Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Charlie Porter - Immigration Nation
by Nicholas Mondello, All About Jazz - Interview
Charlie Porter: Discovering Horizons Past, Present And Future
Charlie Porter is one of the most insightful, creatively brilliant and truly dynamic trumpet artists performing today. Porter straddles both the jazz and classical trumpet worlds with ease and has garnered highly-celebrated performance and recording reviews. An innovative composer and arranger as well, Porter recently performed on Joyce DiDonato's Grammy-winning recording,... read more
Rich Pellegrin - Down
by Aarik Danielsen, Columbia Daily Tribune
The final scene before a film fades to black. The last line of a novel's dialogue. The stanza which ends a poem.
Often, the end of an artwork sheds new light on everything which came before it. Last lines, final scenes, musical codas act as translators, bringing context and clarity. Everything, as novelist Jonathan Safran Foer put it, is illuminated.
The final two tracks on Rich Pellegrin's new record, "Down," lend their weight and beauty... read more
Charlie Porter - Immigration Nation
by Suzanne Lorge, DownBeat
4-STARS On Immigration Nation, versatile trumpeter and composer Charlie Porter utilizes modern jazz vernacular to make a social statement about contemporary life in the United States: Our forebears and our music all derive from someplace else. Rather than preach, however, he shows how it works. On Part I: Leaving Home, the first six tunes, he celebrates the rich rhythmic vitality of American jazz forms, and on Part II: New Beginnings, he... read more
Michael Kocour - Wherever You Go, There You Are
by George Fendel, Oregon Jazz Scene
Pianist Michael Kocour spent about two years working with the late legendary saxophonist James Moody. That alone on a resume would be enough to raise the eyebrows of any jazz fan in-the-know. So, why the heck have I not heard from him on his own until now? Go figure, but on this solo effort, he is the picture of lyricism, graceful touch, and (when called for) major league chops. It is an all solo effort for Kocour and he impresses on an array of... read more
Joan Hickey - Between The Lines
by Paul Abella, Chicago Jazz Magazine
Ever heard on of those discs where everything sounds like something you've heard before, but you can't quite put your finger on it? Joan Hickey's latest disc, Between The Lines, is one of those really interesting records that just plain sounds familiar.
Of course when your disc starts off sounding a bit like VSOP and wraps up with the one-two punch of a solid nod to the Dave Holland Quintet and a slab of some happening bebop, you're... read more
Liam Sillery - On The Fly
by Larry Hollis, Cadence, Oct-Dec 2007
A well known organist by the name of Joe Bagg is heard to great advantage on "On The Fly," a new issue from East Coast trumpeter Liam Sillery. This is his second recording following a solid debut in "Minor Changes" for the same label with tenor man David Sills on board but an entirely different rhythm section. That time out the only non-original was the late Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful" and this time around that distinction falls to... read more
Chamber 3 - Transatlantic
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Seattle-based drummer Matt Jorgensen tattoos every recording he releases with a mark of bold, clean modernity—whether working with his group Matt Jorgensen + 451 on Hope (Origin Records, 2004) and Another Morning (Origin Records, 2008), or Tattooed By Passion (Origin Records, 2010). Add in scores of sideman slots. His is a distinctive sound, compositionally and instrumentally, on his own or backing his labelmates.
Transatlantic is the... read more
Juli Wood - Synkka Metsa
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
When the subject of Finnish jazz is mentioned, the names Iro Haarla (piano), Vernie Pohjola (trumpet), Juhani Aaltonenen (saxophone) and Heikki Sarmanto could get tossed about as four from Finland who are producing superb recordings on TUM Records. The "Finnish sound" tends toward a reflective and often melancholy minor key mode, with smoldering freedom that at times flashes into roaring flame.
Chicago's Juli Wood - who plays multiple... read more
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