Greg Khin

Saxophonist Greg Osby attacks a varied mix of jazz standards on St. Louis Shoes with results that sound both well within the "tradition" and utterly modern. Reminiscent of midcareer Wynton Marsalis, Osby seems to want to mix the Cotton Club-style swing of Duke Ellington with the angular bebop and calculated arrhythmia of Thelonious Monk. Backed by a stellar ensemble including trumpeter Nicholas Payton, bassist Robert Hurst, pianist Harold O'Neil, and drummer Rodney Green, Osby crafts interesting arrangements of songs including the barely recognizable Gershwin chestnut "Summertime" and the Dizzy Gillespie classic "Shaw 'Nuff" that are both harmonically challenging and rhythmically unique. Check out the quirky and angular Raymond Scott meets Monk written solo that Osby and Payton play in the middle of Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo"…

There are concessions that must be made on Keith Emerson and Greg Lake’s Live from Manticore Hall, starting with the absence of Carl Palmer - and then the occasional use of loops.
Too, the conversational aspect of the evening certainly works on its first listen, bringing us in with a confidential closeness. (Emerson, in an impish moment, recalls people asking questions about his pre-Emerson Lake and Palmer band: "The Nice what?") But once that context is understood, these lengthy segments quickly become extraneous detours away from what is often a adventurously re-imagined journey through some peak moments for both…

Manouevres was released in 1983 as the follow-up to Greg Lake's 1981 self-titled debut album. His core group of musicians (Gary Moore, Tristam Margetts, Tommy Eyre, and Ted McKenna) is still present, but Manoeuvres is a different sort of album than the '81 effort. The heavy, gritty, guitar-driven feel of the previous record is not quite as evident and this seems a more restrained album. Many, Greg Lake included, tend to sell this album short and that is a mistake. Perhaps sales were discouraging, but this is a well-crafted, well-performed album on which Lake seems to rely more on melody than he did in 1981.