Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Chamber 3 - Transatlantic
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
Chamber 3 began as a trio effort started by German guitarist Christian Eckert, and Seattle based drummer Matt Jorgensen, who forged a friendship while studying at the New School in New York in the early nineties. Over the years, they engaged in many projects and tours together, culminating in this project that includes German tenor saxophonist Steffen Weber. The band added a fourth member in the person of Seattle bassist Phil Sparks for their... read more
Ben Markley Big Band With Ari Hoenig - Ari's Funhouse
by Russell, BeBop Spoken Here
Gigging in and around Denver, Colorado, composer, arranger, pianist, band leader, side man and tutor, Ben Markley is a busy man. One of his projects has recently come to fruition. Following a first gig working alongside Ari Hoenig, Markley asked the New York-based drummer if he could arrange some of his compositions for big band. Hoenig liked the idea and, post lockdown, the finished article is Markley's new album Ari's Fun-House.
A little over... read more
Daniel Barry - Walk All Ways
by Bill Barton, CODA Jan / Feb 2008
Well-known in the Seattle area, Barry is a man of many talents. He is the musical director of the Seattle Womens Jazz Orchestra and has also contributed charts to The Jazz Police big band (Origin 82395 is an all-Berry program) and The Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra. Four self-released CDs of his music are available (http://www.barrymusic.com/index.htm). His publishing company (http://www.marinamusic.com/) produces combo and big band jazz charts,... read more
Charlie Porter - Hindsight
by FILIPE FREITAS, Jazz Trail
Possessing a refined compositional style and immersive sound, trumpeter/composer Charlie Porter reflects on the present times through a mix of mainstream and neo-bop that deftly combines familiarity and surprise. Hindsight, Porter's third album as a leader, finds him navigating great textures and ambiances with a core quartet - featuring pianist Orrin Evans, bassist David Wong and drummer Kenneth Salters - that, more often than not, is expanded... read more
Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington - Bicoastal Collective: Chapter Six
by Ed Sapiega, Jazz Views (UK)
The Bicoastal Collective is a contemporary jazz partnership that was formed in 2007 by Nova Scotia-based trumpeter/flugelhornist Paul Tynan and baritone saxophonist Aaron Lington from the San Francisco Bay Area. For Chapter Six, they pair with the New York rhythm team of electric bassist Trifon Dimitrov and drummer Joe Abba for a chord-less quartet. Tynan and Lington split the writing credits on the album, each contributing three songs.
This... read more
Debbie Poryes - Catch Your Breath
by John Barron, All About Jazz
Recording a disc half-filled with overdone standards should require, at minimum, an attempt at dissection and redirection, investigating any harmonic and rhythmic possibilities left over after decades of use. Such is the case with the release of Catch Your Breath, from San Francisco Bay-area pianist Debbie Poryes. Poryes' approach to arranging involves sophistication with warmth and open-ended possibilities. As a result, Amercan songbook gems... read more
Peter Lin | AAPI Jazz Collective - Identity
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making the Scene Magazine
In 2018, Peter Lin convened the AAPI Jazz Collective that features some of the best Asian American and Pacific Islander musicians in the NYC area. This band is a core quintet featuring Lin on trombone.
They open with "Emperor's Stride," an original composition by pianist Michael Bond. Bond solos beautifully during this arrangement, showing his power and finesse at the piano and celebrating the generation of his Chinese grandparents when... read more
Electric Squeezebox Orchestra - The Falling Dream
by Dave Rogers, WTJU - Richmond
The Electric Squeezebox Orchestra is a 17 piece big band based in the Bay Area that plays music composed and arranged by its members. Led by trumpeter Erik Jekabson, the band will begin a new residency every Sunday night at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley in March of 2018. The E.S.O. currently consists of Erik, Henry Hung, Darren Johnston, Doug Morton and Erik Andrews on trumpets, Rob Ewing, Danny Lubin-Laden, Patrick Malabuyo and... read more
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