Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington - Bicoastal Collective: Chapter Four
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Trumpeter Paul Tynan and baritone saxophonist Aaron Lington first met more than fifteen years ago when they were grad students at the University of North Texas in Denton. After gigging separately for a few years, they formed the Bicoastal Collective about a decade ago and have been playing and recording together ever since. This could reasonably be called the Binational Collective, as four of the five musicians on Chaper Four are Canadian, with... read more
Gail Pettis - May I Come In?
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
On her debut recording, Gail Pettis shows off a nice sensitivity to her music. The songs, a mix of standards, originals, and lost classics, are given a touching respect. Maybe more importantly though, Pettis is singing along with the band, as opposed to singing in front of a backing group. The piano (alternately played by Randy Halberstadt and Darin Clendenin) comes out front nearly as often as Pettis does, and when the time is right other... read more
George Cotsirilos - Silenciosa
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
Silenciosa is the solo debut album from San Francisco sideman George Cotsirilos. He opts to use the classical guitar with nylon strings here a la Charlie Byrd to give the album a nice dimension of warmth throughout. The set is taken up entirely by standards, which actually ends up suiting the performance quite well, combining familiar sounds with the lightness of the nylon strings. The work opens up with a Rodgers and Hart number before moving... read more
Chamber 3 - Grassroots
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
The quartet (!) of Chamber 3 consists of Christian Eckert/g, Steffen Weber/sax and Matt Jorgensen/dr along with "guest" Phil Sparks/b (as if he really weren't needed). Sparks sounds like he deserves have the band re-named to "Chamber 4" as he provides some rich pulse work along with Eckert on "Tattooed By Passion" and his thick line on "Enemy of Inspiration" is a thick mist for the brooding tenor of Weber. Eckert's guitar gets sinewy and dangles... read more
Hans Luchs - Time Never Pauses
by Dave Rogers, WTJU - Richmond
This is Chicago-based guitarist Hans Luchs first disc and there is no doubt he's ready. He composed eight of the ten tunes on offer and selected Ellington's "Come Sunday" and and Cole Porter's "Get Out Of Town" as the remaining two. He is a skilled and thoroughly modern player and his group, featuring George Fludas (drums), Clark Sommers (bass), Stu Mindeman (piano), and Shaun Johnson (trumpet), suits his style wonderfully. The songs are melodic... read more
Glenn White - Sacred Machines
by Larry Cosentino, Signal To Noise
[Jamie] Baum and her sextet's laid-back drummer, Jeff Hirshfield, also appear on a similarly pensive disc from tenor saxophonist Glenn White, Sacred Machines (OA2 Records 22044). Like Baum, White refuses to be rushed or crowded, preferring settings that let his full tone breathe fully. There's little urgency or conflict here, but no narcotic effects, either. White's unison passages and contrapuntal dances with Baum, as on the Bach-like "Wish,"... read more
Shelly Rudolph - The Way We Love
by Geno Thackara, All About Jazz
Imagine a smoky, sonic concoction with equal parts sugar and whiskey, and you've got something close to Shelly Rudolph's voice. While there's some world-weariness behind it, her rich contralto brings out the sweetness even when things get sad. She glides more than capers, often packing a lot of nuance into one drawn-out note. The Way We Love makes a setting to perfectly play to her strengths, full of dreamy balladry and drawing on a deep well of... read more
Jihee Heo - Flow
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
South Korean pianist Jihee Heo has been in New York City since 2009. She arrived to work on her Masters after studies in Amsterdam and has become a fixture on the Gotham club scene, often appearing with a trio or quartet sharing the bandstand with some of the city's finest players. Her new trio plus one effort, Flow (OA2, 2024), is in a way, a documentation of those club performances. Recorded by Maureen Sickler at Rudy Van Gelder's famed studio... read more
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