Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Gail Pettis - Here in the Moment
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Gail Pettis was a practicing orthodontist who just started her singing career in ?02. I bet she had great music in the waiting room! Here, on her second release, she teams up with a pair of trios (Darin Clendenin-Randy Halberstadt/p, Clipper Anderson-Jeff Johnson/b, Mark Ivester/dr) for some impressively original treatments of jazz standards. She's got a mocha latte voice that's brewed just right on the dreamy and spacious ?I Thought About You?... read more
Shawn Maxwell - Music in My Mind
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Once again, the Chicago sax man shows he just doesn't like to make the same record twice. Going way more free jazz than he has in the past, he certainly whips his cohorts into a frenzy as they whip up a wild racket that comes together instead of falls apart. Feeling inspired by Coltrane's sheets of sound, this is a first class trip for those looking for a wild ride that doesn't roll off the... read more
Kyle Asche Organ Trio - The Hook Up
by Paul Abella, Chicago Jazz Magazine, March/April 2006
One name on the Chicago jazz scene that's gotten a lot of recognition in the last couple of years is that of Kyle Asche. A superb guitarist with a nice tone and great command of his instrument, those of us in the know have seen his name float around for a while now. Now he has the chance to get his name out to a wider audience with a new album out on OA2 records called The Hook Up.
The Hook Up is an organ trio date with the fabulous Pete... read more
George Mitchell - Play Zone
by Donald James, Jazz Review
Named after a Portland jazz haunt, George Mitchell's Play Zone is nothing if not good straight-ahead swinging post-bop jazz. There's nothing terribly fascinating or unusual about this album. Each player is incredibly competent, a term meant in only the most complementary fashion.
Mitchell handles the duties on piano and Hammond B-3, while Dan Balmer compliments with a guitar style that echoes John McLean. Balmer's tone is a bit cleaner, and... read more
Danny Green Trio Plus Strings - One Day It Will
by PHONTAS TRUSSAS, VinylMine (Greece)
Pianist Danny Green's relationship with strings began on his 2016 release, "Altered Narratives", which we had written about here. In that album, Green had used strings in three tracks. Now on "One Day It Will", that relationship expands, acquiring more permanent or rather permanent features.
Danny Green is a pianist strongly influenced by Bill Evans and some recordings of Evans, such as "Bill Evans Piano and Orchestra / The V.I.P.s Theme"[... read more
Daria - Strawberry Fields Forever
by Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal
It's not every day you'd call an album of Beatles covers daring, but there's no other way to describe Marin jazz singer Daria's adventurous interpretations of 10 tunes by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
On "Strawberry Fields Forever: Songs by the Beatles," her third album, Daria and co-producer Sam Bevan deconstruct familiar Lennon/McCartney classics and reassemble them in bold and inventive arrangements.
A longtime backup singer for the... read more
Stan Bock Ensemble - Your Check's In The Mail
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise
Stan Bock was born in a family of musicians. His father played cornet and was a high school band director; his mother was a piano teacher. By age 15, young Stan was playing "tailgate" trombone in his father's Dixieland band.
After earning degrees at Fort Hays State (Kansas) and the University of Northern Iowa, Bock entered the Air Force Band program in 1975, where he remained until he retired in 1994. He then moved to Portland, Ore., where he... read more
Jeremy Levy Jazz Orchestra - The Planets: Reimagined
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
5-STARS The Planets, a picturesque seven-movement suite written more than a hundred years ago (1914-16) by the English composer Gustav Holst, has been marvelously Reimagined in a present-day framework by film scenarist Jeremy Levy and his superlative Los Angeles-based Jazz Orchestra in a medley that safeguards the tantalizing flavor of the original while adding sufficient seasoning and spices to make it even more appetizing than... read more
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