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 future articles page. Read our daily album reviews.
Sign in to customize your My Articles page —or— Filter Article Results
Jon-Erik Kellso and the EarRegulars: Live at the Ear Inn
by Jack Bowers
As trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and his EarRegulars had been performing every Sunday night for more than sixteen years at New York City's historic Ear Inn, Kellso reasoned it was time that one of their concerts should be recorded to share more broadly the fun and enthusiasm that animates every session. Once the ties had been bound, parts of two concerts were recorded, on January 15 and 29, 2023. The music is a hybrid, with one foot planted ...
read moreDiego Figueiredo: Follow the Signs
by Edward Blanco
Grammy-nominated Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo is considered to be one of the finest acoustic guitarists in the world. A classically-trained musician influenced by Brazilian masters Joao Gilberto and Baden Powell, he has also integrated the styles of American guitarists George Benson, Pat Metheny and the great Joe Pass into his playing. Figueiredo has recorded almost thirty albums to date. Accompanying the guitarist here are fellow countrymen percussionist Marcilio Garcetti and bassist Eduardo Machado aided by a five-piece string ...
read moreDiego Figuieredo: Follow the Signs
by Jack Bowers
Latin allure, anyone? Follow the Signs is a wonderful salute by guitarist Diego Figueiredo to the sunny and rhythmic music of Brazil, comprising an album of themes much like those he came of age listening to in his hometown of Franca, about four hours north of Sao Paulo. To carry out his plan, Figueiredo amplifies his core trio (bassist Eduardo Machada, percussionist Marcilio Garcetti) with a string quintet on most numbers to help underscore his melodious frame of mind.
read moreProfessor Cunningham and His Old School: The Lockdown Blues
by Jack Bowers
Given the uncommon position in which the world found itself owing to the global coronavirus pandemic, it was only a matter of time before “socially distanced" albums such as this one, recorded by Australian-born “Professor" Adrian Cunningham's septet “in bedrooms around the world," in April 2020, were bound to emerge. More specifically, in bedrooms in NY state, Vitoria and Girona, Spain, which loosely qualifies as “around the world." The idea came to Cunningham during a socially-distanced stroll through New York's ...
read moreLa Lucha: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
by Dan Bilawsky
Pianist John C. O'Leary III, bassist Alejandro Arenas and drummer Mark Feinman, fast friends since they first met at the University of South Florida in 2006, draw on very different backgrounds and myriad sources when performing together as La Lucha. Whether digging into the Great American Songbook, exploring material from pop and classic rock radio, tapping into the Latin-jazz lexicon, or alluding to classical refinement, they manage to operate with a collective openness that's rare. The piano trio tradition tends ...
read moreScott Robinson: Tenormore
by Dan Bilawsky
When attempting to lend form to the term “rara avis" in jazz, Scott Robinson instantly appears in the mind's eye. He's most easily recognized these days as a horn heavy on the most standard of heavy horns, adding ballast and low-end individuality to the sound of Maria Schneider's orchestra with his baritone saxophone, but Robinson is also beyond proficient—a virtuoso, in fact—on numerous instruments that most people don't even know exist. His arsenal includes theremin, ophicleide, sarrusophone, alto clarinet, echo ...
read moreThe Ken Peplowski Big Band: Sunrise
by Jack Bowers
Many contemporary big bands are all about “breaking new ground" and “exploring new pathways." Not this one. Ace clarinetist Ken Peplowski, who has performed and recorded with myriad large ensembles, at home and abroad, but has seldom led one--although he did record one other big-band album, Last Swing of the Century (Concord Jazz, 1999)--simply wants to make beautiful music, a goal he and his hand-picked corps of merry men (and one woman) easily reach on Sunrise, as they glide smoothly ...
read moreChuck Redd: Happy All the Time
by Jack Bowers
The complete title of this carefree and charming studio date is Chuck Redd Remembers Barney Kessel. The reasons why are many. Here are two: first, Redd worked with Kessel from 1980-91 as a drummer in the Great Guitars group and in Kessel's trio, during which time the two became close friends; even more than that, says Kessel's widow, Phyllis, Redd was “like another son" to her husband. As for the album's title, Redd writes, Kessel's watchword to the end of ...
read moreDoug MacDonald: Just for Fun
by Jack Bowers
While there are no household names on guitarist Doug MacDonald's new 2-CD set, Just for Fun (alto saxophonist Lanny Morgan or perhaps drummer Roy McCurdy may come closest), the sidemen he has chosen for a lively concert date billed as a “jazz marathon" are more than likely among the more accomplished jazz musicians you've seldom or never heard. To bolster that appraisal, one need look no farther than tenor Rickey Woodard whose solos are models of perception and coherence, or ...
read moreTerry Myers: Smiles
by Andrew J. Sammut
Tuneful, swinging and technically polished. Terry Myers isn't worried about anything else jazz is “supposed" to be. Smiles is a relaxed yet energetic romp through some standards, ballads and blues that the Florida-based saxophonist clearly loves to play. There's nothing complex or innovative here, just four musicians having a good time and looking to take the listener along. A jumping “Them There Eyes" introduces Myers's straightforward approach to contemporary swing. He crafts phrases with rhythm and reason ...
read more
Giveaway
Days remaining: 7
