Articles
Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.
Derrick Hodge: In the Moment
Bassist, musician, producer, composer Derrick Hodge is a man full of soul, compassion and creativity. You may not know him by name but if you are a fan of music you have more than likely vibed out to some of his music and not even realized it. Hodge has released two albums of his own on Blue Note, LIve Today (2013) and The Second (2016), has partnered on albums with Robert Glasper, while his bass lines have set the tone ...
read moreFelipe Salles Interconnections Ensemble: The New Immigrant Experience
Is it mere coincidence, or does the rise in the number of “concept" albums by jazz big bands signal that the trend is here to stay? Trumpeter Brian Lynch won a 2020 Grammy Award for his Journey Through Literature in Music, and there have been other tenet-based enterprises within the past year by Dan Jonas, John Bailey, Eric Weiss, the WDR Big Band, Marcus Shelby, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Chris Jentsch and others. Now comes The New Immigrant Experience, ...
read moreJon Hassell: Vernal Equinox
Visionary trumpeter-composer Jon Hassell is one of the architects of what has come to be called World Music: his own preferred term is Fourth World, which he described as “a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques." Vernal Equinox was his first commercial album release, originally on Lovely Music in 1977. The second release on Hassell's own Ndeya label—following the 2018 Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One)—this reissue makes the album available on vinyl ...
read morePharoah Sanders: Live In Paris (1975)
Pharoah Sanders' catalogue of newly-discovered album releases is expanding as fast as those of his fellow travellers Alice Coltrane and John Coltrane. Which is great, but... most of the albums were recorded live, sometimes with poor audio capture, and do not always find the musicians at their best. You have to pick and choose between them. A further consideration is the legitimacy or otherwise of the releases and whether it is acceptable to support pirates and bootleggers. This is particularly ...
read moreArt Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin'
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man or woman in possession of a good quantity of Art Blakey albums, must be in want of a lot more. Previously unreleased albums are particularly enticing. So do not be fooled by the Reid Miles-inspired cover of Just Coolin': the disc is previously unissued. It presents Blakey in his pomp fronting a dream-team Jazz Messengers lineup. AAJers do not need to be reminded that Blakey was at the ...
read moreGilfema: Three
Few trios are as immediately recognizable as Gilfema. It's almost impossible to mistake the interplay between Ferenc Nemeth, Massimo Biolcati and Lionel Loueke. The three Berklee College of Music and Thelonious Monk institute graduates have been going at it together for more than 15 years now, their eponymous debut album having been released in 2005 for New York-based label Obliqsound. Between uneven meters, jazzy harmonies and afro-pop-infused rhythms and melodies, the three collaborators continue to express their individual musical visions ...
read moreCharles Rumback: Singing Structures of Rhythm
Versatility, personality and musical empathy are qualities that a modern drummer needs, and Charles Rumback has them in abundance. Based in Chicago, Rumback has accompanied adventurous singer/songwriters like Caleb Willitz, Steve Dawson and Ryley Walker, played jazzy electronica with Colorlist and explored the classic format of the piano trio with bassist John Tate and pianist Jim Baker. The list of projects and jobs as a sideman grows all the time and Rumback's name has shown up on some of the ...
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