Greg Osby at Yoshi's--August 11, 2003

[RainyDay]

Caught Greg Osby's quartet plus one (his words) last night at Yoshi's and was very pleasantly surprised. The band line up was:

Eric McPherson Drums
Matt Brewer Bass
Magune (sp?) ??Piano
Ambrose ???? Trumpet

(pbw: Help)

I was surprised because my co-worker went to see Greg Osby last fall with her husband and was very disappointed. She said he was too AG for her. The AG/free whatever it is doesn't work for me if there are no blues, no soul. It's just boring. Another co-worker told me "So, basically you paid money to see someone you didn't think you would like." Well, sort of. I've read a little about Osby and let's just say I was curious.

Anyway, he had a wonderful band and Osby was excellent. The blues are so much a part of what he is doing and I guess I wasn't expecting that. But the thing is, is this guy supposed to be AG? Because I thought there was a definite mainstream quality to his playing, not that there's anything wrong with what he was doing. The drummer killed. He worked liked a dog before he caught a solo and he just murdered. "The one" was a young trumpet player from Oakland named Ambrose (last name too challenging to say or spell for me). Ambrose is hot.

I enjoyed it a lot as evidenced by my intent to only stay for a short while and was shocked when the set ended. About 70 minutes playing time. I would have stayed for the second set which was pretty much open to everyone already there, but Tuesday was back to work for me.

It was a good show and I would definitely see Osby again. My co-worker said Nicholas Payton recently recorded with Osby. I really dig Payton and now that Payton is playing more out himself, that would be interesting to hear.

[stonemonkts]

Osby is as avant garde as David Murray (or perhaps a bit less even).

I like Osby a lot, to me he is mainstream-ish without being a bore. Osby just has that certain something which makes him an extraordinary improvisor. He definitely has what it takes.
I wish I could express this better, but when I saw him perform he struck me as a man with original ideas and monster chops with which to get them out to you. Whenever he picked up his horn the crowd was riveted.

Glad you liked him.

[RainyDay]

Band line up courtesy of peterdubya:

Osby's Band:
Megumi Yonezawa-piano
Eric McPherson-drums
Matthew Brewer-bass
Greg Osby
and guest
Ambrose Akinsmure-trumpet.

[Tanager]

Osby's going to be in DC in...October? I'm halfway thinking of driving up to catch him, because he's another one of those musicians I think I should check out more and more, the more I hear about him.

[relyles]

I have had the opportunity to hear Osby live on many occassions and have always found him to be a fascinating improvisor. I would not classify him as avant garde, but his approach is too adventurous to be considered mainstream or straight ahead. Most memorable performances that I have seen Osby include my first time hearing Andrew Hill live in the late eighties with the group that also included Bobby Hutcherson, Rufus Reid and Billy Higgins that recorded Eternal Spirit on Blue Note. Another special performance was last year at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival at Tompkins Square Park in NYC. Osby had a quartet that included Jason Moran and the synergy between these two was amazing. Terrific artist and glad you enjoyed him. By the way, his recent recording with Nicholas Payton, St. Louis Shoes , is a solid Osby does standards his way that should appeal to listeners new to Osby and/or not quite ready for some of his more difficult music, but eventually you have to get to some of his earlier recordings on Blue Note. Several of them are very good.

[RainyDay]

Thanks for the feedback on the Osby/Payton CD.

[Mike Schwartz]

After a dozen Blue Note recrdings, believe it or not this one is the ONLY one in which he does all compositions by other musicians.

My fave is one written by Jack DeJohnette.

They pull off a version of "Summertime" that by the time it's all said and done, carried by a combination of Greg & Nicholas that is absolutely boiling!

[RainyDay]

Mike: Thanks for more feedback. Adding this CD to the list.