Browse some recent OA2 Reviews.
Jason Keiser - Shaw's Groove
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)
5/5 - "UNMISTAKABLY GREAT" There are many young musicians who are making jazz connoisseurs sit up and take notice with their debut albums. This is also the case with the guitarist Jason Keiser and his album Shaw's Groove, which (with the exception of the title track) contains compositions by the trumpeter Woody Shaw and the pianist Ronnie Mathews ("Jean Marie") and the organist Larry Young ("Obsequious" ) has dedicated. The... read more
George Cotsirilos - Mostly in Blue
by Howard Mandel, Downbeat
4-STARS Though there are potential dangers of harmonic clash, timbral muddying and rhythmic redundancy in the contemporary guitar-meets-piano format, George Cotsirilos and Keith Saunders neatly avoid them on Mostly in Blue. Via shared sensibility and close communication, guitarist Cotsirilos leads his quartet in a mellow program deeply indebted to the Wes Montgomery-Wynton Kelly model.
Performing originals with bluesy... read more
Jason Keiser - Kind of Kenny
by Chris Lunn, Ancient Victorys
Stowell's unique guitar technique on self-designed guitars (electric guitar and baritone fretless guitars) joins his longtime friend and fellow guitarist Jason Keiser (steel string and nylon string acoustic). Most of the unusual compositions are by Kenny Wheeler, and the final cut is a guitar duo with John Stowell. Wheeler likes different musical slants in his writing, and the guitars plus just Erik Jekabson's trumpet and flugelhorn and Michael... read more
Lynn Baker Quartet - Azure Intention
by Timothy Breckon, Examiner.com
Malcolm Lynn (Lynn) Baker has influenced many musicians you listen to in Denver but you probably do not even know it. The current head of the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music's Jazz Program and former director of admissions for Lamont as a whole is something of a modern day renaissance man. I performed under his direction for four years in Lamont's Jazz Orchestra and count myself the better for Lynn's tutelage (alternatively-count... read more
Idit Shner & Mhondoro - Heat Wave
by Georges Tonla Briquet, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
The African origin of jazz illustrated by an international quintet. Nothing new, but these five are original. Israeli saxophonist Idit Shner is undoubtedly a John Coltrane disciple, albeit with a personal sound. The energetic percussionist and vocalist John Mambira is from Zimbabwe while the tight playing rhythm section (pianist and keyboardist Torrey Newhart, bassist Baxter, drummer Ken Mastrogiovanni) is from Oregon. For a few songs they... read more
Kelley Johnson - Something Good
by Dodie Miller-Gould, Lemonwire
Kelley Johnson continues her stride in the world of jazz. Her fifth album, "Something Good," is a page out of the Great American Songbook, but it is a page uniquely written by Johnson.
Johnson's work has been lauded for its rich sound. Downbeat magazine referred to Johnson's rhythm section as "sailing, buoyant" and gave accolades for her "bright, eminently convincing musicianship."
In ten songs, "Something Good" shines a light on Johnson... read more
George Cotsirilos - Past Present
by Brad Walseth, Jazz Chicago
George Cotsirilos is another Chicago-born musician who found himself on the West Coast - in this case the Bay Area - where he is busy jazz guitarist. Bassist Robb Fisher was a fellow member of the San Francisco Nighthawks. Both Cotsirlios and Fisher, as well as the third member of the trio - drummer Ron Marabuto have worked with people like Cal Tjader, Art Pepper, Roland Hanna and many more. On their third OA2 recording, the band visits the past... read more
George Cotsirilos - Past Present
by R.A., CD Hot List
Bay Area guitarist George Cotsirilos has the kind of soft touch and effortlessly artful phrasing that other guitarists would kill for, and he also has a near-magical ability to improvise melodies that are simultaneously surprising and inevitable. This is unapologetically old-fashioned, straight-ahead jazz that nevertheless feels fresh and new, whether he's playing one of his fine originals or interpreting a standard like "The Way You Look... read more
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