing them live and online. Purchase their music so they can continue to distract, comfort, provoke and inspire.
Continue ReadingChes Smith, Damasiewicz / Wania, Fujii / Ono & Roberto Ottaviano
by Maurice Hogue
Plenty of genre-stretching music in this episode, from drummer Ches Smith's new Laugh Ash, vocalist Amirtha Kidambi & Elder Ones and their drive to make their music reflect the need for protest, and the Ewart/Asplin/Ricks Trio, featuring master AACM reedist Douglas Ewart, recorded live at BYU. Polish trumpeter Piotr Damasiewicz hooks up with fellow Pole, the talented pianist Dominik Wania for the intimate The Way, The Truth, The Life “ while Satoko Fujii joins saxophonist Ryoko Ono for a sparkling ...
Continue ReadingPaul Kendall: Whisper Not
by Jack Bowers
An organ trio led not by the organist, Dan Kostelnik, but by tenor saxophonist Paul Kendall. Makes no difference, as the music on Whisper Not is delightful, and Kostelnik and Kendall sound like they've been playing together for years instead of for the first time on this impressive studio date, recorded in March 2023. The trio (Rudy Petschauer is the drummer) break no new ground; they simply embrace a series of popular and jazz standards--along with a ...
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