Jazz Articles about Orrin Evans

About Orrin Evans

Album Review

There are many reasons for recording a jazz album, from “let's get together and create something fresh and exciting" to “well, it's about time we recorded another album." With all due respect, alto saxophonist Jim Snidero's latest recording, Far Far Away, seems to lean more toward the latter. That is not to suggest that it is less than respectable, as nothing Snidero does dips below that benchmark. On the other hand, at times it does seem as ...

Liner Notes

Jim Snidero: Far Far Away

by Dan Bilawsky
February 7, 2023

Far Far Away brings us ever so close to the genius of Jim Snidero. An incandescent affair built upon the pillars of new partnership and continuing collaboration, it showcases a marked consistency in craftsmanship and inventiveness that leaves no doubt as to this artist's place in the jazz firmament. Of course, seasoned listeners need no reminders about his elevated status. The vaunted alto saxophonist has been delivering dynamic performances as a leader on record for the better part of four ...

Liner Notes

Thomas Marriott: Live From the Heat Dome

by Paul Rauch
January 28, 2023

A “heat dome" is created when an area of high pressure hovers over an area for days or weeks, trapping warm air underneath. The meteorological phenomena is much like a lid on a boiling pot. In late June of 2021, residents of the Pacific Northwest became plainly aware of what a heat dome is by experiencing three days of severe heat topping 108 degrees, in an area more accustomed to temperatures in the low to mid seventies. The three days ...

Album Review

Jim Snidero: Far Far Away

Read "Far Far Away" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 23, 2023

Alto saxophonist Jim Snidero had quite a year in 2021, with the re-release of his masterpiece, Strings (Savant), originally released in 2001, and the release of another masterful set, Live At Deer Head Inn (Savant). In 2022 he decided to keep a good thing going, inviting his Deer Head rhythm section--pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Peter Washington, with Joe Farnsworth back in the drummer's seat--into the studio, along with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, for an inspired set of bop and post-bop tunes, ...

Album Review

Thomas Marriott: Live From the Heat Dome

Read "Live From the Heat Dome" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
November 26, 2022

Trumpeter Thomas Marriott settled into his groove on the Seattle-based Origin Records. He released more than a dozen discs under his own name there, including the gorgeous Romance Language (2020), a striking ballad set, and Trumpet Ship (2018), a high-energy bop workout. And then there was Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson (Origin Records, 2008), described as having “a distinctly modern and often brash tone." And “Favoring some serious musical adventurousness." With Live From The Heat Dome that ...

Album Review

Caleb Wheeler Curtis: Heatmap

by Paul Rauch
June 29, 2022

It is mostly troublesome to make blanket assertions about jazz and the musicians that facilitate the art form. Such assertions are subjective at best, yet it would not seem unreasonable to assert that Caleb Wheeler Curtis is one of the more interesting alto saxophonists to emerge since 2000. His playing has a radiant, vocal quality to it, whether addressing strong melodies, or abstractions of the same. His approach is strong without being forced, and while his musical spirit has an ...

What is Jazz?

Seattle Jazz Fellowship Presents: Orrin Evans & the Captain Black Big Band

by Paul Rauch
June 14, 2022

The Seattle Jazz Fellowship, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by trumpeter Thomas Marriott, was created in response to the loss of viable jazz stages showcasing the vibrant resident jazz scene in Seattle. While local jazz musicians and fans alike mourned the downfall of longtime resident haunts such as the New Orleans club and Tula's Jazz Club, Marriott and a supportive group of like-minded community members sought an alternative to the traditional jazz supper club personified by the aforementioned institutions. Gentrification of ...