KATE OLSON

SO IT GOES

Origin Records

Kate Olson, soprano & tenor saxophone/composer/effects; Tim Carey, electric bass/guitar; Evan Woodle, drums/percussion; Conner Eisenmenger, trombone/trumpet/effects. SPECIAL GUESTS: Wayne Horvitz, piano; Geoff Harper, double bass.

Saxophonist and composer, Kate Olson, brings us her understated cool, chord-less, Seattle quartet. The ensemble presents eight original songs penned by Olson and one cover, “Translinear Light” composed by Alice Coltrane.

Their title tune sounds like New Orleans music with Conner Eisenmenger’s trombone resembling a very human voice. Their guest, Wayne Horvitz, adds a bluesy piano to the arrangement.  Kate Olson’s soulful soprano saxophone spits her song out, also bluesy and delicious as a pot of gumbo.  Geoff Harper (a guest on this project) adds his rich double bass during this Olson composition.

Her group bassist, Tim Carey, is featured on Track #4, “Nominally Challenged” adding a more contemporary groove to this arrangement on electric bass. Woodle’s drums dance in and out of this arrangement, with splashes of percussive color. He’s spotlighted brightly at the fade of this song.

Olson has a BA in Music from the University of Wyoming and an MM degree in Improvisation from the University of Michigan. Currently, she sits on the jazz faculty at Pacific Lutheran University. As an artist, Kate Olson tours and performs worldwide, including performances in Russia, Latvia, Turkey, Switzerland, South Korea, Cuba and Slovakia.

A tune she composed called “Pink Mountain” features Olson’s soprano saxophone connecting to Conner Eisenmenger’s trombone like an emotional conversation. Tim Carey picks up his electric guitar to accompany the horns. Midway through, Carey introduces his electric bass to improvise and solo.

A song Olson calls “Afterthoughts” is a pretty ballad, that once again features pianist Wayne Horvitz on piano. This arrangement is similar to her K O Ensemble group that recorded ‘live’ at the Royal Room in Seattle, Washington some years back.

The quartet’s final tune swings.  It’s called “Weigh Out” (a play on an old slang phrase from back in the Hippie Days when people used to exclaim, “Way Out”). Olson’s melodic horn line is inspired and energy driven.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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