PopMatters: " The album lacks for nothing as far as musical talent, with Hakim’s deft
handiwork on drums, Rachel Z’s rollercoaster waves of piano movements,
and Royce’s rumbling bass lines. They even manage to add flavor to some
of the original compositions with flourishing solos and tempo changes,
as in the Trio’s revisit of “Angry Chair” by Alice in Chains. " "The downside is that the Trio doesn’t always mesh as a single unit. At
times, their collaboration seems more like three soloists playing at
once, each one elbowing the other for coveted space."
Sea of Tranquility (John Neudorf): "The trio produces a full rich sound that will have all jazz fans
reaching for their wallets. This may in fact be my favourite jazz CD
this year and when you look at the players it is not hard to see why." "What makes this album a little different is the choice of songs the trio
chose to tackle. Instead of the usual standards of the past, they have
mostly reworked recent rock and pop compositions, making this a
completely refreshing and rewarding listen. Although I encourage
rock/pop fans to give this a listen, this is still a jazz recording
through and through, albeit a very good one."
AllAboutJazz.com (Jeff Winbush): "The eclectic and restless musical tastes of drummer Omar Hakim and pianist Rachel Nicolazzo (aka Rachel Z) offer some mighty impressive bait to reel them in, The Trio of Oz's repertoire reading like an hour's worth of college radio station programming." "...rendering
their creation of new ways to splice the seemingly contradictory jazz
and rock idioms together into some sort of mutant hybrid—capturing the
fun of the latter without compromising the integrity of the
former—completely understandable."
Some great new added by Joe, including the Marcus Shelby, Lisa Hilton...will be interesting to hear the Marcus Miller and Omar Hakim/Rachel Z things. You can hear a lot of this for the first time on radio weekly on The New Jazz Thing (http://TNJT.com), 6-8 PM PT Thursdays on Jazz 88.3 FM and http://Jazz88.org
NEW THIS WEEK FOR 2/3/11
HERB ALPERT & LANI HALL – “I FEEL YOU” (Mostly vocal album, with a contemporary vibe).
MATIJA DEDIC TRIO – “MD IN NYC” (Piano trio, with a mixed bag of standards and originals, quiet tunes and progressive jams).
PHIL DeGREG – “AMAZONAS” (Nice Brazilian grooves on originals, jazz tunes and standards).
MIKE DiRUBBO – “CHRONOS” (Saxophone-organ trio, with an edgy groove to it, doing all originals).
OMAR HAKIM/RACHEL Z – “THE TRIO OF OZ” (Piano trio, doing jazz versions of tunes by Alice in Chains, Coldplay, Depeche Mode and the like).
LISA HILTON – “UNDERGROUND” (Typically nice release from this pianist, doing all her own compositions).
AMY LONDON – “LET’S FLY” (Female vocalist doing standards and jazz tunes. Nice arrangements).
GENE LUDWIG – “LOVE NOTES OF COLE PORTER” (Great jams on Porter tunes by this organist, who died last year. Various band configurations).
MARCUS MILLER – “A NIGHT IN MONTE CARLO” (Bassist, backed by the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, with a mixed bag of contemporary, straight-ahead and Brazilian tunes).
NEW YORK ELECTRIC PIANO – “KEYS TO THE CITY, VOLS. 1 & 2” (Double disc release of vocals on one, and progressive instrumentals on the two).
MARCUS SHELBY ORCHESTRA – “SOUL OF THE MOVEMENT” (Mostly vocal big band recordings of songs made famous during the Civil Rights Movement).
DENNIS TAYLOR – “STEPPIN’ UP” (Saxophone/organ trio, funky but straight-ahead versions of originals and new standards).
DOUG WEBB – “RENOVATIONS” (Another outstanding, straight-ahead quartet release by this saxophonist, doing all standards).
Looking for feedback on the latest adds to the Jazz 88 KSDS San Diego Music Library. Got something you want to hear? Do you have a story about the artist or the release? What's the impact of this new release?
NEW THIS WEEK FOR 1/20/11
ELLIOTT CAINE SEXTET – “HIPPIE CHICKS ON ACID” (Relatively straight-ahead quintet recording, recorded live, some edgy sax work).
JAKE FRYER/BUD SHANK – “IN GOOD COMPANY” (Bud’s last recording, with fellow alto player. Magnusson, Wofford and Joe LaBarbera in the band).
CHANTALE GAGNE – “WISDOM OF THE WATER” (Pianist, backed by Joe Locke, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash, doing mostly original compositions).
JOEL HARRISON’S STRING CHOIR – “THE MUSIC OF PAUL MOTIAN” (Guitar and strings, doing Motian’s music. Strictly nights-only).
THE JAZZ PROFESSORS – “”LIVE FROM THE U.C.F.-ORLANDO JAZZ FESTIVAL” (Teachers at UCF, some familiar names, doing standards).
JAZZVOX – “IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD” (A variety of singers, some familiar, some not, backed by pianists and guitarists, doing all standards).
JOE LOVANO/US FIVE – “BIRD SONGS” (Saxophonist, in a fairly straight-ahead session, paying tribute to Charlie Parker).
DAVE MILLER TRIO – “RAPTURE” (Piano trio, doing standards and jazz tunes).
MARTY NAU GROUP – “MOOD EBONY” (Clarinetist, playing straight-ahead. Some originals, some standards).
NOAH PREMINGER – “BEFORE THE RAIN” (Saxophone-led quartet, doing originals and standards, in a progressive manner).
MARK WEINSTEIN – “JAZZ BRASIL” (Flutist, doing originals and jazz tunes, with a hint of latin flavor).
Geoffrey Keezer piano and Peter Sprague guitar play music from their new disc "Mill Creek Road" along with Hamilton Price bass and Duncan Moore drums with guests Zach Harmon tabla and Erica Ochoa fiddle at Jazz Live San Diego Tuesday, January 11, 2011.
Pat Launer's Center Stage
