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.

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Extended Analysis

Jan Johansson: Piano / Musik Genom Fyra Sekler

by Chris Mosey
May 28, 2008

In 1962, the year the Beatles cut their first record and the Rolling Stones made their debut at London's Marquee Club, a bearded, balding jazz pianist with sad, brooding eyes walked into a recording studio in Stockholm to make an EP of four Swedish folk songs. By 1964 he had recorded eight more, enough for an LP. This was titled Jazz pa Svenska (Jazz in Swedish) . At the height of the rock revolution, with interest in jazz otherwise plummetting, ...

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Album Review

Jens Johansson: Fission

Read "Fission" reviewed by John W. Patterson

by John W. Patterson
March 1, 1999

Jens Johansson is joined by, jams with, and fuses expertly alongside his brother, Anders, on serious drums, and guitar virtuosos, Shawn Lane and Mike “Sterno" Stern on this release. Sounds too hot, too frenetic, too “in-your-face" jazz-fusion? Not so. Jens structures it all just right. Let's say the backbeat funk keeps the fun upfront in this fusion-fission fest.Out of nine tracks, Shawn Lane solos very “Holdsworthian," guesting only on tracks one and four. Mike Stern plays his trademark ...

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Album Review

Anders and Jens Johansson with Allan Holdsworth: Heavy Machinery

Read "Heavy Machinery" reviewed by John W. Patterson

by John W. Patterson
February 1, 1999

Remember Jan Hammer and Jeff Beck jamming together with lead tradeoffs ad infinitum, ad nauseum, ad libitum, forever amen? If not, just read on. You other nostalgic ones out there will at first hear many similarities in guitar legend Holdsworth and keysman Jens Johansson spring boarding off each other. A big difference soon unfolds — this duo just plain smokes, cutting early into the fast lane and getting right down to business. Things overall, are compositionally interesting, noticeably precise, big ...