Jazz Articles about One for All

One For All: The Long Haul

by David A. Orthmann
February 1, 2001

Working within the broad parameters of hard-swinging, harmonically sophisticated small-band styles from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, the music of the sextetOne For Allalso reflects the experiences of the individual members outside of their cooperative band. An incomplete but telling list of leaders who have employed and influenced various members of the crew includes Cecil Payne, George Coleman, Art Blakey, Jackie McLean, Junior Cook, Slide Hampton, and Louis Hayes.

On The Long Haul, the band’s second release for Criss Criss ...

One For All: Upward and Onward

by David A. Orthmann
May 1, 2000

Throughout Upward and Onward, One For All’s recently-released disc on Criss Cross, all of the important elements are firmly in place: imaginative arrangements of good tunes; tight ensemble playing; four strong soloists; and a rhythm section that never flags. Although the music is rooted in the hard bop continuum of the 50s and 60s (and occasionally goes beyond these parameters), every cut sounds fresh and vital.

Each of the band’s soloists finds ways to distinguish himself in a set of ...

One For All: Upward and Onward

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 1, 2000

The economic constraints of keeping a jazz ensemble together are such that we've almost seen the disappearance of working bands. That is indeed a grievous situation since the jazz pedigree has so often been marked by historically-important groups. Just consider the Basie and Ellington bands, not to mention the classic John Coltrane Quartet and several premium units under the leadership of Miles Davis, to get an idea of the sorcery inherent in such familial settings. Much credit is therefore due ...

One for All: Too Soon to Tell

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 1998

Having reviewed last month Optimism, the second Sharp Nine release by One for All, the New York–based co–op sextet patterned after Art Blakey’s celebrated Jazz Messengers, we must beg your indulgence as we backtrack a year to appraise its debut session, recorded in February ’97 by the eminent Rudy Van Gelder (whose apparently escalating faith in greater reverb is somewhat misplaced). Personnel is unchanged, as is the group’s impassioned point of view. In spite of the rather self–effacing title, it’s ...

One for All: Too Soon to Tell

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 1998

Having reviewed last month Optimism, the second Sharp Nine release by One for All, the New York–based co–op sextet patterned after Art Blakey’s celebrated Jazz Messengers, we must beg your indulgence as we backtrack a year to appraise its debut session, recorded in February ’97 by the eminent Rudy Van Gelder (whose apparently escalating faith in greater reverb is somewhat misplaced). Personnel is unchanged, as is the group’s impassioned point of view. In spite of the rather self–effacing title, it’s ...

One for All: Optimism

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 1998

Confidence. It's a quality too often overlooked, but one that is nonetheless essential in Jazz, as it enables a musician - or a group - to take chances, to go all-out and run the race at top speed without any fear of stumbling or falling flat on one's face. You can hear that confidence in Miles Davis's celebrated quintets from the '50s and '60s, in pianist Oscar Peterson's trios, in the several incarnations of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, in the ...

One for All: Optimism

by Joel Roberts
July 1, 1998

This is the second album by One for All, an all-star group of young jazz veterans totally steeped in the hard bop tradition and group dynamic of the classic ensembles of Art Blakey and Horace Silver. Eric Alexander, the rising tenor sax phenom, and Peter Washington, the talented and ubiquitous bassist, are probably the best known players here, but all the band's members are respected figures on the New York scene with long lists of impressive credits. (Trombonist Steve Davis, ...