Home » Jazz Articles

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

10
Album Review

Ed Puddick / The Upper Austrian Jazz Orchestra: Crazy Days

Read "Crazy Days" reviewed by Chris May


The opener / title track of this album could well be taken to refer to Britain's 2016 referendum on whether or not to remain in or leave the European Union, for the disc's second half, and its main event, is composer Ed Puddick's thirty-five minute “The Brexit Suite." In fact, Puddick was thinking about something else when he wrote “Crazy Days." But the two words neatly sum up the chain of events which led to a small majority of voters—a ...

14
Album Review

The KUH Trio: Old Souls

Read "Old Souls" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Here is yet another European trio whose name is an acronym, in this case, K for guitarist Edi Kohldorfer, U for bassist Frantisek Uhlir, H for drummer Jaromir Helesic, who when numbered together (or even singly) are Old Souls. Uhlir (70) and Helesic (73) are Czechs, while Kohldorfer (age unknown but has been around the block more than once) is Austrian. Their initial recording as a group consists of ten original compositions, five each by Kohldorfer and Uhlir.

397
Album Review

Klaus Gesing: Heartluggage

Read "Heartluggage" reviewed by John Kelman


Sometimes a musician's associations are so high profile that it's easy to overlook his own work as a leader. Seeming to appear out of nowhere on British vocal legend Norma Winstone's sublime Distances (ECM, 2008) and Tunisian oudist Anouar Brahem's equally chamber-centric The Astounding Eyes of Rita (ECM, 2009), Klaus Gesing is, in fact, an established and active player. Heartluggage isn't the saxophonist/clarinetist's first album as a leader, but it's as good a place as any to discover how, while ...

461
Album Review

Gina Schwarz / Richard Oesterreicher: AirBass

Read "AirBass" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose


There could be many a slip between coming up with an unusual concept for a record and actually having the gumption to pull it off. Austrian bassist Gina Schwarz and harmonica maestro Richard Oesterreicher have indeed pulled it off on AirBass, a wonderful record where the two musicians share principal credits, although Schwarz is the main contributor in terms of compositions. Conceptually, the record sets about the task of creating a dazzling palette of sound colors, often ...

107
Album Review

Robert Bachner Quintet: Traveling Hard

Read "Traveling Hard" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Yes, Austrians also speak the universal language of jazz, and without any discernible accent, as trombonist Robert Bacher and his quintet prove on Traveling Hard, Bachner's second recording as leader of this group. Bachner, a world-class player, composed and arranged each of the album's seven selections, and it would be difficult to find fault with any of them.

Bachner shares the front line with another resourceful improviser, Christian Maurer, who divides his time between soprano and tenor sax; the duo ...

156
Album Review

Robert Bachner Big Band: Moments of Noise

Read "Moments of Noise" reviewed by Jack Bowers


As the title suggests, there are Moments of Noise on Austrian trombonist Robert Bachner's debut album as leader of his own big band, but they are always purposeful, never arbitrary, and are staunchly tempered by moments of beauty, awareness and sensitivity. And as noise is one of the requisite components of any big band, neither are they ever unsuitable. To the contrary, Bachner, a talented composer and arranger, makes certain that whatever “noise his ensemble produces is an integral part ...

238
Album Review

Mg3: 2nd Move

Read "2nd Move" reviewed by John Kelman


It had to happen: the popularity of the Swedish piano trio E.S.T. is making its presence felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Canadian bassist Simon Fisk's latest disc, Intent, demonstrates the same kind of pop sensibility, albeit with a freer complexion. Similarly, Austrian pianist Martin Gasselsberger and his group mg3's new release, 2nd Move, can easily be lumped into E.S.T. territory. And while there is a clear precedence in Gasselsberger's refined approach--relying on lyrical themes and improvisation over relatively ...

176
Album Review

Robert Bachner Quintet: Heart Disc

Read "Heart Disc" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Austrian low brass expert Robert Bachner is best known for his contributions to Matthias Ruegg's Vienna Art Orchestra, the similarly inclined (but less well-known) Upper Austrian Jazz Orchestra, and bassist Achim Tang's quintet. In each of these settings, the consistent and inspired excellence of Bachner's trombone and euphonium improvisations have clearly marked him as a player to watch on the European jazz scene. Heart Disc , I believe, is Bachner's first recording as a leader. Though it ...


Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.