Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Kelsey Mines - Everything Sacred, Nothing Serious
by Paul Rauch, Seattle Jazz Beat
There is a familiar tale in the Pacific Northwest that has been told many times over-a young, talented musician born and raised on the region's music scene, educated in area programs, who leaves to pursue their musical dreams in cities abroad. In jazz, that usually means a pilgrimage to New York and institutions such as Juilliard or the Manhattan School of Music. In some cases, it's just a matter of getting to Gotham to somehow gain... read more
Ben Markley - Tell the Truth
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Ben Markley stands among those rare composers who have mastered both the art of orchestral composition and the subtle craft of arrangement. From the very first track—bearing the album's title—the tone is unmistakably set. Markley's works possess a cinematic and novelistic quality, evoking the shadowed alleyways and brooding atmospheres of 1950s film noir. One can almost imagine Bogart emerging from a street corner, his silhouette cutting... read more
Rich Pellegrin - Episodes IV-VI
by Andrew Luthringer, Earshot Jazz
Pianist and composer Rich Pellegrin is a somewhat musically elusive figure. During an initial listen to his new album, Episodes IV-VI, I found myself rummaging for reference points, trying to get a handle on how to describe and process his strikingly original music. Episodes IV-VI can be described with the increasingly ineffective label of "jazz," yet it contains very few of the typical elements by which the term is usually defined and... read more
Rich Pellegrin - Passage: Solo Improvisations II
by Jane Kozhevnikova, All About Jazz
Passage is an improvised piano album by Rich Pellegrin, a continuation of his solo album Solitude (OA2, 2022). Both Solitude and Passage were recorded during the same sessions in summer 2019 at Langley Methodist Church (Langley, WA). After multiple releases from Pellegrin's quintet, these two solo albums stand out as an intimate and vulnerable exploration of self. The artist paints it as "a narrow route through a difficult terrain." Passage... read more
Electric Squeezebox Orchestra - Cheap Rent
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Yes, the name is intriguing - but what should one expect musically from the San Francisco-based Electric Squeezebox Orchestra? Bits and pieces of a number of disparate elements, really, from straight-ahead contemporary motifs to shuffle beats and old-line swing, from down-home New Orleans rhythms to throwback grooves from the '70s and even a seductive ballad. What matters most is that every number is capably performed by an ensemble comprised... read more
Carrie Wicks - I'll Get Around to It
by George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
A new voice out of Seattle, Carrie Wicks' debut CD scores from several standpoints. Wicks doesn't go for the gusto, and that's a good thing in a jazz singer. In addition, she's chosen quality tunes that include "Everything I've Got," "Ill Wind," "Comes Love," ?"I'm Lost" and "I'm Old Fashioned," among others. She works effortlessly with Seattle vets Bill Anschell, piano, Jeff Johnson, bass, Bryon Vannoy, drums, and the Joe Henderson-ish Hans... read more
Karen Marguth - Until
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
A long running jazz vocalist who cut her teeth in California's Central Valley scene, Karen Marguth collaborates with 3 different groups on these tracks that were recorded over the past decade.
"Comes Love" starts the listen with Richard Giddens' carefully plucked bass as Marguth's expressive vocals enter the cautious and adventurous jazz climate that benefits much from David Aus' warm piano, and "Until" follows with Mike Taylor's spirited... read more
Daria - Strawberry Fields Forever
by Bruce Crowther, Jazz Mostly
With this album, Daria takes up a demanding challenge, because in common with many latterday composers of pop songs, John Lennon and Paul McCartney did not customarily follow the 32-bar AABA pattern for popular songs that has supplied so much material to the jazz repertoire. One result of this is that with only scattered exceptions the songs of the Beatles, for the most part composed by Lennon and McCartney, have not been widely used by jazz... read more
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