For Your Consideration – BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM – Sultans of String
For Your Consideration BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM Sultans of String Christmas Caravan Featuring 6-time Grammy winning Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains), • Ruben Blades & Luba Mason (Panamanian 7 Grammy and 5 Latin Grammy winner), [...]
Mack Avenue Music Group Celebrates Magnificent Year with Rebranding and New Logo
More Than 25 Projects Released in 2018 – CDs, EPs and Vinyl – Alongside Announcement of Brand New Imprint Under Christian McBride’s Direction, Brother Mister Productions Mack Avenue Music Group is celebrating a magnificent year which included [...]
Jazz at Princeton University Announces Dynamic 2018-2019 Season
November 14, 2018 – May 11, 2019 Guest artists include Blue Note Records trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, legendary vocalist Nnenna Freelon, Grammy winner and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Faculty leading groups include Jazz at Princeton head Rudresh Mahanthappa, [...]
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.
