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.

Interview

Enzo Favata: Coming Home to Atlantico

by Neri Pollastri
September 19, 2026

In Enzo Favata's long and multifaceted artistic journey, alongside his exploration and reinterpretation of the traditions of his native Sardinia, one project stands out: Atlantico, the group that for more than a decade, spanning the turn of the millennium, performed on stages across the world. It is with that same band, which resumed playing at the end of 2023 after a long hiatus, that Favata has released an album on the prestigious ECM Records label, with a deeply symbolic title: ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill Zooid: Cut You Where You Was

Read "Cut You Where You Was" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 19, 2026

In 2001, Seth Rosner resurrected reed man Henry Threadgill's career by establishing Pi Recordings, initially for the sole purpose of releasing Threadgill recordings. Threadgill wanted to put out two albums simultaneously. Rosner said he would have agreed to four if that was what the artist requested. But two it was: Up Popped Two Lips by Henry Threadgill's Zooid and Everybody's Mouth's a Book, by Henry Threadgill & Make A Move. This was a move of genius on Rosner's part. Since ...

Play This!

A Percussion Paradise Inhabited By Searing, Soaring Sensations

by Keith Flint
September 19, 2026

From its solo conga introduction to its exuberant ensemble finale, Donny McCaslin's “Soar" leads listeners along a path of tension, anticipation, and release. The pleasures of the performance are immediate, yet its full gratification is tantalizingly delayed: rhythm first, then added texture, then a gathering rush of sound as each musician finds a place in the unfolding drama. Immanuel Kant's 1764 Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime invited readers to deeply consider subjective ...

Album Review

The Kris Davis Trio: Lost In Geneva

Read "Lost In Geneva" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 19, 2026

Lost in Geneva begins in that spatial, metro-rush way a lot of pianist/composer/provocateur Kris Davis' excursions into the city do. But it soon skews into its own glacial swath, like many of Davis' excursions into the city. Ergo, “The Subtext," a fierce workout by any means or description and its successor, “Congestion Pricing," a study in immediate subversiveness. But Lost in Geneva (the first release on the pianist's new imprint, 4166 Records) is not all about immediacy or ...

Radio & Podcasts

David Katz: Chasing Dub Beyond The Soundsystem

by Lawrence Peryer
September 19, 2026

The reggae historian joins the podcast to discuss Dub Revolution, his account of how King Tubby, Prince Jammy, and Scientist pulled reggae records apart at the mixing desk and sent the pieces back out. ...

Album Review

Matt Choboter: Visceral Totems: Improvisations for Microtonal Prepared Piano

Read "Visceral Totems: Improvisations for Microtonal Prepared Piano" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
September 19, 2026

Conceived and executed as an extended aural narrative performed on a custom-built microtonal prepared piano, Matt Choboter's Visceral Totems: Improvisations for Microtonal Prepared Piano radiates an orchestral air from its very inception via “Prologue." Intentional or not, the tones recall those of a child's music box, the plucked nature of which complements those bell-like timbres that ensue within “Visceral Sketch part II," immediately commencing in the wake of the former's less than three-minute duration. With the ...

Interview

Jasur Khalilov: From Falak to Fusion

by Anastasia Bogomolets
September 18, 2026

Jazz has always been a music of dialogue, shaped by encounters between cultures, traditions, and individual voices. In Tajikistan, a post-Soviet country in Central Asia, one of the spaces where this dialogue has taken place is the Dushanbe International Jazz Festival (Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan), an initiative that brought together musicians from Central Asia, Europe, and beyond while exploring connections between jazz improvisation and local musical traditions. For musician, educator, and artistic director Jasur Khalilov, the ...

Radio & Podcasts

Skinny Hightower, Ralph Alessi, Neves E Silva, Buster Williams, Jon Madof, Rob Dixon

by Ludovico Granvassu
September 18, 2026

Lineage and traditions as springboards for new ideas, in this playlist of recent releases. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Neves E Silva “Das Neves" Ladeiras De Santa Teresa (Far Out) 0:16 Host talks 3:28 Skinny Hightower “Chain Reaction" Feels Like Destiny (CastOver) 5:16 Rob Dixon “I Want You" Naptown Soul (Strikezone) 13:22 Host talks 18:50 Jon Madof Trio “Invisible Alchemy" Netzach (Tzadik) 20:16 Ralph Alessi ...

Live Review

Islay Jazz Festival 2026: Festival Round-Up

by Mark McKergow
September 18, 2026

Caol Ila Islay Jazz Festival Islay, Scotland September 11-13, 2026 The 27th jazz festival on the Scottish whisky island of Islay (pronounced eye-la) brought together the best of Scotland's burgeoning jazz talent, particularly younger players, with international guests. With shows in distilleries, village halls, bird sanctuaries and other unexpected venues, the weekend was a magical experience. September 11, 2026 The festival opened with two shows in the hi-tech Caol Ila distillery visitor center. ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Constellations and Hemispheres

Read "Constellations and Hemispheres" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 18, 2026

The listener is easily startled by Wadada Leo Smith. The man has an aura about him that emanates from some other place, some other time, when the rule of law was set in stone. A time not too long ago when collective aspiration held us all enthralled. And the man who carried that stone is none other than the trumpeter himself. Smith's presence also has a mythical essence that, in and of itself, is hardly breaking news. But ...