Search - Greg Osby :: Channel Three

Don't change the channel ...

Troy Collins | Lancaster, PA United States | 08/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Channel III" is saxophonist Greg Osby's 16th album as a leader, but his first trio recording, which is noteworthy, as Osby has been recording since his mid-1980's affiliation with the M-Base Collective; a group of young Jazz musicians inspired by the street rhythms of Funk and Hip-Hop. As outlined in the liner notes, Osby spent long hours studying classic saxophone trio recordings before cutting his own record, wanting to insure he had something interesting to say. The trio is considered the ultimate testing ground for a saxophonist, as there is no chordal instrument to provide support. This naked format exposes the leader on all fronts, rhythmic, harmonic and dynamic.



As Osby's writing slowly approaches the mainstream, it becomes clearer what a talent he is. By combining abstracted Funk and Hip-Hop rhythms with traditional notions of Jazz time, Osby has helped expand the concept of swing. Much like his former partner in the M-Base collective, fellow altoist Steve Coleman, his futuristic take on Jazz is not merely limited to advances in rhythm. Even while embracing a mathematically complex take on melody, Osby's labyrinthine writing is never so circuitous as to lose the listener in a maze of superfluous notes.



Osby has grown as an improviser since his M-Base days, so has his composing. No longer hemmed in by stylistic clichés, he now incorporates these popular music forms on a deeper structural level. Utilizing these genre conventions as his foundation, Osby builds on these rhythms by modulating the tempos of the pieces and opens up the form to allow collective call and response to dictate their ebb and flow. Deftly incorporating his interest in Funk and Hip-Hop rhythms into his stark rhythmic structures with subtlety and flair, Osby's writing embodies a distinctive character that is wholly his own.



Featuring Osby's current touring bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Jeff Watts, with whom Osby had never previously recorded, the trio plays a tight and intriguing set. Watt's drumming is laid back, almost behind the beat casual at times, but with an understated, simmering power. Brewer's accompaniment draws from the Post-Bop Jazz tradition of fragmentary walking bass loosely guided by Funk ostinatos. In contrast, Osby's playing is generally more agitated than his trio mates. Full of double timed linear runs, sporadic trilled flurries and emotive cries, he leads Brewer and Watts through a churning vortex of metrically abtruse rhythmic patterns. The trio navigates this maze of modulated, abstract swing with telepathic empathy. Osby even warms up his once cold formalist tone to wax melancholy on the title track and the tender ballad feature "Diode Emissions." Osby opens the album with Ornette Coleman's "Mob Job" and closes with Eric Dolphy's "Miss Ann," firmly placing him on the side of modernism.



With fluid grooves and a few introspective pieces to fill in the gaps, "Channel III" is a mature statement from a composer hitting his creative stride. With each succeeding album Osby moves closer and closer to being a truly major talent. "Channel III" is one more mile marker along the way."

Channeling three

Case Quarter | CT USA | 12/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this recording could just as easily have been entitled channeling three or the three channels. greg osby sounds like a solo improsiver. but it doesn't stop there, both matthew brewer and jeff watts play like solo improvisers. the three musicians sound like they played on different channels, keeping with the tv medium metaphor, and the three separate channels were overlaid. not that the drums and the bass are loud, no instrument seems dominant over the others at any particular moment, allowing a single instrument to solo alone, none of the three ever stop soloing.



watts' playing is extraordinary, his drumming, hummable and very simple at times, is melodic and drummers don't play, aren't supposed to be able to play melody. i want to ask someone how he does that, the way a lot of listeners to jazz ask how monk played the way he played. or how osby even conceived such an idea and gathered songs for his idea. then i realize that the idea(s) here are built on the work of ornette coleman. the first track, mob job, written by coleman. except for the track, miss ann by eric dolphy, all the other songs are written by greg osby.



this recording approaches something like high art. actually, it is high art. just an extraordinary accomplishment."

A Momumental Work!

JazzJock | New York, NY USA | 10/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Osby is the most brave, daring and challenging artist on the international scene today - HANDS DOWN! This collection of original trio pieces will stand up to any as simply one of the best. It's apparent that there's a high level of respect and communication at play here, and it's needed because this music is not simple or easy by any means. It has all of the usual jazz elements intact but also taps into serialism, 20th century composition, folk rhythms and advanced metric modulation. And as a saxophonist myself, I would like to comment on Osby's tone and flawless articulation. AMAZING!



(...)

You can probably contact Osby directly via email to confirm this and he will surely respond. I've emailed him and spoken to him on several occasions at his concerts and he's a great guy! As you can probably tell, I'm a huge Osby fan."