Frederick Arts Council Hosts Award-Winning Fingerstyle Guitarist Yasmin Williams at Sky Stage
Who: Frederick Arts Council What: Concert featuring fingerstyle guitarist and composer Yasmin Williams When: Saturday, October 3rd, 2020, 8 pm Where: Sky Stage, 59 South Carroll Street, Frederick Frederick, MD— The Frederick Arts Council [...]
Shanachie Entertainment Announces Signing Of Multi-Instrumental Wiz Kid Justin Lee Schultz
13 Year Old Prodigy To Be Joined On November 2020 Recording Debut By Bob James, Harvey Mason, Najee, Jonathan Butler, Gerald Albright, Pieces Of A Dream & More The Buzz on Justin “This kid [...]
Hancock Institute Ensemble celebrates Black History Month from Alaska to Los Angeles
Sitka Jazz Festival Thu-Sat, Feb 6-8 The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble at UCLA returns for the third year to the Sitka Jazz Festival to present clinics and a concert featuring special [...]
Formed in 1999, Octobop is an octet based in Northern California that has 1950s West Coast jazz as its roots. It does not stick exclusively to that idiom and repertoire, certainly stretching a bit on their seventh CD, but collectors who enjoy cool jazz will find much to savor on this CD.
The group (Geoff Roach on baritone, tenor and soprano, Eric Patience doubling on tenor and alto, trumpeter Randy Smith, trombonist Jon Schermer, guitarist Jack Conway, vibraphonist Dave Casini, bassist Brian Brockhouse and drummer Frank Wyant) is comprised of excellent musicians and colorful soloists who know the style very well and can make a strong statement in a relatively brief period of time.
On Live @ Savana Jazz, Octobop's repertoire is pretty wide-ranging, not only including "Get Happy," Dizzy Gillespie's "Tanga," "The Wind" and the swinging "Bandstand Boogie" but an inventive remake of Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp" and the Allman Brothers' "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed." Whether it is Duke Ellington's "The Mooche," Charles Mingus' "Nostalgia In Times Square," Lennie Niehaus obscure "Figure 8" or their three originals (including "Theme For An Imaginary Sitcom"), Octobop finds a way of making each song their own while retaining their signature sound in the tradition of the Dave Pell Octet.
Octobop is a group well worth discovering and Live @ Savanna Jazz (available from www.octobop.com) gives listeners a strong sampling of their music.
