Articles by Michael Ricci
Your Favorite Jazz Trombonists
by Michael Ricci
Member votes were tabulated and this list represents our favorite jazz trombonists. Fully transparent and easily verifiable, All About Jazz's favorite trombonists poll was conducted during the 2023-2024 calendar year and ran up through April 23, 2024. We want to thank every member who participated in creating this impressive list (100 total!) for the next generation of jazz enthusiasts to discover. 1J.J. Johnson2Bill Watrous3Curtis Fuller4Steve Turre5Bob Brookmeyer6Kai Winding7Slide Hampton8Trombone Shorty9Frank Rosolino10Tommy Dorsey11Grachan Moncur III12Ray Anderson13Julian Priester14Roswell Rudd15Robin Eubanks16Jimmy ...
read moreYour Favorite Legacy Jazz Saxophonists
by Michael Ricci
Member votes were tabulated and this list represents our favorite legacy jazz saxophonists. Fully transparent and easily verifiable, All About Jazz's legacy saxophonists poll was conducted during the 2023-2024 calendar year and ran up through March 28, 2024. We want to thank every member who participated in creating this impressive list (164 total!) for the next generation of jazz enthusiasts to discover. 1John Coltrane2Wayne Shorter3Charlie Parker4Cannonball Adderley5Stan Getz6Dexter Gordon7Paul Desmond8Lester Young9Joe Henderson10Sonny Stitt11Coleman Hawkins12Art Pepper13Ben Webster14Michael Brecker15Johnny Hodges16Ornette ...
read moreWhich jazz records in your collection are most sentimental to you and why?
by Michael Ricci
An old friend alerted me to a Reddit discussion entitled “Which records in your collection are most sentimental to you and why?" and I thought we should repurpose (ok, steal) it for our community but add “jazz" as a qualifier. Sentimental being key, for me it's the The Chuck Mangione Quartet (Mercury, 1972)--a live set with inspired arrangements and soloing by Gerry Niewood and Chuck, with congas and an electric piano heard throughout. Only five tunes, three of which are ...
read moreYour Favorite Living Jazz Saxophonists
by Michael Ricci
Member votes were tabulated and this list represents our favorite living jazz saxophonists. Fully transparent and easily verifiable, All About Jazz's living saxophonists poll was conducted during the 2023 calendar year and ran up through January 24, 2024. We want to thank every member who participated in creating this impressive list (200 total!) for the next generation of jazz enthusiasts to discover. 1Chris Potter2Joshua Redman3Sonny Rollins4Joe Lovano5Charles Lloyd6Branford Marsalis7Kenny Garrett8David Sanborn9Kamasi Washington10David Murray11Eric Alexander12Jan Garbarek13Dave Liebman14James Carter15Miguel Zenon16Benny ...
read morePopular Jazz Songs: 2023
by Michael Ricci
All About Jazz tracks how often a featured song is heard, and the following represent the most popular in 2023. Of course these lists tend to favor songs featured earlier in the year so we identified five hard chargers (in the comments section) that would have cracked this list with more time. Click the album covers below to listen. Enjoy! Contemporary Insanity From: Best of Tobin Mueller, Vol. 3: Prog Fusion By Tobin Mueller ...
read moreMost Read Articles: 2023
by Michael Ricci
All About Jazz tracks how often an article is read, and the articles listed below represent our top viewed in 2023. Of course these lists tend to favor articles published earlier in the year so it should be noted that Robert Middletown's 72 Jazz Thrillers--a 12-part series which began its publication run on October 2--has been collectively read over 83,000 times (as of January 4, 2024). A Virtual Community for Jazz on Mastodon Jazz ...
read moreMost Read Album Reviews: 2023
by Michael Ricci
All About Jazz tracks how often an album review is read, and the reviews listed below represent our top viewed in 2023. Though All About Jazz generates mostly organic traffic (i.e. via search and from within), results can be skewed by heavy social sharing. Still, most of the albums listed below align with staff favorites. Double Portrait Giuseppe Millaci Reviewed by Mike Jurkovic September 20, 2023 Funky Nothingness Frank Zappa ...
read moreGiving Thanks & Sharing the Jazz Love
by Michael Ricci
As always, we're celebrating Thanksgiving by recognizing two special groups of people: our fund drive supporters who helped make much of the 2023 website improvements possible and our staff who submitted and prepared articles. Both contributions are immeasurable and we thank you all for your generosity, passion and friendship. The good people who support this website are as cool and as essential as the music itself. With deep appreciation, thanks again! A daily commitment since 1995 At All ...
read moreRaising the Bar in Year 28
by Michael Ricci
The above Mingus quote really struck a chord as All About Jazz is a work of passion and creativity in a continuous search to present the rich universe of jazz in the most accessible way possible. Musician profiles, jazz clubs, show dates, festivals, album reviews, photos, polls, contests, news, free music, etc., over 100 years of jazz history--past, present, and in-the-making--packed into one friendly platform. At times, the depth and breadth of All About Jazz can seem overwhelming, but ...
read moreMedeski Martin & Wood: Smoke
by Michael Ricci
Ever get stuck at a red light with some youngster blaring infernal racket from his car in the other lane? You can't wait for the light to turn green... but it gives you an idea... and you're thinking... which song can I crank up that turns heads in, say, the Costco parking lot? Here's one. With all eyes on you, discerning shoppers are thinking, “that cat has great taste." ...
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