Customer Reviews

Symbols of Light

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4 star:		(2)
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Invoke Kind of Blue and I suppose you've aroused a distinct category of expectations. EVERYone knows (and owns) Miles' masterwork (even if it's the only jazz disc in his/her collection). But apart from jazz devotees, who knows Greg Osby? If everything were right in the world, EVERYone would know Greg Osby as well.

How tired are you of hearing Kind of Blue is "the most beautiful jazz recording ever made"? I surmise we all have candidates for that claim (and several by Davis sidemen from the Blue sessions). But listeners with ears trained for music of the year 2001 have Symbols of Light (A Solution), an adventurously ambitious, achingly beautiful jazz recording that is surely the loveliest I've heard this year (and I can think of few rivals from earlier years). Although I emphasize "jazz"-for it is such--all the references I want to make are to classical performance. Osby's music here contains passages of almost Mendelssohnian lyricism-or Mendelssohn in American dress, as in Barber's Adagio or Violin Concerto. It has agitated passages that are reminiscent of early and late Stravinsky (see track two, pianist Jason Moran's "Repay in Kind.") Its individual tracks have a shapeliness, an architectonic pleasingness, that I find rare in most contemporary jazz (that's not merely of the neo-bop, hard bop variety) or contemporary "classical" composition.

Symbols of Light (A Solution)-and what IS it with this title? Osby tours this music as Greg Osby and Symbols of Light, so is the quartet Symbols of Light and the album title (A Solution)? We get no help from the liner notes-fits my colloquial understanding of "American Classical Music." It is idiomatically All American. It is serious without being self conscious. It is music to live with, to revisit and explore, and it rewards upon relistening, in different ways each time. It is deep, and contemporary-Osby makes few concessions to those who crave the sounds of yore--but accessible. It evokes "higher sensibilities." The players perform with uncanny precision-even in blistering improvisation, all the notes sound "just so," inevitable, perfect. And even as Osby and company swing like a (...)--thank you for that, too, Miles-"A Solution" brings to mind a range of classical references (I defy anyone who has ever listened to the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra to listen to Osby's "Northbound" (track 8) and not hear Bartok's opening paraphrased in jazz idiom.) A Solution would be as perfectly at home in a concert hall as in a jazz club (overpriced drinks, bad tables, condescending servers, and all).

Above all, this for me is New York City music, which in the last month of 2001 has a very particular meaning. In my ears, it is Osby's sensuous vibrato, which seems to echo down empty rain-slicked, neon-reflecting streets, that most draws me into the sounds of the Great City. Osby seems to catche the complexity-the turbulence and peacefulness, beauty and brutality, the richness and, yes, the pain-of New York. The first track in particular, "3 for Civility"-which begins with the marvelous Moran, hesitant, picking his way tentatively through opening chords and bringing to mind the daybreak stirrings of the city-has in places a dirge-like quality, with strings moving powerfully through slow sequences of dissolving chords, but also moments of soaring lyricism, speaking to me of Great City's inexorable triumph over its inevitable sorrows.

I suspect some may lose their way hereon a single unfocused listening, but I'll guess the first three tracks will convince most listeners they have something rare and beautiful in their possession, something that deserves respectful attention. The quality of musicianship alone is compelling: the players are all superb. Osby and Moran interact as though they share a mind-listen in particular to track 4, "The Keep." Both have the knack of mining inside of chordal structures and finding notes that seem not to have existed before their moment of discovery. And some of bassist Scott Colley's work reminded me of Scott La Faro's intuitive, technically brilliant runs against Bill Evans' piano. Marlon Bowden is a perfect complement and the most tasteful of percussionists (listen to his sweet cymbal work in the opening bars of track 6, "This is Bliss." Bliss indeed.)

God, I love this record. I hope many, many others will as well.

mr. osby has been giving his audience wonderful images of his developing and deepening talent over his last few albums. the brilliant "banned in new york" recorded straight to a portable digital recorder in a club was superb. last year's "invisible hand" continued the streak with gret guest performances by andrew hill and jim hall. now this year, we get an altogether different vision with "symbols of light," recorded with mr. osby's base quartet and augmented with a string quartet. the result is one of the finest chamber jazz sets, right up there with the best of the modern jazz quartet. the album gets a further nod for not being afraid to bend the frame with references to eric dolphy, ornette coleman, and arthur blythe. the strings serve as a collective fifth instrument for these arrangements,enhancing the tonality and showing some intersting motifs all their own. mr. osby sounds great on alto and soprano sax with solos on "m", "this is bliss," "wild is the wind", and "repay in kind" jumping out. jason moran continues his own growth with one of his best performances. all of his solos sing and swing in this edgy set. this set does swing, but with that off-kilter lilt of thelonious monk rather than the straight-ahead swing of, say, duke ellington. get it and enjoy it. and if you really like it, try arthur blythe's album, "basic blythe" (if you can find it, alas) where the overlooked talent of the alto sax is paired with another stellar string quartet.

I've been familiar with Greg Osby's talent for a short time. Primarily with his work with other artists: Gary Thomas, New Directions, and Stefon Harris. Greg has a unique voice which is smooth and intense. His talent, producing, and arranging skills are immense and are always evolving.

Symbols of Light is fantastic new chapter in his evolving process. Don't expect Parker with Strings. Don't expect what you've heard on his other recordings. Do expect stellar musicians and music. This is a totally new and fresh approach. The strings play an intricate part and are not just a backdrop. The selections are, inviting, cool, driving, and beautifully haunting. Atmospheric. This should be a candidate for one of the best pieces of jazz this year.

markT.

Wow! I was afraid this was another syrupy sax and strings album, but I was so wrong! This is tough, uncompromising, soulful jazz, complemented by a string quartet of considerable jazz imporvisational skill. Great compositions, great arrangements, and great improvising, from all the members, and especially Greg Osby, one of the most important jazz musicians alive today.

I haven't had a great deal of exposure to Greg Osby in the past other than owning "Art Forum" which somehow never really had much air-time on my Hi Fi. This release is a far more interesting and significant production.

The music is original and difficult to describe or to classify though it certainly wouldn't fall under the avant-garde tag as it is actually very accessible. If pushed I would describe this production as a set of tone poems which create moods with the music. The use of the strings in the background adds a generally sombre and moving continuum over which GO layers a very creative and searching dialogue which seems to have it's own, unique but musical, logic. Throughout GO employs a warm tone which is entirely suited to the composition. I found that the overall approach works well and Symbols of Light is an interesting and innovative contribution to the current direction of Jazz.

Recommended.

This might be the most amazing thing I've ever heard. It's innovative in every aspect. The instruments fuse so tightly and take you for a ride on every tune. This is some of the most fierce, focused, inspriringly intense, and lyrically satisfying playing I've ever heard. I've never seen Osby live, but I could imagine it's amazing. It's truly magical how everything clicks. Marlon Browden and Scott Colley loosely cradle the group. These men and women believe in the music and play as if they knew death would take each one immediately after the session. One Room is a highlight as it's form evokes a scattered urgency shared by everyone present. Northbound is simply terrifying. Every tune has so many specific emotional layers. Probably the best fusion of strings and a jazz combo I've ever heard. Well-arranged and performed. This record is reckless, relentless, and flawless. I need to stop writing about it and listen to absorb it again. The music grows on you. I'll be back.

I keep listening to Symbols of Light and it just gets better and better. The music has an intensity and beauty I don't hear often enough. And you can get a copy (used) for shipping + $0.01($2.99)! You can't beat that no way.

It's commonplace for jazz fans to frown on attempts to combine strings with jazz--I've rarely come across a reference to the 1950s Third Stream in the literature which didn't immediately rush to say how misguided such attempts at generic blends are. Yet there have been lots of interesting & satisfying attempts at combining strings with small-group jazz; jazz greats like Max Roach & Lee Konitz have done so on occasion to great effect, for instance. I think this new Greg Osby recording benefits from its coming late to the field. Strings fit very poorly into the fast-moving changes-based jazz of bebop. But the complex yet slow-moving harmonies of Osby's disc work very well with the strings, & the disc also obviously draws on the 1960s avantgarde's use of bass, cello & violin for purposes of texture or drones--note in particular Andrew Hill's brilliant use of two basses on _Smokestack_ (one conventionally plucked, another--Richard Davis--played arco). This is decidedly a jazz album, entirely idiomatic--most of it is for instance quite driving & hardswinging, not rubato in a "classical" manner (contrast Lee Konitz's brilliant _Plays French Impressionist Music_, which is unapologetically "classical" in feel).

Osby is by now one of the most distinctive saxophonists in jazz--kudos to him for refusing to become yet another Coltrane, Rollins & Parker disciple. Moran's piano is less idiosyncratic here than on other recordings (check out his excellent _Black Stars_) but is deservedly prominently featured--the album leads off, in fact, with a low-key waltz introduction from him on piano which unexpectedly intensifies in feeling as alto & strings enter. -- Throughout the album there's a feeling of urgency, even in its most beautiful moments (like the reading of the pianist Masabumi Kikuchi's "'M'" & of "Wild Is the Wind"--surely the first reading of the tune on Blue Note since Larry Young's stab at it in the 1960s?). Yet there's an admirable restraint, too--"The Keep", which could have been the flagwaver, is instead rendered ambiguous in feel by the rhythm section playing in 2 instead of 4/4. The entire album winds up with a "Barefoot Tapdance" between Osby & Moran, a quasi-stride performance which is--for an album mostly dark-hued in tone--unexpectedly laced with quiet Monkish humour.

A really fine album--Osby's been on a roll recently, & this is one of the best things among recent Blue Note releases.

I bought this, my first Osby, because I needed something to get me out of a listening rut. I'm no musician and I have no idea what I'm talking about but here's what I heard. There are two separate tunes layered over the percussion. Tune 1: Melodic, expressive, vocal qualities, often flute or alto. No obvious key signature. Unresolved wandering. Well phrased. Tune 2: A different set of keys. Often synthesizer. Different phrasing patterns from tune 2. The two tunes are not obviously related but they are somehow complementary. Underneath both tunes, the rhythm is on a different wavelength entirely. Drums and bass. The three layers are just not traditionally blended but get along remarkably well. Overall then, you get three experiences for the price of one, the way I see it. While listening I am actively moving among all three layers, as if constantly changing focus from microstructure to macrostructure. Like looking at a city from a high observation deck then being in that city in a taxi. It is endlessly fascinating but but not background music. I play it for a few hours about once a month and enjoy it every time.

The title says for itself. The best album of the year.