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.

Album Review

Richard Bona: Heritage

by James Nadal
October 3, 2016

The roots of Afro-Cuban music can be traced to its primordial source in the West African Mandika Empire (Mali) of the 15th century. Heritage is a collaboration of Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona with the Mandekan Cubano ensemble in a musical exploration of two cultures with the common bond of Africa as a point of origin and influence. This venture revolves around familiar Cuban dance oriented, melodic structure, accented with Bona's dominant African traits, for an engaging tour de force.

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Album Review

Milt Jackson meets the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra: Explosive!

by Jim Santella
May 1, 1999

Vibraphonist Milt Jackson, 76, formed the roots of the Modern Jazz Quartet almost fifty years ago. That same lyrical quality that drives the MJQ stands before the fourteen-year-old Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, sharing, blending, and coaxing the melodies out of his vibraphone’s metal bars. The microphones are set up so that the listener has the same opportunity as one who is seated front and center, about seven rows back; piano and drums are on the left, while most of the horns ...

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Album Review

Milt Jackson/The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra: Explosive!

by Douglas Payne
April 1, 1999

In a recording career that's spanned more than half a century, the masterful vibraphonist Milt Jackson has seldom been less than flawless. For Explosive!, his fifth disc on Quincy Jones's well-distributed Qwest label, Jackson is suitably teamed with the well-populated Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. It too, is no exception; offering a sterling collection of Jackson's pleasing blend of blues and ballads.Jackson has only recorded with big bands on a surprisingly infrequent basis (his Verve recordings with Ray Brown, two ...