2014-04-07
Ou was formed in Italy in 2012. The band's debut, PIsces Crises, is a busy disc with a whole lot going on. Seattle producer, Amy Denio, must have had her hands full with this one. There is ukelele, organ, a horn section, piano, bass, drums, kalimba, vibraphone, and glockenspiel all backing many voices. The whole band sings (as well as the producer!). It all comes together to form a vocal jazz sextet; but this isn't your parents' vocal jazz. What Ou makes is entirely different. There are unusual time signatures, punchy or whispery vocalizations, and odd instrumentation. Contemporary vocal jazz is one of my least favorite genres. Ou brings me into the fold.
Rebecca Ruth
ELVIS COSTELLO AND ALLEN TOUSSAINT (“Two-SAHN-t”)
The River in Reverse
BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA
SONGS FROM LONELY AVENUE
Anat Cohen
Poetica
WILLE BOBO
Lost and Found
WYNTON MARSALIS
SELECTIONS FROM SWINGING INTO THE 21'ST
CURTIS STIGERS
Lost in Dreams
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