Press & Reviews

Jeff Oster spent his youth playing in bar bands, then opted out into the lucrative world of financial advising. All the while, he spent his free time playing in an Oakland funk group. None of that will prepare you for Jeff Oster's debut album, Released. Echoes listeners have been getting a taste for this CD since last year when Oster put out a 4 song EP. All four of those tunes appear here on a disc that elaborates on the themes of that little EP teaser.

Oster plays trumpet, an instrument not usually associated with ambient music, which may explain why he usually employs the more mellow flugelhorn. Exhibiting amazing restraint, Oster eshews the usual smooth jazz rhythms and funk designs of artists like Chris Botti and instead turns his focus on moods and atmospheres.

Some tracks are wistful and pastoral like the title track, which is mostly just Oster and guitarist Will Ackerman, who also produced the album. Others chart darker terrain like the mysterious, foreboding sound of "Behind the Veil," which features fractured programmed rhythms pulsing behind vocal fragments and ethereal choirs from Happy Rhodes. She appears on the tribal electronica of "Haleakala" as well, a track co-written by Philip Aaberg, who brings his acoustic piano ruminations to bear on "Fool's Gold." He sounds a lament from the edge, along with Oster's hymn-like harmonized trumpet lines. Now in his 40s, it's taken Jeff Oster a lifetime to arrive at his debut album. And Released is worth the wait.


-John Diliberto

Jeff Oster's debut album contains the four tracks from his EP At Last and five other instrumental songs. The songs are an unusual but extraordinary combination of Jeff playing flugelhorn, trumpet, and keyboards while guest musicians (the only one whose name I'm familiar with is Will Ackerman who also produced the album) add to the magic with instrumentation such as piano, violin, guitars, and synths. The result is acoustic contemporary styles tinged with smooth Jazz and blended with beats, percussion, and electronic music.

This is a work of varying moods which range from contemplative, reflective and slightly doleful to happy and joyful; also visiting some emotional places in between. It doesn't really have any low points though - either emotionally or musically.

The opening track "Fool's Gold" is a contemplative almost disconsolate piece. Deep piano notes and then velvety warm but sad flugelhorn refrains come in. It's also a mellow piece with restrained melodies, including guitars later on, plus some breathy and strung out wordless vocals. The mood picks up in the next piece "Big Sur", after seeming a little like chamber music at the start with violins a gently rhythmic passage starts up with guitar, percussion, and synth pads. Jeff's horn/trumpet then brings in a lovely melodious structure around which other instruments play out. This track got me thinking of being on holiday when slowly waking up and looking out to a marvellous landscape and sea on a bright day.

Something I learnt from Released is that instruments like the flugelhorn that one doesn't usually associate with ambient music can be used to create lovely ambient passages. In "Final Approach" the horn begins like tones from a lonely and distant explorer. Discreet humming synths and bass beats fill out the background and some female stretched out "hey hey" vocals are heard in parts. All the while the horn continues its refrains getting nearer and less lonely as the piece progresses, reaching a climax before the electronics take the track to a peaceful close.

One of the good things about being a reviewer is getting to hear music you'd probably not otherwise encounter. I'm so glad to have received Released. It's a truly heartwarming and melodious album that like a good wine gets better over time. Highly recommended.

JEFF OSTER
Released
(p) (c) 2005 Retso Records
9tks/45mins


Among ungrounded illusions in this world
The only love
That's everlasting and undergoing changes
Exists...


When a man is occupied with his life affair, when he possesses a nice family and fine home, what else does he need? Maybe, it is important for him to deliver to others his inward world, to be heard by other people, just to share his own universe with persons beside. What else can be more precious than this present? What can a person really give to other people in addition to his love?...

And such a present to the audience is favoured generously by Jeff Oster. A musician of about fifty years old has rushed into the modern music' world with his surprisingly fresh and sincere debut full length CD "Released". In this album there is a delicate taste of a musician who has been remaining faithful to love to his favourite instruments through many long years: a trumpet and a flugelhorn. Acoustic instruments in the "Released" album are skilfully supplemented with electronic ones. The sounding of the disc is very intelligent and refined. And it cannot be otherwise as far as the album has been produced personally by William Ackerman, a founding father of a legendary studio Windham Hill. His solo on an acoustic guitar, a solo full of inherent calm and conciliation in combination with a shrill flugelhorn by Jeff Oster in the composition "Released" recur to our memory the best projects issued by Windham Hill Records. It should be said that in addition to William Ackerman such artists as Philip Aaberg - piano, Taylor Barefoot - electric and acoustic guitar and drum programming, Happy Rhodes - vocals, T.Bone Walk - bass and moreover a whole number of outstanding musicians assisted Jeff Oster with recording this album.

I would like to mention one more feature in Jeff Oster’s creativity: optimism and taste of freedom are available in his music. Jeff Oster expresses his emotions in a simple and clear manner and helps us to realize that in the world that’s surrounding us there are no violence and suppression in reality, this world was created for love, joy and creation, and all marasmus and sufferings were brought to this world by the people who lost a creative ability. Jeff Oster calls upon to look inside ourselves, to sense the beatitude which everybody possesses inside. And nothing and nobody is in power to destroy this inner treasure in a man because this is just the Life itself…

The album “Released” is like a long-expected sea flood, a gulp of a fresh wind, a return to true values…


Serge Kozlovsky
http://mkmk.com/kozlovsky

P.S. Translated by Tatyana L. Permyakova.

Released At Last

Jeff Oster issued his EP At Last in the fall of 2003 and he promised us he would add to the CD to make a full length album. Finally, the new work is here and aptly titled Released. It fairly glows with Jeff’s talent for musical imagery and unique capacity for strong composition. Again, the album is produced by legendary guitarist Will Ackerman whose fingers have been in many a producer’s pie lately. Oster plays the flugelhorn, an instrument not widely known outside of the brass section of a formal orchestra. Under Oster’s strong, controlled breath however, it is an instrument of unexpected and dignified beauty and sets well into the adult contemporary instrumental music family.

The first cut Fool’s Gold is a sad, echoing tune that musically tells of the joy of discovery and the disappointment when the treasure turns out to be false. A doleful piano score by renowned keyboardist Philp Aaberg, Will Ackerman’s parlor guitar and Taylor Barefoot’s electric guitar blend in a melancholy tune that turns a rainy day into a thought provoking experience.

Final Approach is a culmination among some very talented artists including celebrated sideman T. Bone Wolk on bass, vocalist extraordinaire Happy Rhodes, Gregory Douglas on synthesizer and Jeff on the flugelhorn and programming. The result is not the last attempt at landing an aircraft, but a last chance to get to know you. It is the musical scheme to try for the final time to get into your heart and make a lasting impression.

One of the most ambitious tunes on Released is called Behind the Veil. Lots of horn looping, an aggressive tempo and a strong vocal background beg to tell about those big, dark eyes and the promise of beauty that is hidden behind the diaphanous hajib. We are reminded that there is much beauty, mystery and passion to come out of the East.

Like that old TV show, I can tell when Ackerman’s playing in three notes. Released, the title track has Ackerman’s personal touch on Oster’s unforgettable score. Emotions, love, gentleness, and passion, that have been pent up for so long are finally liberated. They are allowed to grow like wildflowers in a master gardener’s plot. They blossom into something with color, vigor and beauty.

I include here my review from Jeff’s EP At Last the write up on my favorite track also included on Released, Haleakala.

On the island of Maui, there is a mountaintop that is the objective of every tourist and photographer who visits the islands. It is Haleakala, the title of track 3. In the Hawaiian language, it translates into The House of the Sun. It was thought to be a center for Hawaiian spirituality and today is one of the most visited spots on Maui. Oster and his cast capture all the breathtaking beauty and spirit of the acclaimed apex in their music. Haleakala is the heart of an extinct volcano, often enshrouded in fog and blessed with the sparkle of Hawaiian sunshine (rain). Evocatively sweet background vocals by Happy Rhodes and the haunting lead of the flugelhorn with an almost subliminal Hawaiian melody caresses you in a sweet musical embrace. You can see the sun rising out of the ocean like the smile of God.

Jeff engineers his lush layers of flugelhorn and Happy Rhodes coos joyously on the final cut As I Live and Breathe. It is a sedate tune that to me celebrates the joy of living and the awe at everyday miracles. Yes, hurricane Katrina was hell on earth, but there is no better time to rejoice then now as we see how many kind and compassionate spirits opened their hearts and homes to the those that are in need. It is the best cut on the album by far.

I enjoyed this album just as much as the previous work. Once again Jeff Oster has admirably demonstrated that his odd little horn has a big, clear, powerful voice that should not go unheard. His passion and attention to detail make his music a force to be reckoned with in the musical world.

Jeff Oster's Horn of Plenty

by Steven Parente

How to desribe the silky smooth flugelhorn music of Jeff Oster's CD "Released" ? Warm, mellow, soothing, melodic... contemporary. Jeff melds the finest electronica with his extraordinary horn-playing ability into a masterfully mixed tapestry of sound. His CD entitled "Released" is exceptional. With infectious upbeat tracks such as "Matt's Mood" and "Big Sur", to the ambient audio dreamscapes of "Fools Gold" and "Behind the Veil", there's not a track on this CD that disappoints.

Not only does Jeff exhibit an awsome talent for his instrument, but he is also backed by some incredible talent which includes composition and production assistance by guitar master and founder of Windham Hill Records , Will Ackerman. The hauntingly beautiful vocals of Happy Rhodes can be heard on "Haleakala" and other tracks on the CD.

The Smiling Ear plays several tracks from Jeff's CD and I highly recommend adding this beautiful CD to your music collection. It's a classic!

“ AT LAST ” Review
(New Age Reporter - May 2004)

In Search of the Elusive Flugel

Jeff Oster performs on the trumpet and the flugelhorn. Now we all know what a trumpet is, but what is the instrument with the funny sounding name? It almost sounds like something a clown would use, but it is a more serious and powerful instrument than a common car horn. A flugelhorn is kind of a trumpet, made of brass, about nineteen inches long and it has a wider range than a trumpet. When Oster plays the flugelhorn it becomes a genuinely soft and mellow horn that blends perfectly with guitar, synthesizer, percussion and violin featured on his new EP release At Last.

At Last is produced by Adult Contemporary Music initiator Will Ackerman (he hates it when you call it New Age Music) who also plays parlor and acoustic guitar on one of the cuts. Oster is joined by eclectic chanteuse Happy Rhodes, New Age instrumentalist Philip Aaberg, guitarists T Bone Wolk, Jerry Medecino, and percussionist Bryan Carrigan. These are some heavy hitters for a relative new comer to the world of Ambient / Jazz / Instrumental music.

The album is basically an effort in ambient orchestration that is pulled off marvelously in all the tracks, but especially in the first cut, Matt’s Mood. Happy Rhodes’ transparent vocals and Oster’s muted horns lightly resonate in a cheerful tune that to me signifies a sense of growth, perhaps from little boy to big boy and Hey! Where did the time go?

Big Sur, the celebrated locale of writers such as Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac and one of the most venerated spots on California’s craggy coastline is the subject of track 2. You do not hear too many tracks with layered trumpet samples on it but this tune has it. You take a trip with the artists down Highway 1 and you witness one of America’s most scenic shorelines. The delightful music escorts you down to picturesque Monterey and the sapphire blue Pacific Ocean where your dreams are made, and hopefully, will come true.

On the island of Maui, there is a mountaintop that is the objective of every tourist and photographer who visits the islands. It is Haleakala, the title of track 3. In the Hawaiian language, it translates into The House of the Sun. It was thought to be a center for Hawaiian spirituality and today is one of the most visited spots on Maui. Oster and his cast capture all the breathtaking beauty and spirit of the acclaimed apex in their music. Haleakala is the heart of an extinct volcano, often enshrouded in fog and blessed with the sparkle of ! Hawaiian sunshine (rain). Evocatively sweet background vocals by Happy Rhodes and the haunting lead of the flugelhorn with an almost subliminal Hawaiian melody caresses you in a sweet musical embrace. You can see the sun rising out of the ocean like the smile of God.

The final cut, At Last, has the magic Ackerman touch and I heard in the first four notes. Blended with Oster’s fine score and T Bone’s bass, the tune is a bittersweet melody that is one of desire, hope, and eventually, fulfillment. Just like life as we know it.

Oster has an incredible talent for writing lush, visual music and he should do more of it. He has promised a full version of his album soon and I will hold him to it.

Starscout.net

We have to admit that we're jazz fans. We love it all, big band to new age. So when a reader suggested we check out trumpeter Jeff Oster we happily obliged. Jeff's been practicing his craft for nearly 40 years, and his style reflects his classically trained background, diligent horn study and an ear for contemporary electronic music. In August 2003, after years of living in L.A and paying his dues, Jeff decided it was time to take a leap of faith and reached out to Will Ackerman, founder of Windham Hill Records. Ackerman responded and a great collaboration was born.

StarScout Summary:

Absolutely amazing! After listening to several full-length tracks on line, we're off to CD Baby to order Jeff's full-length CD, "Released", to be released July 30, 2005.

Jeff has a great sound, smooth and soulful, with some of the most amazing melodies you will hear from a horn. If Dave Koz or David Sanborn played a horn instead of a sax, we would bet they'd sound a lot like Jeff Oster. Take it from us; Jeff is a gem, a truly exceptional talent whose time for discovery has come.

StarScout Success Predictor: (Five Stars Max)

* * * * *

JEFFREY OSTER "Released"

It brings me great pleasure to introduce you to the music of Jeff Oster, and his CD "Released". Produced by Grammy Award winning guitarist Will Ackerman, this CD is a near perfect blend of chilled rhythms and contemporary trumpet, with several turns and embellishments along the way. . Oster's impressive debut also features award-winning keyboardist Philip Aaberg, vocalist extraordinaire Happy Rhodes, who adds her subtle voice stylings to most of the tracks, T. Bone Wolk (bassist for Elvis Costello, Cyndie Lauper, Hall and Oates and The Saturday Night Live Band), and Charlie Bisharat's violin. Will Ackerman, this year's Grammy winner for Best New Age recording, produced all of the tracks on "Released", and also co-wrote and performs on several of the tracks. Oster's musicianship ranges from trumpet and flugelhorn to synthesizers and percussion. The warm, clear tones of his instrumentation draw you immediately into these timeless melodies and winning hooks. Oster also surfs the tide of mainstream contemporary sounds, making the CD's cross-over appeal certain. Craftsmanship is the word that comes immediately to my mind when listening, and I also think of those great, peak-era Windham Hill recordings with the addition of a few modern twists. This is an auspicious debut, and the timing, musically, could not be better. This is "contemporary" contemporary music, and Ackerman's presence is more than just a "name" credit; he brings an air of inspiration and creative spirit that blends to perfection with Oster's own brilliant musings. This is a special CD, spacious, engaging, brilliant production and flawless playing.

RELEASED - Wind and Wire Review
Bill Binkelman
JEFF OSTER
Released
Retso Records (2005)

More than delivering on the promise of his EP, At Last, horn player (trumpet, flugelhorn, and synths) Jeff Oster's first full-length recording, Released, is a flat-out success, blending catchy rhythmic pieces that blur the boundary of adult contemporary, smooth jazz and new age with moody introspective tone poems that wouldn't be out of place on albums from the respected ECM label. Oster gathered a wealth of talent to "sit in" on this release, including such luminaries as Will Ackerman (guitar), Philip Aaberg (piano), Charlie Bisharat (violin), Happy Rhodes (vocals), Jeff Pearce (guitar), plus a few more folks whose contributions are no less valuable but whose profile is less recognizable to readers of this site, I'd wager. Even though this album contains the entire EP, the new material is more than enough to justify adding this one to your collection if you enjoyed At Last, trust me on this.

NOTE: Rather than add any more comments on the previously issued music on this CD, here is a link to my review of the EP (http://www.windandwire.com/april04/at_last.htm); from here on out, my comments will be about the new material.

"Fool's Gold" starts things off in a melancholic and bluesy fashion, featuring Aaberg's expressive restrained piano and some of Oster's most nuanced flugelhorn playing. Ackerman contributes "parlor" guitar and Taylor Barefoot fleshes things out with some background embellishment on electric guitar. Oster also adds some sparse wordless vocals to the piece. As it was on At Last, the production and engineering is faultless. Mixing horns in with other instruments is not always easy, but everyone involved here did a splendid job. The piano is warm and rich in tone and Oster's horns resonate with superb echo and reverb.

"Final Approach" is another low-key tune, but with the addition of a pulsing beat underneath the synths and horns plus the wordless vocals of Ms. Rhodes. The snazzy synths are by Gregory Douglass. The mood of the song is more dramatic, even though it's fairly subdued. Rhodes' voice exhibits her characteristic ethereal range and quality. At times, one could even describe this cut as being quasi-ambient, in the same way that one or two tracks which featured flugelhorn on Jon Mark's A Sunday in Autumn could be categorized as such.

"Behind the Veil" brings Rhodes vocals more to the forefront and also incorporates some of the more dynamic/driving rhythms on the album. This is the song which includes Jeff Pearce, but unfortunately, since he is one of seven people on the song, picking him out won't be easy. Suffice to say that his contributions, whatever they may be, help make the song a vibrant exercise in moody horns, passionate percussion and beats, and synths, all of which evoke comparisons to Patrick O'Hearn (circa Trust and Metaphor).

Ackerman shines (and is quite recognizable) on the title track which he also co-wrote with Oster.
Featuring just flugelhorn, acoustic guitar, piano and some sparse electric guitar, this is a gentle reflective number. It displays the broad variety of music on Released, coming as it does after the uptempo "Behind the Veil."

"As I Live And Breathe" crosses over into something akin of ECM jazz meets new age
music, from the era of the late '80s and early '90s when Windham Hill and Narada were at their best. The rhythms are present but subdued, and the tone is a cross between melancholy and inviting.

Released is an excellent recording from every standpoint: artistic, technical, and variety of music offered. The mixture of rhythmic with more drifting pieces is perfectly balanced, yet the music offers a solid thread of continuity via the presence of Jeff Oster's soulful horns which, needless to say, are the highlight of this exceptional recording. I'm glad that Oster followed up his critically acclaimed EP with this full-length recording and I'm even more delighted to highly recommend it with room to spare!

- Bill Binkelman - Wind and Wire, August 2005 - www.windandwire.com