Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Danny Green Trio Plus Strings - One Day It Will
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4 1/2-STARS Charlie Parker, alto saxophonist/bebop pioneer, got the ball rolling on the adding of strings to jazz. This went down in the late 1947 through 1950, on a pair of releases on Mercury Records introducing the sound of the Yardbird backed by a symphony orchestra. These sets were later compiled by Verve Records and issued in 1995 as Charlie Parker with Strings. That offering is a masterpiece of the genre it spawned: Chet Baker... read more
Idit Shner - 9 Short Stories
by Shannon J. Effinger, Downbeat
****
9 Short Stories marks the latest release from Idit Shner on the OA2 label. The saxophonist and composer is currently an associate professor of saxophone and jazz studies at the University of Oregon.
In spite of the rich precedent for women players and composers in jazz, there remains a lack of opportunities for women in this music. Happily, more female artists today are growing empowered to take their careers into their... read more
Shawn Maxwell - New Tomorrow
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
What's a sax man to do when he wants to do something new and different without seeming precious? Rather than find some new country to exploit for world beat purposes, how about an era mash up? There are passages here when you can hear Louis' Nawlins, mixing with 50s daddio, mixing with Miles pushing his sax man du jour farther in to outer space mixed with a bunch of funk while tipping your toes in the waters of St. Thomas----all at the same... read more
Tom Tallitsch - Medicine Man
by Forrest Dylan Bryant, JazzTimes, July/August 2008
Expanding from a duo setting to a quintet for his sophomore CD release, Tom Tallitsch offers up pleasant, unassuming original compositions that keep the proceedings casual but agreeably propulsive. With Tony Miceli's brisk vibraphone and Victor Baker's uncluttered guitar supporting his throaty tenor saxophone tone, Tallitsch's band frequently takes on an airy, levitating quality. But there's a surging intensity at work too, as crosshatched... read more
Lolly Allen - Coming Home
by Scott Yanow, L.A. Jazz Scene
During the past few years, Lolly Allen has developed into one of the most promising vibraphonists in jazz. While one can occasionally hear the inspiration of other vibraphonists in her playing (such as Milt Jackson, Terry Gibbs and Gary Burton), she has developed her own style and approach to performing straight ahead jazz.
Coming Home, her second CD as a leader, has Allen mostly leading a quintet with Danny Janklow on alto and tenor, Josh... read more
Glenn White - Sacred Machines
by Jay Deshpande, All About Jazz
New York-based saxophonist Glenn White presents a set of eloquent and somewhat haunting tunes on Sacred Machines. The machines herein are a platform for the strong soloists in the ensemble, but the album's unity comes from a common palette that transcends the bandleader's harmonic tendencies (White wrote six of the disc's seven songs). Sacred Machines presents a pleasant interplay between able musicians, in a firm, stylistic... read more
Premazzi / Nasser Quartet - From What I Recall
by Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
In Downbeat we read the following lines about the quartet: "Italian pianist Simona Premazzi and saxophonist Kyle Nasser from Boston, met in New York and found themselves on gigs together over the last decade. Formalizing their musical partnership as a collaborative entity in 2021, they teamed with bassist Noah Garabedian and drummer Jay Sawyer to explore their own take on highly melodic modernist jazz blended with harmonies & techniques from... read more
Libby York - DreamLand
by Matthias Kirsch, Gina Loves Jazz (Germany)
Singer Libby York's fifth album, and first after her 2014 release "Memoir", is an intimate and intensive affair, with just guitar and bass (and drums on four tracks) spread over 12 songs. And it suits her really well since her poignant and lithe vibrato shines throughout the set, starting with an elegant and gently swinging "Hit The Road To Dreamland". Guitarist Randy Napoleon, who has worked for Freddy Cole for more than a dozen years, and... read more
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