Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Carrie Wicks - Maybe
by Carol Banks Weber, AXS
In a city with so many jazz singers, Carrie Wicks somehow manages to stand out. Seattle's Wicks doesn't do a whole lot of gigs or albums. But what she does is concentrated and sure, a heady mix of unorthodox, intelligently chosen covers and deeply wrought originals - wrapped in an unlikely package of quiet solitude. That is, until she steps up to the microphone.
As equal a songwriter as she is a musician's singer, Wicks quietly presents a... read more
George Cotsirilos - Past Present
by Jerome Wilson, Cadence, Oct-Dec 2010
Past Present is a no-nonsense, straight ahead Jazz guitar trio session that even is described as "blue collar" in the liner notes. Cotsirilos is a supple guitar player who hits all his notes chords, and melodies with little fuss. He can do blazing Bebop runs, work a smart bossa nova rhythm and, as he shows on Past Present, even has decent acoustic folk chops. His rhythm section, Fisher and Marabuto, really interacts well with his... read more
Svetlana and the Delancey Five - Night at the Speakeasy
by Staff, Lucid Culture
Since swing jazz is dance music, most swing bands have limitations on how far out on limb they can go. After all, you've got to keep everybody on their feet, right? Svetlana & the Delancey Five are the rare swing band who don't recognize any limits: they're just as fun to sit and listen to as they are for the dancers.
There weren't a lot of people on their feet at the band's sold-out show earlier this month at the Blue Note, but the band... read more
Nathan Borton - Each Step
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The 1960s were fine and formative times for jazz guitar. Wes Montgomery was there. So was Grant Green. The pair led the pack, and still do, to an extent. Guitarist Nathan Borton, with his debut recording, Each Step, embraces the traditions of these two influences.
Borton's sound comes directly out of the straight ahead bebop style, beginning with the album's title tune, a Borton original—a gorgeous easy swinger. Cole Porter's oft-covered... read more
Electric Squeezebox Orchestra - The Falling Dream
by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
The follow up to Electric Squeezebox Orchestra's 2015 debut, the wildly diverse yet always swinging Cheap Rent is, if possible, even more ambitious than its predecessor. The 17-piece big band led by trumpeter/album producer Erik Jekabson cut The Falling Dream over several days at the legendary Fantasy studios. Of its ten tracks, nine were written by members. The lone cover is a daring, and imaginative read of McCoy Tyner's "Señor Carlos" that... read more
Darden Purcell - Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood
by Carmel DeSoto, Jazz Music Archives
4-STARS Darden Purcell's album, "Love's Got Me In A Lazy Mood," unfolds as a project that is a meticulous assembly of jazz artistry. The eleven tracks finely exhibit Purcell's mastery as a vocalist and the collaborative spirit that jazz embodies. With arrangements and an original by Shawn Purcell, they present a vocal jazz set that reflects jazz's past elegance while carving out a contemporary program in sound and texture.
"Love's Got... read more
Steve Williams & Jazz Nation - Jazz Nation
by George Kanzler, The New York City Jazz Record
Clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Eddie Daniels is represented at both ends of the ensemble spectrum on these CDs: in duo with pianist Roger Kellaway on Duke at the Roadhouse and as a guest with the big band Jazz Nation led by Steve Williams, a role recalling Daniels' tenure in the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.
Duke at the Roadhouse is an adventurous chamber jazz recital recorded at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe. Eight... read more
Wil Swindler - Universe B
by Kyle O'Brien, Jazz Society of Oregon
Saxophonist/composer Swindler's band isn't quite a big band ... call it a medium band. But its eleven members create a wall of sound, with the added textures of bass clarinet, alto flute, euphonium and French horn to make it interesting. From the get-go Swindler, the 2008 Gil Evans Fellowship winner, sets up the band as his tool for delivering smart compositions and arrangements. "Universe B" is a smokin' modern bopper with enough chord changes... read more
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