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Jazz Articles about Dick Oatts
About Dick Oatts
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
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by Neri Pollastri
Swing & Strings feat. Dick Oatts Ognissanti Suona Il Jazz Villa La Ferdinanda Artimino 27.11.2022 Per la quinta edizione della rassegna Ognissanti Suona Il Jazz, la splendida Villa Medicea la Ferdinanda di Artimino ha ospitato un nuovo progetto dell'arrangiatore e direttore d'orchestra Duccio Bertini, stavolta impegnato a fondere un quartetto di jazzisti con un ensemble d'archi. Operazione non facile, come sa chi abbia qualche conoscenza di questa prassi più volte tentata, ma che solo ...
read moreMike Holober & Balancing Act: Don't Let Go
by Jack Bowers
With Don't Let Go, pianist Mike Holober and the octet Balancing Act seemed to have found an ideal way to cross-breed classical motifs and contemporary jazz to produce a pleasurable listening experience. Then he added lyrics. Granted, not all lyrics are superfluous—even those that are either nebulous or indecipherable, as is too often the case here. It's simply that some listeners may be more receptive to an alternative in the form of, say, Marvin Stamm's trumpet, Dick Oatts' or Jason ...
read moreDick Oatts: Use Your Imagination
by David A. Orthmann
At two adjacent points in this admirable recording, alto saxophonist Dick Oatts makes riveting, emotionally resonant sounds that transcend matters of style, execution and technique. These memorable moments stand apart from the customary pleasures and somewhat cerebral considerations of lending an ear to a jazz record. In both instances, Oatts' isn't intentionally tugging at heartstrings or trying to manipulate the listener's emotions. During the last forty-five seconds of the solemn “Lossofyou," Oatts vividly evokes the fragility of human existence by ...
read moreMike Holober: Balancing Act
by Angelo Leonardi
Non è facile coniugare raffinatezza formale e tensione emotiva, meticolose orchestrazioni e libertà individuale, sottigliezze cameristiche e momenti jazzisticamente impetuosi. A capo del suo ottetto, Mike Holober offre un appassionante esempio di tutto ciò, realizzando il suo lavoro più maturo e ricercato, a distanza di sei anni dal precedente con la Gotham Jazz Orchestra (Quake, Sunnyside 2009). Pianista, compositore e insegnante al City College e alla Manhattan School of Music di New York, Holober s'è ...
read moreMike Holober: Balancing Act
by Mark Sullivan
Pianist/composer Mike Holober has had an active career with big bands (including HR Big Band Frankfurt, WDR Big Band Cologne, Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, and the Westchester Jazz Orchestra in the U.S.). So he brings a refined approach to the composing and arranging on this octet recording. He set himself an ambitious goal: to feature a vocalist, but as another frontline instrument rather than the primary focus. “I wanted to use a singer and lyrics in extended form compositions--not wrapped up ...
read moreMike Holober: Balancing Act
by Dan Bilawsky
Conceptualizing and creating music is a delicate balancing act, leaving composers to strive for symmetry between head and heart, reasoning and intuition, and structure and freedom. Who better to understand that than Mike Holober? Whether penning a piece or playing piano, Holober has always shown himself to be mindful of the need to find harmony between those and other opposing principles. It's his ability to do so that, in large part, has made him such a hot commodity in the ...
read moreVanguard Jazz Orchestra: OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer
by Angelo Leonardi
Questo disco ci è giunto con un po' di ritardo ma va assolutamente segnalato. È infatti uno dei migliori dischi dell'anno nonchè un omaggio al genio orchestrale di Bob Brookmeyer. Forse non tutti sanno che lo storico trombonista, partner negli anni cinquanta di Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan e Jimmy Giuffre, è stato uno di massimi orchestratori moderni: nel 1966 partecipò alla fondazione della Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, scrivendo decine di partiture, e nel 1990 ne divenne il direttore, quando la ...
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