Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Jim Olsen - We See Stars
by George Fendel, Oregon Jazz Scene
Ok, I admit it. Any time I see the name Bobby Shew attached to a recording, my curiosity is aroused. And Shew’s lyrical trumpet and flugelhorn are featured here among other prime time soloists. Composer-flutist Jim Olsen has composed from a varied pallette, including classic swinging material, ballad delicacies, “out there” journeys, and even some electronic meanderings. In addition to Shew’s stunning trumpet and flugelhorn solos, veteran... read more
Jimmy Bennington - Midnight Choir
by Bud Kopman, All About Jazz
There is little information included about the music on Midnight Choir to prepare you for the listening experience (though there is a bio of Jimmy Bennington), and the disc starts right off quite abstractly. The first two tracks are attributed to Seth Paynter (sax) and are of a sparse, non-rhythmic, free kind that is more expressionist than anything else. "The Mind" is made of sax/bass duets, bass solos, drum solos, vocalisms, and the trio... read more
Josh Moshier & Mike Lebrun - Joy Not Jaded
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Young jazz tends to go one of two directions in common form -- it can hold strictly to playing through classic ideas as the players get the music of the greats ingrained into them, or it can spin wildly out of control as the players show off their instrumental mastery with little regard for a strong, original melody. The Chicago quartet led by Josh Moshier (on outstanding keys throughout the album) and Mike Lebrun (on sax) takes neither of the... 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
Bob Ravenscroft & Inner Journeys - Phantasmagoria
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A little prog, a little seventh galaxy, a little church basement, Ravenscroft and his gang mixmaster a load of influences that have influenced them along the way, put it in their own mixmaster and take off for the outer reaches that players have been reaching for since George Russell first blasted off. Space heads rejoice--it's done right... 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
Liam Sillery - Phenomenology
by Brad Walseth, JazzChicago.net
Another great release from OA2 records - trumpeter Liam Sillery's fourth for the label is called Phenomenology - a modern philosophical study of human consciousness - which is an apt title for this recording - which seeks to stretch the boundaries of musical experience. The title track opens with Sillery and saxophonist Matt Blostein playing parallel lines in an almost 1960s style, but things go onto free form in the middle section with... read more
Shelly Rudolph - The Way We Love
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A soulful vocalist that prefers not to be contained, she gives you a taste of what Carole King would sound like if she could kick it out with some real soul---but she doesn't stop to limit herself there. A set that took it's sweet time to arrive, it's just right for that in between time when you have shrugged the day off but aren't quite ready for some after hours adventures yet. With all the pros on board playing like they aren't watching the... read more
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