Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
The Taylor / Fidyk Big Band - Live At Blues Alley
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band's second CD, taken from a performance at Blues Alley, captures the band on a peak evening, fueled by Mark Taylor's potent arrangements and instrumentalists who can build upon his charts without needless showboating. Taylor's originals include "Full Count" (which is a modern update on the old-fashioned tenor battle), the cool "Bradley's Bop House" and "The Gorillaman Blues," and the swinging "Full Count," which one could... read more
Francesco Crosara - Circular Motion
by Hiroshi Ogawa, Jazz Life (Japan)
A new work by Francesco Crosara, an Italian pianist currently based in Seattle. In addition to his original songs written and collected over the years, the album includes 10 songs, including re-recordings of past works themed around Mount Kurama in Kyoto ("Kurama") and Brazil ("Sarava"). Crosara has succeeded in expanding his range of expression with three different trio formats, using both acoustic piano and synthesizer. The spacey world of... read more
Libby York - DreamLand
by David McGee, Deep Roots
TOP ALBUMS OF 2023 With four critically acclaimed albums behind her, elegant chanteuse Libby York made sure her fifth would be equally memorable. In her liner notes, Ms. York says the oft-covered Johnny Mercer-Harold Arlen beauty, "Hit the Road to Dreamland" (written by Mercer and Arlen for the 1942 musical film Star Spangled Rhythm and first recorded by Mercer and the Mellowaires accompanied by the Freddie Slack Orchestra for what... read more
Libby York - DreamLand
by Matthias Kirsch, Gina Loves Jazz (Germany)
Singer Libby York's fifth album, and first after her 2014 release "Memoir", is an intimate and intensive affair, with just guitar and bass (and drums on four tracks) spread over 12 songs. And it suits her really well since her poignant and lithe vibrato shines throughout the set, starting with an elegant and gently swinging "Hit The Road To Dreamland". Guitarist Randy Napoleon, who has worked for Freddy Cole for more than a dozen years, and... read more
Florian Hoefner - Falling Up
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A right on set of modern piano jazz is on tap here by this German born cat and his New York pals. Playing with the kind of effortlessness that makes everyone think that he can do it just as easily and just as well, it�s the sign of a real master when he leaves them in his dust and doesn�t make a big deal out of it. You can bet Hoefner would leave a big cloud and a lot of silence in his wake. Tasty, dazzling stuff that hits all the right... read more
Electric Squeezebox Orchestra - Cheap Rent
by Yoshi Kato, Downbeat Magazine
* * * *1/2 stars!
Humor and camaraderie characterize the thoroughly enjoyable debut from this communal big band with an ongoing Sunday residency at a stylish and comfortable subterranean venue in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood.
Led by trumpeter Erik Jekabson, the ESO is an impressively democratic group. On the album, 15 0f the 23 members have solos, and five contribute original compositions. Cheap Rent opens with a... read more
New Standard Jazz Orchestra - Waltz About Nothing
by Robert D. Rusch, Cadence
This 17piece big band offers tight modern arrangements over 11 tracks [71:32]; with 6 originals from band members and 5 from outside the band like "Milestones," "Close To You" and "Star Crossed Lovers". While I don't find any identifiable footprint to the band sound (perhaps a slight touch of Kenton) what I do find, besides its tightness, is a fine use of soloists. After many listenings it was the trombone solos by Baker that continued to... read more
Jun Iida - Evergreen
by Jonathan Widran, The JW Vibe
The bio of multi-talented emerging jazz trumpeter Jun Iida reads a bit like a freewheeling cultural and geographic travelogue, with a foundation of classical and music from his Japanese heritage and location shifts throughout his life from his hometown of St. Louis to Pittsburgh, Seattle, Cleveland, Los Angeles and now NYC.
Perhaps one of his most creatively fruitful eras was the years he lived in LA, where he pursued his jazz ambitions... read more
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