August 2005 - O's Place
Jazz Newsletter - Octobop -
After Dark 4/4
O's Notes: Octobop brings back the West Coast Jazz that was popular in the
1950s. They are a large ensemble sans piano with vibes and brass. Their
music is both orchestrated and improvised to arrive at a cool structured
sound that is not too busy. Octobop performs arrangements from the big
names of this era including Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Jimmy Giuffre and
Shorty Rogers. They successfully recreate the spirit (warm and mellow) of
the music on After Dark.
August, 2005 - Cadence Magazine
- After Dark - Recommended
"I'm sure [After Dark] will appeal to any fan of that
'50's Cool period, and I hope that it might start some who don't know that music
to dig around and excavate more about it for themselves." - Phillip McNally
April 20, 2005 - Octobop Featured in the San Jose Mercury News - Article by Andrew Gilbert
February, 2005 - Review of After Dark on All About Jazz - Article by Jack Bowers
November 10, 2004 - Octobop Signs Record Deal With Group 7 Music in Los Angeles
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As it says in the liner notes to Night
Lights, “West Coast Jazz rides again.” Not quite as high as it did in
the ‘50s and ‘60s, but one must give due credit to Silicon Valley’s
Octobop for helping to enliven and preserve the spirit of some of the
greatest Jazz ever written or played. Yes, there was much more to
appreciate about “West Coast Jazz” than its laid-back hipness, the
“cool” facade that came to epitomize the movement and by which it was
universally, albeit inaccurately, known.
Night Lights is a well-shaped session of smooth West Coast-style jazz by an ensemble whose commitment to the music is wholehearted and impressive. - Jack Bowers Also see from All About Jazz Italy - http://www.allaboutjazz.com/italy/reviews/r0304_004_it.htm |
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The Judy Holliday Resource Center |
http://www.bayarea.com/entertainment/jazz/artist/octobop/index.html
