Customer Reviews

Channel Three

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"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.

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.

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!

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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.

The trio setting has, in the history of jazz, frequently been the setting of unprecedented group interaction and experimentation. The Sonny Rollins Vanguard sessions would seem to be a predecessor of this landmark record by Greg Osby's group. Even elements of the memorable Giuffre/Swallow/Bley group sneak onto Channel Three giving the session a unique and groundbreaking flavor. Like the Motian/Frisell/Lovano group that enjoys such popularity today, the trio of Osby, Brewer and Watts is without a doubt covering new ground. It won't take the listener much time once turning on this record to realize that these three are very (underline VERY) serious about what they do.

Specifically, Matt Brewer is making some of the most important innovations on the basses (both acoustic and electric) since Scott Lafaro and Cecil Mcbee. Anyone interested in the instrument and its role in jazz should watch for this young player. Personally, I hope to hear much more from him in coming years.

this album is a must have. i wasnt really familiar with greg osby before this album, i only got it becuase he plays mob job and miss ann. i knew something had to be good if he was coming out with those tunes! his tunes are just as good though. "test pattern" is one of the best tunes ive ever heard. all of his tunes are great, and the adding of their voices on the title track is very original. matt brewer is one of the top bassists in the jazz scene right now. tain, we all know how sick he is! please go and buy this album, you will listen to it many times and still be wanting to listen to it again and again!

I'll admit that I didn't know who Greg Osby was until I saw his latest album Channel Three in the store. I was interested because I listen to jazz from time to time, and when I discovered that this album was on Blue Note Records, I was even more intrigued because they're known for putting out good stuff. I listened to the album and found that my notions were right.

Greg is a brilliant saxophonist, which is obvious by listening to any one of the tracks on here. "Vertical Hold", "Test Pattern" and "Please Stand By" are wonderful examples of this, as is the aptly titled "Fine Tuning". In fact, every song is noteworthy. If you've worn out your Norman Brown albums and you need something new, then pop this in and as another reviewer instructed, don't change the channel.

Anthony Rupert