Jazz Articles about Oliver Lake

About Oliver Lake

Radio & Podcasts

Gretchen Parlato, Oliver Lake, JAUBI and more

by David Brown
September 20, 2024

This week on the Jazz Continuum we have two featured artists. First, a set showcasing the liquid phrasing of acclaimed vocalist Gretchen Parlato. From there, a deep dive into works featuring master saxophonist, composer, painter, and poet Oliver Lake--known to many as the co-founder of the World Saxophone Quartet. We'll also take a look at Duke Ellington's “Paris Blues" Soundtrack, while wrapping up with new music from Pakistan's JAUBI quartet. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at ...

Radio & Podcasts

Lake/Landaeus/Osgood, Lisa Hoppe, & Aruan Ortiz

by Maurice Hogue
November 28, 2023

With master saxophonist Oliver Lake not playing these days, hearing some new music from him is a treat. Back in 2017, in Lund, Sweden, he came together with Danish drummer Kresten Osgood and Swedish pianist Mathias Landaeus to create some memorable moments. Though each had worked with the others in the past, this was the first time as a trio. The results was a night of spontaneous magic. Spirit is well worth looking for. Also new this episode are albums ...

Album Review

Jean-Paul Bourelly: Black Lives - From Generation to Generation

Read "Black Lives - From Generation to Generation" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
September 26, 2023

Doppio CD o doppio vinile prodotto in HI-Res e con packaging di lusso dalla Jammin'colorS, agenzia per artisti jazz, world, funk, alternativi, hip-hop, electro e sperimentali nonché etichetta indipendente. Il lavoro che ha pubblicato in tanta pompa magna è un ampio collage di musica nera realizzato da 25 musicisti africani, caraibici e afroamericani guidati dalla visione creativa di Stefany Calembert (compagna del bassista jazz Reggie Washington) e produttrice estemporanea dell'etichetta belga. A tutti è stato chiesto di comporre ...

Album Review

Various Artists: Black Lives - From Generation to Generation

Read "Black Lives - From Generation to Generation" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 19, 2022

Indeed, African Americans are the architects of several musical formations, hearkening back to Scott Joplin's development of 'ragged' rhythms i.e., Ragtime, along with blues, funk, jazz, and other genres, often evolving into various tangents and offshoots. And on this comprehensively entertaining set produced by Belgian Stefany Calembert with assistance from her husband and acclaimed bassist Reggie Washington, they righteously bestow Black Music as a “source of moral truth and potent weapon against racism." Numerous stars such as saxophonist ...

Album Review

OGJB Quartet: Ode To O

by John Sharpe
May 14, 2022

An assemblage of stars doesn't always result in a constellation. But astronomers will need to take note in the case of the OGJB Quartet, called after the forename initials of the four members: reedman Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul. On the venerable collective's second album Ode To O following their eponymous debut in 2019, one of the most striking traits is how much they sound like a band. As might be expected in ...

Album Review

The OGJB Quartet: Ode To O

Read "Ode To O" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
March 22, 2022

The OGJB Quartet, a formidable all-star grouping of saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul, are back with their second album, one even more wide-ranging and soulful than their first, Bamako, (TUM, 2019). The album combines tracks based on gutbucket rhythms with others full of exploratory abstractions. The album title, Ode To O, refers to Ornette Coleman and the title track, written by Altschul, has he and Fonda laying down an assured ...

Album Review

Oliver Lake: Right Up On

Read "Right Up On" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
July 12, 2017

Although he will always be known first and foremost as an uncompromising saxophonist who helped catalyze the jazz avant- garde from the 1970s onward, it's also worth recognizing Oliver Lake's ambition as a composer. He has a particular fondness for strings in this regard, actually, as he has composed extensively for string quartets for over twenty years, starting with his String Project on Movements, Turns and Switches, from 1996 on his own Passin' Thru label. But most of his work ...