My Content
Membership has its privileges! Sign up or sign in to gain full access to both All About Jazz and Jazz Near You. Learn more.
For Ada Rovatti, a saxophonist whose musical journey took her from her homeland of Italy, then inevitably to the United States, the road taken has not always been easy. A bright and sensitive artist, she can have misgivings about her work at times. But that work, with other bands or the leading voice on her own recordings, brings to light an artist who has something interesting to say and does so with style and very strong chops. And ...
read moreChapters--the title of Kneebody's 2019 release--has a certain appropriateness, as it definitely marks several new ones for the band. One being that lyric- oriented songs account for nearly half of the material on the album. Technically, vocals are nothing new to Kneebody. The band included one track with vocals on their 2002 proto- Kneebody album Wendel. Its 2009 collaborative effort with Theo Bleckmann, Twelve Songs of Charles Ives (Winter and Winter, 2008) was nominated for a Grammy and indeed their ...
read moreFormed in September 2010, Switzerland's then 40-member Insub Meta Orchestra (IMO) issued its first album Archive #1 on the Insubordinations label in March 2012, closely followed by the digital release of Archive #2 in December 2012 and, by then 29-strong, Archive #3 on the new Insub label in February 2015. Following the release of 13 and 27 (Another Timbre, 2017) and the vinyl LP Choices and Melodies (Insub, 2018), the two albums below mark IMO's return to releasing CDs on ...
read moreDifferent generations of Blue Note stars come together on this double-album to celebrate the label's legacy and to affirm its ongoing relevance. Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock first recorded for the label in the 1960s. Robert Glasper, Ambrose Akinmusire, Marcus Strickland, Lionel Loueke, Derrick Hodge and Kendrick Scott variously came on board in the 2000s and 2010s. The album is as outstanding as the lineup suggests it will be. Disc one opens with Glasper's Bruce's Vibe" and ...
read moreWe Jazz Festival Finland & Estonia 7th We Jazz Festival Helsinki, Tampere & Tallinn December 1-8, 2019 Two things are always certain about the We Jazz Festival in Finland, and neither involve death or money. The concert tickets are modest by Scandinavian scales, tho' pricey for Central Europeans. The most unpredictable certainty is, or more likely are, the variety of weathers to be tackled en route to concerts of your choice. The venues are ...
read moreOver a relatively short career, the adventurous composer and trumpeter Jaimie Branch has developed a mature and singular style with a politically informed dimension. On her second album as leader, she and her band create tense atmospheres that brim with creativity and spontaneity. The two part Prayer For Amerikkka" opens with bassist Jason Ajemian's dark, reverberating thumps. These set an expectant mood that drummer Chad Taylor enhances. Branch blows longing, melancholic notes that rise and fall over the ...
read moreHoliday music is its own discrete industry. Each October and November sees an uptick in releases devoted to the Christmas Season. The repertoire is well established with a core of compositions derived from the Middle Ages to the present day, including both religious and folk and popular music. While the holiday songbook is predictable, it also remains open to reinterpretation and expansion, revealing an additional stream of programming creativity. A Very Chimytina Christmas reflects the fertile nature of the seasonal ...
read moreStart your music shopping from All About Jazz and you'll support us in the process. Learn how.