releases on HiPNOTIC RECORDS, jazz artists The Onus and Seed will appear on consecutive Tuesdays in January at Washington's famed jazz supper club, Blues Alley.
On Tuesday, January 16th, The Onus, a distinctive quintet led by Baltimore-based clarinetist Darryl Harper, returns to DC for its third Blues Alley appearance in as many years. The band's second CD, Reoccurring Dream, has garnered several favorable reviews since its August 2000 release, adding to the glowing accolades the ensemble has received since its inception in 1996. The performance will feature familiar material from both CDs as well as new compositions by Harper and longtime band-mates Jeff Ray (guitar) and Matthew Parrish (bass). Kyle Koehler and Harry “Butch" Reed are featured on piano and drums, respectively.
On Tuesday, January 23rd, Seed, the brand-new brainchild of pianist Orrin Evans and his wife, vocalist Dawn, will make its collective Blues Alley debut. Joining Evans in the rhythm section on Seed - the band's self-titled debut CD, jointly released by HiPNOTIC and Evans's IMANI Records in November 2000 - are drummer Rodney Green and bassist Mike Boone. In addition to Dawn's vocal contribution on the Todd Rundgren ballad, “Hello, It's Me," the recording features all-star cameos by Gary Bartz (alto sax), Ralph Bowen (soprano & tenor sax), Duane Eubanks (trumpet), Branford Marsalis (soprano sax) and Jaleel Shaw (alto sax). On hand for the January 23rd performance will be frequent Evans collaborators, bassist James Genus and drummer Nasheet Waits.
Profiles of The Onus and Seed, as well as full-length reviews and audio clips from their new CDs, are available on the HiPNOTIC RECORDS Web site: http://www.hipnotic.com . Additional information about The Onus is available at: http://www.theonus.com , while further information about Seed, Orrin Evans, Dawn and Rodney Green can be found on the IMANI RECORDS/88 Keys Productions Web site: http://www.imanirecords.com . Excerpts from recent reviews follow.
What the critics are saying about The Onus and “Reoccurring Dream":
“[Reoccurring Dream is] a mainstream set of substantial strength . . . Harper's own approach falls somewhere between the audacious work of Don Byron and more conventional models such as Jimmy Hamilton and Pee Wee Russell . . . Attention-grabbing twists and turns keep things popping on a number of well-arranged standards . . . Harper's own works tread on appealing ground, including the lovely ballad sentiments expressed in “Kiss Me Again" and the modal waltz “Narcolepsy." [T]his date speaks confidently with poise and maturity and that clearly has something to do with the empathy that Harper and cohorts have developed over the past four years together working as a unit." Chris Hovan, AllAboutJazz.com
“The Onus is classic jazz like a classic suit -- full of classic lines and principles that always work no matter when it was cut or what the fashion of the day. Led by Baltimorean Darryl Harper, the band sports a clarinet-guitar front line right out of the old Benny Goodman small groups, but its dynamic group improvisation and songbook (Stevie Wonder, anyone?) are right now . . ." Baltimore City Paper (profile)
“As Reoccurring Dream (HiPNOTIC) proves, the group's name is fast becoming a reliable mark of quality . . . [T]he unusual front line of Harper's licorice stick and Jeff Ray's plummy guitar gives even riotous moments . . . an introspective tone that charms the ear as much as the exotic timbres do. In short, Reoccurring Dream is classic, not classicist, and no local jazz fan should be without it." Lee Gardner, Baltimore City Paper (CD review)
“The mellow sound of Harper's woodwind and Ray's hollow-body guitar shift the emphasis from brassy or honking horn solos to more impressionistic harmonies. Fortunately, Harper's writing is so richly melodic and so refreshingly inventive that it provides rich raw materials for harmonic development . . . The Onus' new album, Reoccurring Dream (HiPNOTIC), is an impressive step forward from the quintet's 1997 debut release, The Onus. Harper explores the lower range of his clarinet with sensual results; Ray pushes the rhythm along more forcefully, and new pianist Kyle Koehler proves more assertive and percussive than his predecessor. The results mark [T]he Onus as one of the most interesting jazz combos in the mid-Atlantic region." The Jeffersonian
What the critics are saying about Orrin Evans and “Seed":
“Seed's music . . . bristles with free-spirited improvisational fire . . . With its connotations of organic unity and germinal beginnings, Seed is an apt name for this band, and a viable framework for some of the most representative music of Orrin Evans's career to date. As a musical partnership between Evans and Dawn, moreover, it bodes well for the future." David R. Adler, All Music Guide
“Ten years ago, young straight-ahead jazz pianists were struggling mightily with the legacies of Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner, and the result was usually a bland hybrid of the two. More recently, though, pianists like Rodney Kendrick, Jackie Terrasson and Brad Meldhau have tapped into relatively overlooked sources -- Randy Weston, Ahmad Jamal and Lenny Tristano -- and developed richly singular voices. Orrin Evans . . . is the latest addition to the pack. All of 23, Mr. Evans knows his Hancock and Tyner, but he's beholden to neither. You can hear Monk, Red Garland and even a touch of Cecil Taylor in his playing; mostly, you hear an adventurous mind with a refreshing aversion to cliche." Ben Ratliff, New York Times
For more information contact All About Jazz.
