Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Mark Buselli - Untold Stories
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
The unique thing this trumpeter brings to the bandstand is that he sounds like he could have been a student of Miles but he isn�t trying to ape Miles. What a cool fine line to be able to tread. One of those cats with a day job as an educator that doesn�t let the classroom interfere with his ability to swing, this is a sweet, straight ahead listening date that knows you want to groove even if you are sitting down. Well played throughout, this... read more
Svetlana and the Delancey Five - Night at the Speakeasy
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
The name Svetlana and the Delancey Five sounds like a Cold War cadre of marauding spies. Moscow-native Svetlana Shmulyian is the real article and brings a certain "other-worldness" to a jazz repertoire existing somewhere between 1920 and the Rapture. The band's Night at the Speakeasy is their debut for the West Coast OA2 Record label. With that title, it is just too easy to assume that this recording is simply an expose of the older forms of... read more
Steve Kovalcheck - Buckshot Blues
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
If you're a guitar fan, you're going to love the clean and classy strings of Steve Kovalcheck, who trios up with bassist Jon Hamar and legendary drummer Jeff Hamilton for a mix of originals and covers. Of the latter, Kovalcheck is drop dead gorgeous with Hamar on "Skylark" and has a g as of a time chick-a-booming with Hamilton for "I've Been Everywhere," meanwhile nimble and suave with Hamilton's brushes on "What's New". The threesome have a... read more
Steve Kovalcheck - Buckshot Blues
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Steve Kovalcheck's Buckshot Blues Redefines the Modern Jazz Guitar Trio
The first notes arrive with quiet authority: a guitar line that unfolds with clarity, precision and a certain unforced elegance. Listening to Steve Kovalcheck, one quickly realizes that technical mastery is not the question. His dexterity, fluid runs, subtle harmonic color, an almost architectural sense of phrasing, has long been established. What proves far more... read more
Michael Kocour - East of the Sun
by Mark Gilbert, Jazz Journal (UK)
"There is nothing groundbreaking here. I'm trying to be as honest and fresh as I can within the tradition". That might sound like a recipe for blandness, and true, there's nothing offensive in this solo piano recital. Kocour is a master of the tuneful and enchanting interpretation of the jazz standard. But the set isn't quite as innocuous as his description suggests.
It begins, with "East of the Sun" and "I've Got a Right", in regular enough... read more
The Taylor / Fidyk Big Band - Live At Blues Alley
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise
You probably aren't familiar with either Mark Taylor or Steve, Fidyk, but you'll want to be after listening to this wonderful release.
Taylor is a composer/ arranger who got his start doing charts for the Stan Kenton orchestra; Fidyk is a percussionist who has played in many of the great jazz groups and in back-up bands for innumerable vocal artists. They met while both were members of the Army Blues, a well known millitary band.
This... read more
Andrew Moorhead - Mirage
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
5 STARS
Daybreak in Austin starts the same way for me: a hot cup of coffee, headphones on, and the simple act of listening. That first sip burns a little. A curl of milk disappears into the dark. Piano notes trickle in, just enough to remind me I'm awake. If I'm going to really listen, to notice every shift and detail, this is what it takes. Closed off, all in. No distractions.
The album gets down to business right away. Andrew... read more
George Cotsirilos - Silenciosa
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
Silenciosa is the solo debut album from San Francisco sideman George Cotsirilos. He opts to use the classical guitar with nylon strings here a la Charlie Byrd to give the album a nice dimension of warmth throughout. The set is taken up entirely by standards, which actually ends up suiting the performance quite well, combining familiar sounds with the lightness of the nylon strings. The work opens up with a Rodgers and Hart number before moving... read more
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