Inner Circle Music

[relyles]

I have been a fan of Greg Osby for over twenty years and was very excited when he told me that he was starting his own label. For one, it had been several years since Osby’s last release on Blue Note and I wanted to hear what direction he was moving in. Second, Osby has always displayed a good ear for young talent.

The first release on the Inner Circle Music label was Osby’s own 9 Levels, which continues Osby’s pattern of producing compelling music. The label recently released the first batch of recordings by some of the other artists on the label. Most of the artists are new to me, but based on my confidence in Osby’s judgment of talent, I have purchased three so far, and plan to purchase the rest eventually.

The past two days I have been listening to Jacob Yoffee’s Dead Reckoning. I had never heard of Yoffee before, but he is apparently a protégé of Gary Thomas. There are a couple of familiar musicians on the disc. In addition to Thomas playing flute on two tracks, George Colligan plays piano throughout and trumpeter Sean Jones appears on two tracks. Any assumptions that all the artists on Inner Circle will have an approach similar to Osby’s do not apply to this recording. The music is comparatively “straight”, but Yoffee’s compositions are very interesting. Yoffee’s saxophone playing is impressive, with a tone not too dissimilar from Gary Thomas, just a bit softer. George Colligan is also impressive throughout. This one is recommended.

I also just picked up the releases by vibraphonist Michael Pinto and saxophonist Logan Richardson. These are the only two artists on the label I had some previous exposure to from Richardson’s Fresh Sound New Talent debut recording. I have only had a chance for a somewhat distracted hearing of the Pinto and have not listened to the Richardson at all yet. I plan to post comments once I have had a chance to absorb both releases. I also plan to purchase the remaining three or four releases on the label in the near future and report on my listening.

[kh1958]

I saw one night of the Inner Circle showcase at the Jazz Standard back in October--a set by the Sara Serpa group and another by Osby's Nine Levels--both were very good. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by Sara Serpa's group. Her voice is very beautiful and ethereal, and she seemed to have skill at composition for the group as well. I'm looking forwarded to receiving her CD, which I've ordered (bought the Osby there that night).

[sheldonm]

He spoke of his label when I saw him this past August in Chicago. He had copied of his new cd with him at that time.

m~

[kh1958]

Physical CDs are now available from the Inner Circle website for all the first set of releases.

[Chuck Nessa]

He spoke of his label when I saw him this past August in Chicago. He had copied of his new cd with him at that time.

m~

Wanna correct yo' quick typing Mark?

[relyles]

For most of the morning I have been listening to the Michael Pinto recording and it is growing on me with each listen. It is a somewhat subtle recording - it does not smack you in the face. Instead, much of it has somewhat of a floating feel with occasionally shifting tempos. Pinto and Logan Richardson are both very effective sololists throughout and the rhythm section works well together. Very much worth a listen.

[santos]

I really like Lauren Sevian's album and also Jacob Yoffee's. They are just incredible sax players!

[relyles]

I am bringing this thread back to life because I think the label deserves more attention for the quality of the releases it has consistently put out. Today I was listening to the new release by Osby's current bassist, Joseph Lepore, titled Journal. In addition to Lepore the recording features Lancy Murphy on tenor sax, Tim Collins, vibes and drummer Nasheet Waits. Waits is relatively well known, but before this disc I do not think I had heard Murphy or Collins. This is a strong recording. The recording is basically straight ahead playing, but the playing and compositions are nuanced and interesting throughout.

I don't notice a lot of advertising for the recordings on this label in the jazz press and other than the website, I think most of the discs are soold at performances. It would be nice to see this label get a little more publicity because the quality of the recordings is consistently compelling. In some ways it makes me think of the Smalls label in the production qualities, but a bit more experimental.

Also worth checking out is James Weidman's Three Worlds, released earlier this year and featuring Ray Anderson, Marty Ehrlich and Jay Hoggard. I also have the recent releases by Yukari and Janguen Bae, but have not had a chance to listen to them yet. This is a great label to hear young artists.

[kh1958]

I have the James Weidman release--it is good. He was Abbey Lincoln's longtime accompaniest on piano.

[Chicago Expat]

I am bringing this thread back to life because I think the label deserves more attention for the quality of the releases it has consistently put out. Today I was listening to the new release by Osby's current bassist, Joseph Lepore, titled Journal. In addition to Lepore the recording features Lancy Murphy on tenor sax, Tim Collins, vibes and drummer Nasheet Waits. Waits is relatively well known, but before this disc I do not think I had heard Murphy or Collins. This is a strong recording. The recording is basically straight ahead playing, but the playing and compositions are nuanced and interesting throughout.

I don't notice a lot of advertising for the recordings on this label in the jazz press and other than the website, I think most of the discs are soold at performances. It would be nice to see this label get a little more publicity because the quality of the recordings is consistently compelling. In some ways it makes me think of the Smalls label in the production qualities, but a bit more experimental.

Also worth checking out is James Weidman's Three Worlds, released earlier this year and featuring Ray Anderson, Marty Ehrlich and Jay Hoggard. I also have the recent releases by Yukari and Janguen Bae, but have not had a chance to listen to them yet. This is a great label to hear young artists.

That Lepore album has been interesting me the last month or so. I've recently discovered Tim Collins, and by doing that whole sideman-investigation-thing, Lepore was one of the names that has most intrigued me.

I have to say, though, I'm a little disappointed in Osby's site (and Lepore's own site as well) that there's so little to preview the album. I'm just at a point now where I'm not gonna buy an album if all I've got are a bunch of thirty second samples and maybe one full track to hear, y'know? There's too much great music out there to risk my limited cash. Poor album previews aside, I think what Osby is doing with Inner Circle is pretty damn admirable, and there's some fine music coming through there. He's making one of those rare labels that I want to support just for the principle of it, yeah?

And anything with Marty Ehrlich playing on it is probably gonna be excellent.