| Jazz |
This is the kind of project I just can’t walk away from. One, two, even three listens aren’t enough. Music this rich refuses to be tamed by casual ears. It demands attention, immersion. This is cerebral, urban jazz brilliant, poetic where every note lands with uncanny precision, every solo feels like it’s been whispered down from the clouds. Writing music with such poetic intent is wildly seductive, and yet I know not everyone will be ready to embrace what this group has to offer. Still, the meticulous melodies and the aesthetic rigor that elevates each musician’s voice into something luminous should be enough to earn this music a broader audience. The tragedy is, fewer and fewer listeners today seem willing or able to take the plunge into work this deep.
The band is a gathering of some of Los Angeles’ most accomplished players. Each member is not only an in-demand session musician, but also a bandleader and recording artist in their own right. Saxophonist Joe Santa Maria has shared the stage with heavyweights like Vinny Golia, Kim Richmond, Roy McCurdy, Joe La Barbera, and Bill Holman. Bassist and composer David Tranchina has written for animated films and feature-length movies and performed alongside Bennie Maupin, Bobby Bradford, Dwight Trible, Larry Carlton, Louis Cole, Genevieve Artadi, and Jeff Parker. Pianist Gary Fukushima, a sought-after keyboardist who’s played with Mike Stern, Ndugu Chancler, Walter Smith III, Anthony Wilson, and Jeff Clayton, is also a respected jazz journalist and educator at multiple Southern California universities. Drummer and composer Colin Woodford recipient of the Downbeat Magazine Outstanding Performance Award writes for ensembles ranging from string quartets to big bands to solo saxophone.
It’s precisely this convergence of artistic backgrounds that gives Oblique Rhyme its meticulous, luminous character. The band recalls groups like Weather Report at their best where cultural diversity bred musical invention. And if Joe Santa Maria doesn’t quite wear the name recognition of a Wayne Shorter, he’s carrying that torch with a bold, imaginative fire all his own. The compositions on this record are striking carefully sculpted, emotionally compelling, and impossible to attribute to chance. Even the mix, warm and expansive, enhances the music’s inherent elegance.
The members of Oblique Rhyme are longtime friends who’ve played together in various configurations over the years. After countless conversations about their musical philosophies and artistic intentions, they finally decided to record as a unit. Tranchina explains: “We wanted to create something beautiful and unique with Oblique Rhyme. We’re all multifaceted musicians who’ve played across a wide range of styles and bring different perspectives to the music, but something just clicks when we play together.”
Santa Maria adds: “It’s not about showing off chops. When you listen to the great jazz artists, even when they’re technically stunning, it’s the emotional depth and musicality that leave a mark. That’s what we tried to bring to this album.”
It’s hard to avoid superlatives here. Everything about this record is deeply impressive poetic, emotional, even literary in its structure and intent. All that’s left to do is listen, admire, savor, absorb, and understand. This is what art feels like when it’s exactly where it belongs.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor for All About Jazz
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, April 17th 2025
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Musicians:
Joe Santa Maria – Alto, Tenor, and Soprano Saxophones
David Tranchina – Acoustic Bass
Gary Fukushima – Piano, Fender Rhodes, and Yamaha CS01
Colin Woodford – Drum Set
Tracklist:
1. War Crimes
2. Hiden Lake
3. Mood of Mind
4. Sum Thymes
5. Prism
6. Ambient Ambiance
7. This Must Be for You
8. Charicature
9. Picking Up The Pieces