Greg Osby’s 9 Levels is the saxophonist’s first release in three years. The long awaited disc is the first official release on Osby’s Inner Circle Music, a label devoted to promoting forward-looking original work by young musicians. The ensemble featured on 9 Levels is comprised of musicians who are restrained and sensitive to the group sound, allowing the barbed and often complex compositions to drift or bound effortlessly.
Labyrinthian Compositions
The music on 9 Levels achieves moods that are somewhat ambiguous and disorienting, thanks to metric shifts and snaking melodies that are often woven into intricate counterpoint. The thornier, more elusive tracks on the album, such as “Innocence” and “Truth,” are so moving and engrossing because of their focus on the dimly lit corners of the principles to which their titles refer.Challenging Yet Uplifting
There is underlying joy on 9 Levels, due mostly to three things: Greg Osby’s laughing improvisation style, Sara Serpa’s smooth-as-glass voice, and the conversational nature of the solos. Often the instrumentalists swap stories throughout the solo forms, and the resulting cheerful debate is inviting, unexpectedly accessible. The jubilant underpinning of the CD is confirmed by the title and the sense of resolution in last theme of the final track, “Optimism.” The theme is the same sweet melody that is central to “Two of One,” perhaps the one piece on the album that undeniably expresses a singular mood, which in this case is based on love and understanding.The musicianship on 9 Levels is admirable and impressive. Each artist is an equal, and flashiness and cheap thrills are abandoned in this collective effort to express multifaceted and complicated emotions.
Release Date:
August 20th, 2008 Inner Circle Music
Personnel:
- Greg Osby, alto and soprano saxophones
- Sara Serpa, Voice
- Adam Birnbaum, piano
- Nir Felder, guitar
- Joseph Lepore, bass
- Hamir Atwal, drums
Track Listing:
- Principle
- Tolerance
- Humility
- Truth
- Less Tension Please
- Resilience
- Two of One
- Innocence
- Optimism
