Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Nelda Swiggett - Blue-Eyed Painted Lady
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Pianist Nelda Swiggett follows her confident and successful This Time (OA2 Records, 2010) with an expansion of her original piano trio into a piano-string quintet, minus the violin plus a drummer. This expanded format suits Swiggett's orchestral compositional leanings well and provides an intriguing and successful combining of nightclub jazz and concert stage classical. This is no more "Third Stream" than it is pure classical or jazz.... read more
George Cotsirilos - Past Present
by Veronica Timpanelli, Jazz Review
Past Present is the third release from guitarist George Cotsirilos, and the second for the trio. It is a strong follow-up to the trio s first release together, On the Rebop. This latest production offers up a good mix of original compositions and standards and remains fresh and swinging throughout.
Of special note is the lead-off tune, Good Wood, which has such a catchy groove, it beautifully illustrates what is so attractive in the modern... read more
Rich Pellegrin - Three-Part Odyssey
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Aiming specifically for a complex, dense sound on his debut album, pianist Rich Pellegrin sets out on Three-Part Odyssey to fill whole sonic landscapes, combining horns with one another for larger sounds and incorporating basslines into thicker underlying grooves. The first "part" comes across heavily, focusing on the lower end of the piano, deep bass solos, and post-bop horn arrangements courtesy of R. Scott Morning and Neil Welch. The... read more
Unhinged Sextet - Don't Blink
by Robert Rusch, Cadence Magazine
DON'T BLINK is the name of the latest recording by the UNHINGED SEXTET [Vern Sielert-tpt/flg, Will Campbell-as, Matt Olson-ts, Michael Kocour-p, Jon Hamar-b, Dom Moio-drm]. Recorded 10/7&8/16, here are 8 originals by different members of the group except Moio. This is a group playing ballads and hard driving hard bop with solid charts and harmonization much in the mold of the Jazz Messengers and that is their most distinguishing characteristic.... read more
Danny Green - Altered Narratives
by Editor, Love London Love Culture
On this fourth album from Danny Green, the music is lighthearted and playful throughout adding a glimmer of sunshine to the listener's life. This album is not simply a celebration of jazz music but also music of the classical genre, which delicately flows through all of the songs on the record. Danny Green, Justin Grinnell and Julien Cantelm have managed to create a lighthearted collection of songs that is consistent in the quality of... read more
Rich Pellegrin - Passage: Solo Improvisations II
by Stephen Godsall, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
This is Rich Pellegrin's second album of solo free improvisations; "Solitude" was one of my favourite releases of 2021. Pellegrin is a pianist, composer, writer and professor of music at the University of Florida. His previous recordings include albums with his Seattle based quartet, playing his own material. He has published writings on Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Brad Mehldau, Robert Glasper and Bill Evans.
The new album was recorded at... read more
Nathan Borton - Each Step
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Classy sounding guitarist Nathan Borton mixes hints of Wes Montgomery and Grant Green on this winning session in quartet and beyond format with a core of Xavier Davis/p, Rodney Whitaker/b and Keith Hall/dr with guests Diego Rivera/ts and Chris Glassman/btb.
There's an easy swing reminiscent of Montgomery's halcyon days on the Riverside label on the clean and melodic "Each Step" and the supporting team shows how to dig a sharp groove on the... read more
Libby York - DreamLand
by Andrew Gilbert, JazzTimes
Libby York has been on the scene for a while, but for those who haven't yet encountered her music, her 5th album, DreamLand, makes an excellent introduction. It's been nine years since she put out the quietly beguiling Memoir, and she's lost none of her old-school luster in the interim. Working with a highly sympathetic tandem of guitarist Randy Napoleon and bassist Rodney Whitaker (and drummer Keith Hall on four of the album's 12 tracks), York... read more
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