The Big Question
Does Jazz History Weigh Too Heavily on Today’s Practitioners?
by Ian Patterson
It is no outlandish claim to say that jazz is obsessed with its past--just look at the number of tribute albums, songs and concerts inspired by the music's forbearers, or at the never-ending stream of historical reissues. For many jazz musicians, navigating jazz means honoring the music's “ancestors" and playing “in the tradition." Jazz education programs generally look to the past to instruct their students. Reviewers of albums by contemporary jazz musicians, almost without exception, make ...
read moreWhat Is Your Favorite Jazz Interpretation Of The Beatles?
by Ian Patterson
When The Beatles landed at John F. Kennedy Airport on February 7, 1964, they were greeted by around three thousand fans. Two days later, when The Fab Four performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, the television audience topped 70 million. Popular music was never the same again. It was not long before jazz musicians followed the lead of countless pop acts in covering The Beatles' songs. The list is an incredibly long one and, some sixty years later, ...
read moreWhat was the most memorable jazz concert you attended?
by Chris May
If you are an AAJer, you will almost certainly have some live performances filed under magic moments. My first came in 1966 when I saw Charles Lloyd at the Juan-Les-Pins Jazz Festival in Antibes, France. At the time I knew Lloyd only through his recorded work with Chico Hamilton's group and nothing had prepared me for the new look Lloyd Quartet other than a few tabs of Owsley's finest earlier that summer. The band delivered half an hour or so ...
read moreWhich jazz records in your collection are most sentimental to you and why?
by Michael Ricci
An old friend alerted me to a Reddit discussion entitled “Which records in your collection are most sentimental to you and why?" and I thought we should repurpose (ok, steal) it for our community but add “jazz" as a qualifier. Sentimental being key, for me it's the The Chuck Mangione Quartet (Mercury, 1972)--a live set with inspired arrangements and soloing by Gerry Niewood and Chuck, with congas and an electric piano heard throughout. Only five tunes, three of which are ...
read moreWhy Is Jazz A Big Deal Everywhere… Except In The US?
by Chris May
Dateline: London, February 20, 2024. A bewildered friend in Los Angeles asks: Why is jazz so under-appreciated in the United States when it is revered everywhere else? Lest we forget, jazz was born and spent its formative years in the US and is arguably the country's most valuable contribution to world culture. But the stats show its home-turf profile dimming. Here in Britain, by contrast, jazz grows ever more popular; it is still niche but less ...
read moreWhen Is A Jazz Festival Not A Jazz Festival?
by Chris May
Dateline: February 13, 2024. Today Britain's long-running Cheltenham Jazz Festival announced its line-up for this summer's event. The press release is headlined thus: Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024--Dionne Warwick, Robert Plant, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Jack Savoretti, UB40, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Huey Morgan, Morcheeba And More. Dee Dee Bridgewater is not the only jazz artist on the bill--others are mentioned further down the press release--but the emphasis is heavily on rock and pop stars. ...
read moreIs it OK for artists to pay writers for reviews?
by John Kelman
As a public service, we will periodically republish this article as it remains relevant and opportunists with dishonorable intentions are still out there operating without impunity. When did it become acceptable or common practice for artists to pay for an album review? Recently, All About Jazz writers have been asked by artists--and with increasing regularity--if they would write an album review for pay. We have also encountered writers actively soliciting musicians to pay for reviews... and ...
read moreIs There Really Only One Guitar And Drums Duo Album in Jazz History?
by Ian Patterson
A veritable mountain of duo albums color jazz history. Vocal and piano duos abound. Think Ella Fitzgerald and Ellis Larkins, Tony Bennet and Bill Evans, or Carmen McRae and George Shearing for starters. Guitar and piano duos? Plenty of those too. Jim Hall and Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass spring to mind. Vocals and guitar? Check. Vibraphone and piano? Check. Name a duo combo--trombone and saxophone, piano and harp, trombone and saxophone, drums and ...
read morePhysical, digital or streamed? How do you like your recorded jazz?
by Chris May
Time was, round about when jazz was raising its head in New Orleans, if you wanted an affordable car it had to be a Ford Model T. And as Henry Ford said, perhaps apocryphally, you could have had any color you liked as long as it was black. Much the same went for recorded music. You could have had any format you wanted as long as it was a physical phonograph record. Today, we can choose between a multiplicity of ...
read moreHow Do You Rate Miles Davis’ Music, On Record and Live, In The 1980s?
by Ian Patterson
The release of The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: That's What Happened 1982-1985 invites renewed reflection on Miles Davis' music in the 1980s. A few tracks aside, these studio outtakes from the recording sessions that produced Star People (Columbia, 1983), Decoy (Columbia, 1984) and You're Under Arrest (Columbia, 1985) don't amount to a whole heap of beans, which is hardly surprising if they were not good enough to make the official album releases. But the previously unreleased live album ...
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