Linda Oh – Entry

Several times a year, I come across an album that I wish I would’ve known about sooner…It’s really pretty common, actually. What is not so common is to get blind-sided by a year-old release and feel like peeing on an electric fence to punish myself for missing it. Well, that’s what happened with this October 2009 album from bassist, Linda Oh. Entry, (an independent release) is one of the best examples of a “piano-less trio” that I have heard in a while. Trumpeter, Ambrose Akinmusire, and drummer, Obed Calvaire are killin’ through the entire album and Oh shows a beautiful maturity as a leader. It reminds me of some earlier Ben Allison stuff only a bit edgier.