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Review by Bill Binkelman More than delivering on the promise of his EP, At Last, horn player (trumpet, flugelhorn, and synths) Jeff Oster's first full-length recording, Released, is a flat-out success, blending catchy rhythmic pieces that blur the boundary of adult contemporary, smooth jazz and new age with moody introspective tone poems that wouldn't be out of place on albums from the respected ECM label. Oster gathered a wealth of talent to "sit in" on this release, including such luminaries as Will Ackerman (guitar), Philip Aaberg (piano), Charlie Bisharat (violin), Happy Rhodes (vocals), Jeff Pearce (guitar), plus a few more folks whose contributions are no less valuable but whose profile is less recognizable to readers of this site, I'd wager. Even though this album contains the entire EP, the new material is more than enough to justify adding this one to your collection if you enjoyed At Last, trust me on this. NOTE: Rather than add any more comments on the previously issued music on this CD, here is a link to my review of the EP; from here on out, my comments will be about the new material. "Fool's Gold" starts things off in a melancholic and bluesy fashion, featuring Aaberg's expressive restrained piano and some of Oster's most nuanced flugelhorn playing. Ackerman contributes "parlor" guitar and Taylor Barefoot fleshes things out with some background embellishment on electric guitar. Oster also adds some sparse wordless vocals to the piece. As it was on At Last, the production and engineering is faultless. Mixing horns in with other instruments is not always easy, but everyone involved here did a splendid job. The piano is warm and rich in tone and Oster's horns resonate with superb echo and reverb. "Final Approach" is another low-key tune, but with the addition of a pulsing beat underneath the synths and horns plus the wordless vocals of Ms. Rhodes. The snazzy synths are by Gregory Douglass. The mood of the song is more dramatic, even though it's fairly subdued. Rhodes' voice exhibits her characteristic ethereal range and quality. At times, one could even describe this cut as being quasi-ambient, in the same way that one or two tracks which featured flugelhorn on Jon Mark's A Sunday in Autumn could be categorized as such. "Behind the Veil" brings Rhodes vocals more to the forefront and also incorporates some of the more dynamic/driving rhythms on the album. This is the song which includes Jeff Pearce, but unfortunately, since he is one of seven people on the song, picking him out won't be easy. Suffice to say that his contributions, whatever they may be, help make the song a vibrant exercise in moody horns, passionate percussion and beats, and synths, all of which evoke comparisons to Patrick O'Hearn (circa Trust and Metaphor). Ackerman shines (and is quite recognizable) on the title track which he also co-wrote with Oster. Featuring just flugelhorn, acoustic guitar, piano and some sparse electric guitar, this is a gentle reflective number. It displays the broad variety of music on Released, coming as it does after the uptempo "Behind the Veil." "As I Live And Breathe" crosses over into something akin of ECM jazz meets new age music, from the era of the late '80s and early '90s when Windham Hill and Narada were at their best. The rhythms are present but subdued, and the tone is a cross between melancholy and inviting. Released is an excellent recording from every standpoint: artistic, technical, and variety of music offered. The mixture of rhythmic with more drifting pieces is perfectly balanced, yet the music offers a solid thread of continuity via the presence of Jeff Oster's soulful horns which, needless to say, are the highlight of this exceptional recording. I'm glad that Oster followed up his critically acclaimed EP with this full-length recording and I'm even more delighted to highly recommend it with room to spare! |
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