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
Frode Gjerstad with Matthew Shipp: We Speak
by John Sharpe
While the combination of reedman Frode Gjerstad--the godfather of Norwegian free jazz who dwells about as far from the so-called Nordic sound as you can get--and pianist Matthew Shipp -whose lineage can be traced back through what he terms The Black Mystery School, which takes in Thelonious Monk, Mal Waldron and Randy Weston among others--might seem unlikely, it makes perfect sense when you hear it. From the first piece “About Music" on, it is clear that this pairing is not ...
read morebBb: Animal Quotes
by John Sharpe
Swedish saxophonist Martin Küchen practices at least two distinct modes of expression. One is the variously sized Angles ensembles he fronts, which present sometimes exuberant, sometimes heart-rending riff-fuelled anthems to the acclaim of festival crowds across Europe. He also partakes of more arcane pursuits, using his saxophones as tools to examine the very question of what music is. He indulges this latter endeavor in the collective bBb in the company of his compatriot, trombonist Ola Rubin. To say they lean ...
read moreGlass Triangle: Blue and Sun-lights
by John Sharpe
The transatlantic trio of electric harpist Zeena Parkins, saxophonist Mette Rasmussen and drummer Ryan Sawyer, working under the moniker Glass Triangle, reunites for Blue And Sun-Lights. It is the second release as a group following an eponymous debut recorded in 2019. The band brings together a unique set of experiences--downtown sass from Parkins, European free jazz from Rasmussen and post-punk attitude from Sawyer--and from them generates something beyond category in a program of ten off-the-wall studio encounters. Rasmussen ...
read moreEmiliano Aires & Santiago Bogacz: Retrato Anos Despues
by Hrayr Attarian
Uruguayan guitarist Santiago Bogacz is a genre-bending virtuoso with a strong penchant for improvised music. Over the years he has released many solo and duo recordings, some under the stage name Matador. On the stimulating and poignant Retrato Años Despues he joins forces with his compatriot Emiliano Aires for nine spontaneously created pieces. Aires sticks to the infrequently heard soprano clarinet, the twittering tones of which, with their hints of vibrato, complement Bogacz's resonant strings. “Siempre Ya Es ...
read moreRasmussen, Flaherty, Rowden, Corsano: Crying in Space
by Mark Corroto
The question to be answered during this live performance was, “Will there be enough space for all the musicians' voices to be heard?" Recorded at Firehouse 12, in June 2019, this new ensemble is an adaptation of various duos and familiar trios. Saxophonist Paul Flaherty and drummer Chris Corsano have performed and recorded numerous discs together since the late '90s, releasing high-octane free jazz. The same can be said of the drummer's duo work with Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen; their ...
read moreSusan Alcorn, Patrick Holmes and Ryan Sawyer: From Union Pool
by Troy Dostert
The inimitable pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn seemingly knows no bounds when it comes to the range of textures, tones and timbres she can coax out of her instrument. She is also a consummate improvisational partner, whether working in free or composed contexts. And she has forged a terrific partnership with Relative Pitch Records, which has now released four albums with Alcorn featured prominently—the most recent being her outstanding Pedernal, from 2020. Here she is part of a free-improv trio, ...
read moreFred Moten, Brandon López, Gerald Cleaver: Moten/López/Cleaver
by Mark Corroto
Chuck D of Public Enemy fame once said, “rap music is the CNN of the ghetto." His words, coupled with samples and the scratching of turntables, were revelatory in their day, very much like a five-minute news update. Poet and cultural critic Fred Moten's words are more like a deep dive graduate colloquy. He presents his poetry together with the accomplished improvising musicians, bassist Brandon López and drummer Gerald Cleaver. At a first pass, listeners will certainly be ...
read moreChild Of Illusion: Khimaira
by Mark Corroto
Nowadays, billionaires pay inordinate sums of money to leave Earth's atmosphere aboard rockets, just to float in space. The more modest of us can get the same effect listening to Khimaira by the trio Child Of Illusion. Recorded live in Stockholm, in 2018, this release follows the trio's initial eponymous offering from Clean Feed Records, released the same year. The trio is alto saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos from the United States, Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva who lives in Sweden, and ...
read moreLisa Ullén, Elsa Bergman, Anna Lund: Space
by John Sharpe
Although pianist Lisa Ullén, bassist Elsa Bergman and drummer Anna Lund supply a formidable bottom end to the surging horn polyphony of Anna Högberg's Attack, on Space they find an alternative means to convey emotion and rapport through collective improvisation. Across five studio tracks, the Swedish threesome practices an egalitarian creed which does not privilege any one instrument over another. It is not an unfamiliar setting. Ullén and Bergman featured in a co-operative which adopted a similar approach on Festen ...
read moreCath Roberts & Olie Brice: Conduit
by Mark Corroto
Do not let the length fool you. Clocking in at just under thirty minutes Conduits by the UK duo of Cath Roberts and Olie Brice is a full meal. During the Covid lockdown, the two musicians recorded the music in two separate locations, but also in real time. Utilizing special software called JackTrip, which eliminates the dreaded internet delay, the pair was able to fashion this seamless recording session. Maybe the separate locales necessitated closer listening by the musicians. Here, ...
read more
Giveaway
Days remaining: 11
