Search - Anthony Ortega :: Afternoon in Paris

By almost any measure . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 11/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

". . . Anthony Ortega's career would have to be regarded as a failure. Who knows why such things happen to some of our most brilliant jazz artists?



What are we talking about? Simply put, here is a jazzman of the most consummate skill who barely registers on the jazz radar.



Why?



Bad luck? Poor career choices? Wrong place, wrong time? Who knows?



Really, it's futile trying to sort it out. But hear me now: This man is one of the true originals. Heir of Parker, Stitt, McLean, and Pepper, he defined an alto saxophone style completely his own and, in some ways, surpassing any of the above.



Back in the sixties, he recorded a session that has grown in stature to become an underground classic: New Dance, a duo (with bassists Chuck Dominaco) and trio (with bassist Bobby West and drummer Bill Godwin) recording that showcased his prodigal solo talents and interrelational genius.



One might think of this present session, a duo with bassist Kash Killion and one cut with Dominaco, as a reprise of that earlier date, but that would be wrong. For one thing, Ortega has greatly outpaced that original recording: Here he presents an instrumental command and concept far beyond what went down in 1966. He has greatly matured as an artist and moved in significantly new and productive directions in the meantime.



Anyone with even the slightest interest in American jazz originals would do well to pick up on this jazz giant. Absolutely not to be missed."