Hoping to capture the immediacy and raw energy of one of his live performances, Osby simply placed a mini-disc recorder on a table in front of the bandstand at New York City’s Sweet Basil nightclub. Then he and his explosive young band — and I do mean young; drummer…
Greg Osby, who has recorded in a variety of settings (sometimes using hip-hop rhythms and rap), sticks to acoustic jazz on this relaxed, dry and often melancholy set, performing seven originals and two standards. In addition to the basic quartet/quintet (which sometimes utilizes the vibes of Bryant Carrott), five…
This jazz (as opposed to funk- and rap-oriented) date from altoist Greg Osby has some fine blowing from the leader, trumpeter Tim Hagans, tenor saxophonist Mark Shim and pianist Jason Moran on ten of Osby’s originals and “Tenderly.” The solos are actually much more interesting than the moody but…
There are several problems with this disappointingly lightweight release. Greg Osby chose to mostly feature his anonymous-sounding soprano instead of his much more distinctive alto. The rhythms on the funky grooves are so predictable and insipid that they could have been played by the sidemen in their sleep and…
Post-bop alto saxophonist Greg Osby has a restless soul. Throughout his many albums he has hopped into and merged genres like a man trying on hats, experimenting with rap and hip-hop, funk, fusion, avant-garde, string quartets, and even what passes for mainstream jazz these days. Channel Three finds him…
Greg Osby has certainly been prolific over the course of the last decade. His outings for Blue Note are always challenging, always extending one boundary or another in his own idiosyncratic jazz iconography that uses elements of the historical tradition, the mainstream, and the avant-garde> in forging that signature….
Saxophonist Greg Osby attacks a varied mix of jazz standards on St. Louis Shoes with results that sound both well within the “tradition” and utterly modern. Reminiscent of midcareer Wynton Marsalis, Osby seems to want to mix the Cotton Club-style swing of Duke Ellington with the angular bebop and…
Osby recorded Inner Circle in 1999 but chose to postpone its release until 2002, for artistic reasons. Save for Tarus Mateen in place of Lonnie Plaxico, the disc boasts the same lineup as Jason Moran’s debut, Soundtrack to Human Motion, and a similar temperament as well. Each piece has…
Saxophonist Greg Osby’s previous efforts as a bandleader have included forays into song forms and jazz-funk, and have been notoriously uneven. This one, which prominently features a string quartet, is similarly frustrating. At his best, Osby demonstrates a talent that is not only open-minded but also structurally insightful; his…
