Jazz Review was a Scottish jazz magazine, founded in 1998 by a former editor of The Wire and jazz writer Richard Cook and Roger Spence of the talent management agency Direct Music Limited of Edinburgh, Scotland. The magazine covered the entire range of jazz history from early jazz, through Swing to Bebop, Modern Jazz and the Avant-Garde, and was known for its scholarly approach and independent stance. Major artists - including Keith Jarrett, Lee Konitz, Ornette Coleman, Dave Brubeck and Wynton Marsalis - have given interviews to the magazine; historical surveys have included the Modern Jazz Quartet, Fletcher Henderson, Oscar Peterson and Andrew Hill; the magazine is also renowned for coverage of British jazz.
Richard Cook's death in 2007 led to the magazine running without an editor for six months until 2008, when Brian Morton was appointed Editor and Philip Clark was made Reviews Editor. Mark Gilbert, formerly deputy editor of the magazine, soon took over from Morton, and was the last editor.
Contributors included Simon Adams, Ronald Atkins, Emma Baker, Garry Booth, Jack Cooke, Tim Dorset, Rick Finlay, Mike Fish, Derek Gorman, Fred Grand, Hugh Gregory, Andy Hamilton, Martin Longley, Alan Luff, Chris Parker, Catherine Parsonage, Mike Rogers, Bill Shoemaker, Roger Thomas, Anthony Troon, Jim Weir and Barry Witherden.
Alongside interviews and articles, regular features included "Posted Notes" (reader's letters), "Now's The Time" (a musician diary piece), "ANEC-Dotage" (Alan Luff remembers...), "The Test" (a musician is given records to comment on without knowing what they are), CD reviews, "Fast Taste" (shorter reviews) and "Yesterdays" (a prominent musician writes about a major turning point in their career).
The magazine went bi-monthly in 2005. A rival monthly publication, Jazz Journal International, was presumed to have ceased publication in January 2009, after the death of its associate editor, but its holding company, which changed ownership, absorbed Jazz Review around April 2009. It was revived as Jazz Journal at the end of April. Direct Music was no longer involved in the publication.
A later California-based magazine also titled The Jazz Review, edited by Ken Borgers and Bill Wasserzieher, appeared in 1991-1992, with cover stories on Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Charlie Haden and other artists.