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Jazz Articles about Greg Osby

About Greg Osby

1,077

Music and the Creative Spirit

Greg Osby: A Candid Conversation

by Lloyd N. Peterson Jr.
January 27, 2010

I have found that with forward-thinking artists, their music can be a direct reflection of who they are. That's largely my interest in these very creative individuals--in how they think and how they view the world through their own eyes. Greg Osby is fearless in expressing his convictions, and I think you'll find that his compositions reflect that very character. He is a creator and a fresh voice in a world that has a tendency to fall victim to the ...

899

Interview

Greg Osby: New Mission, New Label, New Responsibility

by Franz A. Matzner
October 28, 2008

For over two decades Greg Osby has been at the forefront of modern jazz. As a composer and player he breaks new ground, challenging audiences and the establishment with his complex, propulsive, and ever-evolving music. Never one to mince words, Osby has built a reputation as a blunt spokesman willing to tell it like it is, whether discussing the state of art, his personal development, or the less appealing aspects of the music business. Now, launching a new ...

547

Album Review

Greg Osby: 9 Levels

Read "9 Levels" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
August 16, 2008

After ending a sixteen year tenure with Blue Note Records, leaving his signature as one of the most forward thinking, outspoken, and at times misunderstood artists in contemporary jazz, saxophonist/composer Greg Osby returns with 9 Levels, the first release on his new Inner Circle Music label. The music which is based upon Osby's perspective on the Zen like principles of “The 9 Levels of Humanity," personifies the artist: geometric time signatures, hip modernistic imprints, blues and bop ...

531

Live Review

New Inventions: Greg Osby Debuts Latest Band at Kennedy Center Jazz

by Franz A. Matzner
November 12, 2007

Saturday, October 27, 2007Kennedy Center Jazz ClubWashington, DC Instrumentalist, composer, and band-leader Greg Osby has helped helm jazz's creative resurgence for nearly two decades. At the Kennedy Center last Saturday, he once again proved why he has long been one of modern jazz's most provocative figures. Presenting the official launch of his latest collection of new young voices in a brand new configuration, Osby not only redefined his sound, but ...

137

Album Review

Paul Samuels: Speak

by Mark F. Turner
March 23, 2006

The rhythmic pulse of the drum is the heartbeat of music, yet a skilled jazz drummer can add more than just a steady beat--also providing vibrancy and color to the music.Paul Samuels began learning this early on when his father took him to jazz concerts by musicians like McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie and the great drummer Tony Williams. He also honed his abilities professionally, playing in different settings with many artists, including sax innovator Greg Osby, with whom ...

383

Album Review

Project Z: Lincoln Memorial

Read "Lincoln Memorial" reviewed by David Miller

by David Miller
November 25, 2005

Warts and All, the title of the popular jamband Moe.'s series of full concert releases, signified that the whole thing was there, unedited, with mistakes, wrong turns, everything. Project Z leader Jimmy Herring is very familiar with this philosophy. His early musical education came on the road with Col. Bruce Hampton and his Aquarium Rescue Unit. Says Herring, "[Hampton]'d say, 'Life ain't always good. Why should music be?' If you're tapped into it and you're really giving it ...

206

Live Review

Greg Osby Four at the Green Mill

by Paul Olson
September 15, 2005

Greg Osby Four Green Mill, Chicago September 10, 2005Altoist Greg Osby's fronted a lot of terrific bands over the years, but the quartet he brought to Chicago's Green Mill for a two-night stand on September 9-10 can be listed among the best of them. On the Saturday gig of the residency, the Greg Osby Four--composed of Osby, pianist James Gordon Williams, bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Tommy Crane--combined daunting technique with a restless and fearless ...