Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Wil Swindler - Universe B
by George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
I'd think this type of ensemble would be a huge kick for all the players. Imagine you're a well-schooled reader and sit down in your section to play charts with a Gil Evans kind of vapor. That's what Swindler has here. The only musician with whom I'm familiar is the startlingly good trumpet/flugelhorn player, Al Hood. He's from Denver, so I assume this is a Mile High City aggregation. The original music touches on all musical corners. Sometimes... read more
Charlie Porter - Immigration Nation
by Editor, JAZZIZ
CRITIC'S CHOICES Trumpeter and composer Charlie Porter released an impressive self-titled 2018 debut recording that featured tracks ranging progressively from solo to sextet settings, then reversed back the other way. The Juilliard grad waxes conceptual on his sophomore recording, Immigration Nation (OA2), as well, this time tackling the immigrant experience. A descendent of Lebanese, Greek, Italian and English immigrants to the United... read more
Marco de Carvalho - For The Moment
by , All About Jazz
Brazilian guitarist Marco de Carvalho lays back on For the Moment, where he dwells almost exclusively in mounting relaxed grooves suffused with the endemic melodic tropical sensuousness so characteristic of his native country. Carvalho's slow and mid tempo compositions rely on the sweetness of guitar and flute, with barely dressed arrangements exposing much classically-toned- jazzy skin without recurring to bare and smooth nakedness �with the... read more
Anthony Stanco - Stanco's Time
by Mark Griffith, Modern Drummer
Trumpeter Anthony Stanco's new Stanco's Time features jazz drummer Joe Farnsworth entirely in Billy Higgins and Art Taylor territory, and he proves that this is a territory that he simply owns! Pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and Joe form a swinging rhythm section for this blowing date. Listen to the perfection of Farnsworth's touch and sound as he plays the exchanges in "Stanco's Time" and "Hot House" (and in the perfect closing... read more
Liam Sillery - Phenomenology
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
There's a sense of danger and change on Phenomenology, trumpeter Liam Sillery's fourth CD release on OA2 Records. His quintet--trumpet, saxophone, and rhythm section--often sounds as if it's leaning over the edge of a cliff, just a degree or two away from tipping and falling.
It hasn't always been this way with Sillery. His debut, Minor Changes (OA2 Records, 2004) and the follow-up, On the Fly (OA2 Records, 2006) could both be called... read more
Tunnel Six - Lake Superior
by David Franklin, Cadence
For a group of players that individually live all over North America, Tunnel Six shows remarkably skillful ensemble interaction. This is the first recording by the band, whose members first played together at a Jazz Workshop at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, in 2009, although they have toured in both Canada and the United States. Their compositions, all by band members, are quite tuneful, but also sophisticated formally and metrically.... read more
Stephen Martin - High Plains
by Nina Cherry, Kansas City Magazine
Eight years after he recorded it, Stephen Martin feels like he's outgrown his first album.
"You spend so much time trying to get not only your individual sound but the band sound together," Martin says. "And then you walk into a studio. If you're new to it, it's a whole new world to try and figure out. It was a big learning experience for me."
Martin is a saxophonist who hit the Kansas City scene fourteen years ago, when he started... read more
LP and the Vinyl - Heard and Seen
by Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist
Rick's Pick The band here operating under the name LP and the Vinyl is actually the Danny Green Trio (whose praises I've sung here in CD HotList on multiple occasions), with the addition of singer Leonard Patton. Their debut album as a quartet is anything but a typical vocal jazz outing; while there are some standards ("Softly, As a Morning Sunrise"; "My One and Only Love") the program consists mainly of re-imaginings of pop... read more
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