Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Darden Purcell - Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood
by Jeff Becker, Jazz Sensibilities
Darden Purcell's third album, Love's Got Me In A Lazy Mood, is a remarkable set of music that shows her skill as a jazz vocalist and deep immersion in the genre's rich traditions. The album encapsulates a journey through the Great American Songbook, with forays into Latin-influenced numbers and an original composition with lyrics, all rejuvenated by Purcell's intimate and expressive vocal style.
In "Willow Weep for Me," Purcell's... read more
Jay Lawrence - Thermal Strut
by Jerome Wilson, Cadence, Oct-Nov 2007
The trio on "Thermal Strut" works together with a sense of surprise and fun. The eye-opener is pianist Tamir Hendleman who attacks the keyboard with a jaunty ferocity worthy of Horace Silver. "Topsy," "Agua De Beber," and Silver's own "Opus De Funk" all benefit from his springy touch and Jay Lawrence's rolling drum style. There are also notable slower works like "Eulogy," a sedate classical piece with a touch of the Blues, and "Tell Me A Bedtime... read more
Fred Forney - Chasing Horizons
by John Barron, All About Jazz
Phoenix, Arizona-based trumpeter/composer Fred Forney has performed with a host of jazz heavies, including Bob Mintzer, Don Menza, and Roger Kellaway, and has toured internationally with the Bobby Caldwell Big Band. Chasing Horizons is Forney's second release as a leader and debut for OA2 records. The disc is a high energy progressive jazz session featuring tenor saxophonist Brice Winston and pianist Chuck Marohnic.
Forney displays a... read more
Shawn Maxwell - Music in My Mind
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Once again, the Chicago sax man shows he just doesn't like to make the same record twice. Going way more free jazz than he has in the past, he certainly whips his cohorts into a frenzy as they whip up a wild racket that comes together instead of falls apart. Feeling inspired by Coltrane's sheets of sound, this is a first class trip for those looking for a wild ride that doesn't roll off the... read more
Extended - Harbinger
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Every era has bands and artists that create seismic shifts in style. The Bad Plus came around in the 1990s to formulate a new type of piano trio, going away from the "mow, blow and go" of standards to a more cohesive unit. Here's a trio that drinks deeply from these waters.
The trio of Oscar Rossignoli/p, Matt Booth/b and Brad Webb/dr converse back and forth on team composed pieces. A dash of Monkish bop gets elliptical on "When the Internet... read more
Liam Sillery - On The Fly
by Jim Santella, All About Jazz
It's fitting that trumpeter Liam Sillery chose to close this program with Lee Morgan's "Ceora," since the parallels drawn between the two stand out so distinctly. He steers this New York/Los Angeles quintet through his crisp and clean sophomore recording project with all elements in place. Swing, groove, cohesiveness, technical mastery and improvisation show up from all parties concerned.
While the program is original, the quintet's sound... read more
Gail Pettis - Here in the Moment
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Gail Pettis was a practicing orthodontist who just started her singing career in ?02. I bet she had great music in the waiting room! Here, on her second release, she teams up with a pair of trios (Darin Clendenin-Randy Halberstadt/p, Clipper Anderson-Jeff Johnson/b, Mark Ivester/dr) for some impressively original treatments of jazz standards. She's got a mocha latte voice that's brewed just right on the dreamy and spacious ?I Thought About You?... read more
Jim Olsen - We See Stars
by Jack Bowers, AllAboutJazz.com
For We See Stars, Oregon-based composer / arranger Jim Olsen has pared his usual big band down to a more manageable tentet but hasn't lessened the ebullience and ingenuity that are invariably a part of Olsen's broad palette. The album, Olsen says, evolved from a casual post-concert conversation in which he asked trumpeter Bobby Shew and saxophonist Dick Oatts, longtime friends and colleagues who had performed and recorded together in... read more
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