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.
Sign in to customize your My Articles page —or— Filter Article Results
Leni Stern: The Twenty Year Audition
by Jim Worsley
Composer and musician Leni Stern has big news to share. She chose to do so quietly, with her usual cool, low-key and savoir-faire charm. In conversation with only my wife and I, recently at a jazz club in Los Angeles, she left us elated with the kind of news most other artists would be screaming from a mountain top. But that's not how this classy European-born artist rolls. It's another milestone accomplishment, in a career chalked with them. But let's ...
Continue ReadingAdam Berenson: Dwelling on Magic Mountain
by Karl Ackermann
Pianist and keyboardist Adam Berenson excels in various music genres including jazz, classical and electronica. His solo box-set Every Beginning is a Sequel (Dream Play, 2020) found the exploratory composer employing an arsenal of keyboards and high-end synthesizers in his original compositions. Berenson returns to that general cache of instruments for Dwelling on Magic Mountain, another solo outing. The six lengthy tracks cover a lot of stylistic ground. Dark and portentous, “Cryptomnesia" opens the set in a place ...
Continue ReadingAntonio Gavrila: Tango Suite Buenos Aires
by Jack Bowers
Astor Piazzolla, the Brazilian master who modernized and forever changed the profile of the tango, starting in the late '50s, died in 1992, several years before pianist Antonio Gavrila was born, halfway around the world in Bucharest, Romania. To Gavrila, Piazzolla was more than a name or even a reformer; he was--and remains--an inspiration, one whose music serves as the driving force behind Tango Suite Buenos Aires, Gavrila's second album as leader and first for Zoho Music. ...
Continue ReadingDarden Purcell: Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood
by Geannine Reid
Darden Purcell's album Love's Got Me In A Lazy Mood (OA2 Records, 2023) shows her keen ear for the subtleties and nuances which define the West Coast cool jazz vocal sound. Purcell's album comprises eleven tracks which blend the laid-back, sophisticated rhythms and melodic inventiveness that characterize the style with beautiful singing and nimble playing. Purcell is joined by an ensemble of musicians whose contributions are pivotal to the album's charm and success. On six tracks the ensemble ...
Continue ReadingExciting New Releases From Looty Trio, Mok, Brennan, And More
by Bob Osborne
On this edition of the show we hear contemporary sounds from Looty Trio, Lesley Mok, Patrick Brennan, Rodrigo Amado, Richard Nelson Makrokosmos Orchestra, Wendell Harrison Tribe, Christoph Stiefel, Sumo, and Marmota, In addition there are classic tracks from Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Looty Trio “Boxer Rebellion" from Boxer Rebellion (Aut Records) 00:54 Lesley Mok “quite a spectacular dusk" from The Living Collection (American Dreams) 06:41 patrick brennan s0nic 0penings “tilting curvaceous ...
Continue ReadingAl Foster Quintet at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club
by Chris DeRosa
Al Foster Quintet 81st Birthday Celebration Smoke Jazz & Supper Club January 27, 2024 Hello, my name is Chris DeRosa and this is what I heard... Smoke is a great venue to hear timeless jazz. Established in 1999 and located on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the sound and layout make it a highly enjoyable venue to catch some of New York's finest. And as expected, tonight's show did not disappoint.
Continue ReadingArthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
by Chris May
One of the most egregiously underestimated albums in jazz history, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe's Lenox Avenue Breakdown was released on vinyl by Columbia in 1979 and on CD by Columbia (Japan) in 1995 and Koch Jazz in 1998. That's it bar a dodgy fourfer. Blythe fronts a septet completed by flautist James Newton, tubaist Bob Stewart, guitarist James Blood Ulmer, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Jack DeJohnette and percussionist Guillermo Franco. Producer is Bob Thiele. The title track has the most ...
Continue ReadingCharles Lloyd: Defiant, Tender Warrior
by Scott Lichtman
Feng shui--the Chinese art of physical arrangements--says that a garden is perfect when no item can be removed without diminishing its substance. Woodwind grand-master Charles Lloyd's song release, “Defiant, Tender Warrior," is a lot like feng shui in this respect. This minimalist gem blends suggestive flurries on tenor sax, ethereal reflections on piano, and a steady thrum on acoustic bass and drum kit. The treatment is so delicate that you are fully attuned to the full minute-long crescendo that begins ...
Continue ReadingAlma Tree: Sonic Alchemy Suprema
by Karl Ackermann
New York native Ra Kalam Bob Moses grew up in the same building as Max Roach, Art Blakey and Elvin Jones. Early on he saw performances by many of the best jazz drummers in history, including Roy Haynes, Rashied Ali, Milford Graves, Billy Higgins, and Ed Blackwell. As a teenager in the mid-1960s, he played with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Moses was not only destined to be a drummer; he had soaked up a variety of jazz styles and sub-genres that ...
Continue ReadingRob Susman: Top Secret Lab
by Jack Bowers
Trombonist Rob Susman, who is inclined to dwell on the cutting edge of contemporary jazz, remains “out there" for the most part on Top Secret Lab, an album wherein his splendid nonet is challenged by half a dozen of Susman's intricate compositions (and two others) and aces every test without any detectable missteps or errant notes. The question is whether Susman's blend of old-school funk with more modern design might whet a listener's appetite. And the answer ...
Continue Reading
