Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Jun Iida - Evergreen
by Miquel Tuset Mallol, Radio Sant Vicenc (Barcelona)
The warm tone and welcoming trumpeter Jun Iida, the cunning selection of tracks and his sublime sense of melody lead his debut recording. After five years in Los Angeles and three in Seattle, "Evergreen" is reminiscent of the musical approach and development that went It took place during those years, while he now goes on to live new adventures in New York. Recorded in Los Angeles, Jun reunited friends of L.A. who accompany him on this project... read more
Daria - Strawberry Fields Forever
by Glenn Daniels, The Jazz Page
Taking on songs of the Beatles can be a daunting task, but it's one that vocalist Daria handles with perfection on Strawberry Fields Forever. The singer delivers the lyrics and the vibe here with the grace of her obvious experience. She seamlessly shifts from ballad to swing on a recording that is nicely balanced. The arrangements provided by Daria and Sam Bevan who plays bass, keyboards and guitar on the project are creative and engaging. Other... read more
Kelley Johnson - Something Good
by Yves Dorison, Culture Jazz (France)
Go! Another singer we did not know. Kelley Johnson has a precise phrasing, a silky tone and a crystalline diction. It's already a lot, which does not prevent it from scatter with a certain originality. Nothing is ostentatious in this disc. The music is lived from the inside. The reinterpretations that the singer dares are personal and, above all, inhabited by a subtle swing that seduces without effort. His surety of tone, the richness of his... read more
Tunnel Six - Lake Superior
by Dave Sumner, eMusic Featured Album
When the members of an ensemble sacrifice all selfish thought and throw their entire weight behind the compositions of others, it's a transcendent moment, almost spiritual. There is a sense of a something greater than the sum of the individual parts when an ensemble serves the purposes of the soloist, while that soloist, simultaneously, plays his heart out in honor of the ensemble. Tunnel Six, six young jazzers who originate from across the U.S.... read more
Joan Hickey - Between The Lines
by Jerome Wilson, Cadence
Pianist Joan Hickey delivers a CD that is more Jazz-centered with emphasis on Blues accents and the free floating pulse established long ago by the ?60's Miles Davis Quintet. ?With A Song In My Heart? and ?The Man I Love? get strong, exuberant interpretations that feature saxophonist John Wojciechowski going wild, playing a hard, burrowing tenor on ?Song? and a strong melodious soprano on ?Man.? Hickey proves herself a grand, sweeping ballad... read more
Kronomorfic - Entangled
by LMNOP aka dONW7, babysue.com
Kronomorfic is a San Diego-based modern jazz ensemble created and led by David Borgo (saxophone) and Paul Pellegrin (drums). According to the band's web site, the group is "dedicated to the exploration of polymetric time." Being the kinda ignorant folks that we are (not knowing the meaning of such a word)...we decided to look this one up. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary polymetric means "relating to, exhibiting,... read more
Vince Norman / Joe McCarthy Big Band - Bright Future
by Harver Siders, Jazz Times
Release number two for the Norman-McCarthy band, and the momentum from its debut album, Words Cannot Express, as well as ten of its key players being intact, lend continuity to this exciting D.C.-based organization. Since Washington seems to have an inexhaustible supply of eager, first-rate sidemen thanks to the profusion of service bands in the Capital, co-leader/arranger, multi-instrumentalist Norman had no problem picking up where he left off... read more
Ezra Weiss Big Band - We Limit Not the Truth of God
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
A collection of messages from a father to his children is delivered musically by composer/conductor Ezra Weiss. Heartfelt chats about politics, policy and the future are interspersed and woven into the Coplandesque arrangements delivered by the 17 piece unit. Serene horns frame Franell Newton's trumpet during "Fanfare for a Newborn" with Mike Bruggeman's baritone dancing over Eric Gruber's pulse on the hip "Blues and Alternative Fact." Fluffy... read more
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