Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

ALBUM REVIEWS December 2, 2008

Jeff Barone: Open Up

With ample chops and a firm grasp on tradition, New York-based jazz guitarist Jeff Barone proves a capable leader, bringing fresh ideas to the straight-ahead realm. Open Up showcases the Syracuse native's relaxed approach on a hard-swinging set of standards and originals.

Barone displays strong compositional skills on the up-tempo modal opener “Duban's Groove," the Brazilian flavored “New Samba," the funky title track and the lovely ballad “Jenna's Song," one of two duets with guest guitarist Jack Wilkins. The guitarist ...

ALBUM REVIEWS August 22, 2008

Jeff Barone: Open Up

By Nicholas F. Mondello

New York first-call guitarist Jeff Barone's Open Up creates a platform that covers a range of song types for the leader/composer and his colleagues--all aces--to work both as a terrific team and highly inventive soloists. There's everything here from Barone's beautiful solo strums to hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz.

Barone's “Duban's Groove," written for alto saxophonist Mike Dubaniewicz, kicks off with a nice call-and-response with trumpet master Joe Magnarelli filling in and soloing beautifully. Dubaniewicz, a standout with Maynard Ferguson's Band is ...

ALBUM REVIEWS April 6, 2004

Jeff Barone: Crazy Talk

By Jim Santella

A New Orleans shuffle and plenty of traditional swing bring Jeff Barone’s debut CD into focus as a jazz guitar celebration. Echoes of Wes Montgomery and Grant Green reverberate in quartet format, as Barone works with piano, bass and drums to interpret classic tunes and several original compositions.

The session starts off with a blues. Solos around the room and fours with the drummer set the pace for mainstream action. Barone’s light attack and clear articulation usher ...