Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Electric Squeezebox Orchestra - Cheap Rent
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
RINGER OF THE WEEK Here's a band that avoids the pitfalls of most big band recordings. Modern stuff either sounds like a Gil Evans wanna-be or a musical version of a Jackson Pollock painting. Here, you've got a nice sized big band lead by trumpeter Erik Jekabson, and he walks the tightrope of clever sounds and harmonies as well as palpable rhythms on this highly successful album. The horn sections do wonders with Miles Davis' "ESP" as the... read more
Libby York - DreamLand
by C. Michael Bailey, Wild Mercury Rhythm
It is an accomplishment when a jazz singer finds a comfortable center in presenting material in an understated, yet authoritative manner. New York vocalist Libby York has made a career specializing in exactly this type of singing. It was been nine years since the release of Memoir (2014, Libby York Music), and York has taken a road less traveled for her Dreamland. Rather than the first or second-string standards, York has put much thought into... read more
Mason Razavi - Six-String Standards
by Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist
I may be wrong about this, but I have this idea in my head that whenever a guitarist wants to make an unaccompanied solo album, he or she almost always opens with "Stompin' at the Savoy." And with good reason: that tune is a perfect blend of graceful melody line and swinging danceability. The same can be said of Mason Razavi's whole album: he takes wizened chestnuts like "Body and Soul," "Days of Wine and Roses," and "Darn That Dream" and makes... read more
Randy Napoleon - Puppets - The Music of Gregg Hill
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Known as the longtime sideman of Freddie Cole, guitarist Randy Napoleon stretches out a bit on this album with Aubrey Johnson/voc, Rick Roe/p, Rodney Whitaker-Brandon Rose/dr, Quincy Davis-Will Cranderl/dr and Seth Ebersole/wwinds, as he interprets the material of composer Gregg Hill. Johnson mixes wordless tones and lyrics, swinging through "Andy's Lament" and warmth to the sublime "Moonscape". Her lyrics are clear and coy, teamed with the... read more
Alex Budman and the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra - Instruments of Mass Pleasure
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Mass Pleasure is the fourth album by the San Francisco-based Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, which is contemporary in the best sense of the word; that is, belonging to this age and time. While the nine charts are as modern as one could envision, they are firmly grounded in time-honored jazz and musical tradition, never forswearing rhythmic or harmonic convention and structure to accomplish some undefined or exotic purpose. The CJO, which was... read more
Gail Pettis - Here in the Moment
by Melissa Goldberg, O, The Oprah Magazine
Gail Pettis can't explain the difference between Lydian and Dorian scales, but that doesn't concern the 58-year-old jazz singer one bit. Because when Pettis saunters up to a microphone and unleashes her rich alto on a Nat King Cole classic, technicalities are the last thing on her mind. "Jazz is about expressing what's inside you in a real way,"she says. "When I sing, I feel like I'm doing what I was born to do. It's how I imagine flying... read more
Alex Goodman - Border Crossing
by , Song Writing Magazine
For this week's Monday exclusive we have a treat for the jazz lovers, as Toronto-based guitarist Alex Goodman kindly shares the first track from his forthcoming album Border Crossing with Songwriting readers.
Goodman graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in Jazz Performance, after which he completed a Master's programme at the Manhattan School of Music. He has released four albums as a band leader and has over 100 original... read more
Ben Markley - Basic Economy
by Rudolf Radnai, muszeroldal (Budapest)
After last year's big-band, Cedar Walton's work, Clockwise honored another new and now completely self-made album featuring Ben Markley , the outstanding pianist-composer who this time Greg Osby saxophone. Fresh, crisp, contemporary jazz, if it's not all easy music, but it's so loose that it does not look annoyingly tight or dim. The saxophone sets certain rhythms playfully crossed, the piano back, hold backs may even hesitate for the... read more
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