Live Reviews

Grand Union Orchestra Spirits of Cable Street Wilton's London, UK June 7, 2013 A tribute to music hall star Marie Lloyd set to a reggae beat? Could only be Grand Union Orchestra. Surprisingly, this is only the band's second visit to Wilton's, this historic East End venue that sits very close to ...

The Wood Brothers Showcase Lounge Higher Ground South Burlington, VT June 4, 2013 The distinct progression that's taken place since the Wood Brothers began playing together in 2004 has become an abiding pleasure to watch. Successive concerts evince distinct evolution and, in the latest appearance at this Vermont venue--again as a versatile ...

Top Italian Jazz at Birdland Birdland New York, NY June 4-9, 2013

Birdland is at 315 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Taxis can drop you at the door. But if you come by subway, you pass through Times Square, that outrageous canyon where night is bright as day, with its teeming, dazed multitudes. ...

Eliane Elias Birdland New York, NY May 31, 2013

On the fourth night of her weeklong residence at Birdland, pianist Eliane Elias opened her set with an original number, its bluesy nature recalling the work of recently deceased pianist Dave Brubeck. The number gave her quartet--bassist Marc Johnson, guitarist Steve Cardenas and ...

Joshua Redman Quartet with The Knights The Town Hall Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, NY June 4, 2013 For a couple of years, it looked like the Big Apple had lost its big jazz festival mojo. New York maintained more than its fair share of jazz gatherings in 2009 and 2010, ...

Cyrus Chestnut Trio and Stefon Harris Tempe Center for the Arts Tempe, AZ May 31, 2013 Pianist Cyrus Chestnut has perfected the art of musical surprise, creating dialogues between his own hands as well as with his colleagues. He launched his Tempe, Arizona concert by stating, “We like to play the notes we've ...

George Benson & L'orchestre Symphonique Royal Mohammed V Theatre Mawazine Festival 2013 Rabat, Morocco May 25, 2013 If ever there was an ambassador of jazz love songs, it would definitely be George Benson. At age 70, the guitarist/vocalist is still driven with heated passion to sing love ballads. For his second visit ...

Workin' II: Irish Jazz Showcase Workman's Club Dublin, Ireland May 26, 2013 Where do you go to see Afro-Peruvian jazz, an 18-piece Sun Ra tribute band, neo-soul, vocal jazz, trios, quartets and electronic music with live horn processing, all on the same day? The Workman's Club in Dublin, Ireland, of course. Workin' II, ...

Illinois Jacquet Foundation Benefit Weekend Phoenix, AZ May 17-19, 2013 The 2013 Desert Winds Jazz Weekend celebrated the six-decade career of the late saxophonist Illinois Jacquet with three events that raised $10,000 for jazz scholarships and music education programs in Arizona. The Desert Winds designation was taken from the title of Jacquet's 1964 album ...

Moers Festival 2013 Moers, Germany May 17-19, 2013 The internationally renowned Moers Festival again arrived at a turning point, with its 42nd edition. It was the last edition with the famous blue marquee in the vast Castle-park of the city of Moers. Next year, the festival will continue in a reconstructed solid hall, an ...

ELBJazz Festival Hamburg, Germany May 24-25, 2013 Attending a multitude of festivals each year, there's always the challenge of finding the hook--the thing that makes a festival different from any other. When it comes to Hamburg's ELBJazz Festival, now only in its fourth year, it's easy. A harbor town on the Elbe River, located ...

Terell Stafford Quintet Tempe Center for the Arts Tempe, AZ May 10, 2013 Trumpeter Terell Stafford and his East Coast quintet delivered dynamic ensemble work and memorable solos in a concert on the theme, This Side of Strayhorn. A third of the evening's repertoire came from the leader's 2011 MAXJAZZ album of the ...

First Annual GuitarNow! Festival, Day Two Kailash Mital Theatre Carleton University Ottawa, Canada May 4, 2013 When local guitarist Roddy Ellias--the recipient, that very week, of one of the Jazz Journalist Association's Jazz Hero awards for 2013 (the only Canadian on the list)--created the concept of the first annual GuitarNow! Festival with ...

The Gil Evans Project directed by Ryan Truesdell Jazz Standard New York, NY May 17, 2013

Somewhere along the way, the centennial of a notable jazz figure's birth became a major cause for celebration and reflection. Unfortunately, these celebrations have occasionally become last hurrahs for the dearly departed, as their life's work fades ...