Search - Greg Osby :: Art Forum

On 1993's 3-D Lifestyles and last year's Black Book, saxophonist Greg Osby ventured into the world of funk and hip-hop for sometimes promising, often frustrating attempts to blend jazz and rap. For Art Forum, Osby returns to mainstream acoustic jazz for the first time since his 1987 Sound Theater. Osby still shows hints of his genre-blending tendencies when his soprano sax duets with Marvin Sewell's country-blues slide guitar on "2nd Born to Freedom" and when his alto sax plays a staccato funk intro to "Dialectical Interchange." For the most part, though, "Art Forum" showcases Osby's thorough knowledge of and respect for the jazz tradition as well as his ability to play it with a fat, inviting tone and personal phrasing. --Geoffrey Himes