OA2, like its parent label Origin, has sought to give wider exposure to musicians who are deserving. Trumpeter
Fred Forney has had a long career playing in symphony orchestras, in Broadway shows, with pop acts, and as a sideman, in addition to serving as director of jazz studies at Mesa Community College in Tempe, AZ, where he took part in the excellent Then and Now, which featured both student jazz ensembles and a faculty nonet.
Forney leads a quartet that includes two seasoned musicians also deserving of wider recognition, pianist
Chuck Marohnic and tenor saxophonist
Brice Winston, along with bassist Dwight Kilian and drummer
Dom Moio, who merit praise as well.
Forney penned seven originals for this session and it is apparent that he is a seasoned player; not only are there no weak songs, but he knows how to pace a program, something young players often overlook when they surround themselves with fellow newbies and inexperienced producers. Nor does
Forney hog the spotlight; he has the confidence to let others take the opening solos. It's hard to pick highlights, though his tense "The Mystic" with its eerie muted trumpet and tenor sax in unison, the breezy "Astoria," and his energetic opening "Nearly Human" (dedicated to his very active Labrador, Miles) all leave lasting impressions. With major labels focusing excessively on young unproven talent all too often, jazz fans will be better served by investigating small-label offerings such as
Fred Forney's superb
Chasing Horizons. ~ Ken Dryden