Sonny Clark’s fifth Blue Note recording as a leader is generally regarded as his best, especially considering he composed four of the seven tracks, and they all bear his stamp of originality. What is also evident is that he is shaping the sounds of his quintet rather than dominating…
Dial “S” for Sonny, Sonny Clark’s first session for Blue Note Records and his first session as a leader, is a terrific set of laidback bop, highlighted by Clark’s liquid, swinging solos. Clark leads a first-rate group — Art Farmer (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Wilbur…
Sonny Clark’s conception of modern jazz is not far removed from his peer group of the late ’50s, in that advanced melodic and harmonic ideas override the basic precepts of swing and simplicity. What sets Clark apart from other jazz pianists lies in his conception of democracy to allow…
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….
