Bassist & composer Iris Ornig is one of the most original female voices on today's New York jazz scene. Since her arrival in New York City in 2003 from Germany, she has played with an impressive roster of some of the most influential contemporary jazz musicians in New York including Gretchen Parlato, Ambrose Akinmusire, Joel Frahm, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mike Rodriguez, Rebecca Martin, Allison Miller, Sachal Vasandani, Helen Sung, Marcus Gilmore, Dan Tepfer, among others.
Applauded for its fresh, of the moment compositions, “No Restrictions” highlights the members of the Iris Ornig quintet: Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar, Mike Rodriguez on trumpet, Helen Sung on piano and Marcus Gilmore on drums in a mixed program of eight straight-ahead and contemporary jazz originals and two carefully-chosen covers.
The album opens with ‘Autumn Kiss‘, which evokes the color and breath of autumn celebrating fiery and earthy sights. The next song is ‘We Shall Meet Beyond the River’ a magnificent ballad written in homage to ‘Big Pat’, a departed friend who greatly inspired Ornig in the United States. The third song ‘Venus As A Boy’ is a cover by Bjork with a striking melody, hypnotic drum beats and rich guitar sounds featuring Kurt Rosenwinkel. The album title ‘No Restrictions’ explores Brazilian music mixed with the more straightforward American-European jazz traditions. The result is a song that is surprisingly harmonic and interestingly structured. The last song on the album is “Uptight,” composed with bluesy jazz notes to describe the tempo of desire: hour after hour of wanting that person, place or thing, but somehow, someway, it still manages to elude our reach.
‘...Iris Ornig is the real deal and No Restrictions easily hits my best 2012 list.’ - Brent Black (Critical Jazz)
‘...This is a gem of a CD in every respect.’ - Ken Franckling’s Jazz Notes
‘... No Restrictions is a confident statement from a young talent who showed much promise during my survey of special women jazz instrumentalists three years ago. Iris Ornig is delivering her promise.’- Victor Aaron (Something Else)
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http://www.irisornig.com
