Greg Osby

American saxophonist (born 1960)

Greg Osby
Osby performing in 2008
Background information
Born	(1960-08-03) August 3, 1960 (age 63) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Free jazz, free funk, M-Base
Occupation(s)	Musician, record label owner
Instrument(s)	Saxophone
Years active	1980–present
Labels	JMT, Blue Note, Inner Circle Music

Website	www.gregosby.com

Musical artist

Greg Osby (born August 3, 1960^[1]) is an American saxophonist and composer.

Biography

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, then at the Berklee College of Music.^[1] He moved to New York City in 1982, where he played with Jaki Byard, Jim Hall, Muhal Richard Abrams, Andrew Hill, Jack DeJohnette, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock.^[2] In 1985, he joined DeJohnette's group Special Edition.^[2] With Geri Allen, Steve Coleman, Gary Thomas, and Cassandra Wilson, he was a founding member of the M-Base Collective.^[3]

Osby began recording albums under his own name for JMT Records in the mid-1980s, then signed with Blue Note in 1989.^[2] In 2007, he formed his own label, Inner Circle Music.^[2] He gave exposure to young pianist Jason Moran,^[4] who appeared on most of Osby's 1990s albums, including Further Ado, Zero, Banned in New York and Symbols of Light, a double quartet featuring the addition of a string quartet to the band.^[5]

He has also played with Phil Lesh and Friends, and he has toured with the Dead, a reincarnation of the Grateful Dead.^[6] He received the Playboy Magazine Jazz Artist of the Year award for 2004 and 2009.^[7]

Nate Chinen, writing for The New York Times, called Osby "a mentor and a pacesetter, one of the sturdier bridges between jazz generations," and stated that he has "a keen, focused tone on alto saxophone and a hummingbird's phrasing, an equilibrium of hover and flutter."^[8]

Discography

As leader

Recording date	Title	Label	Year released	Notes
1987-05, 1987-06	Greg Osby and Sound Theatre	JMT	1987
1988-05	Mindgames	JMT	1988
1989-07	Season of Renewal	JMT	1989
1990-10, 1990-11	Man-Talk for Moderns Vol. X	Blue Note	1991
1993?	3-D Lifestyles	Blue Note	1993
1995?	Black Book	Blue Note	1995
1996?	Art Forum	Blue Note	1996
1997?	Further Ado	Blue Note	1997
1997-12	Banned in New York	Blue Note	1998	Live
1998-01	Zero	Blue Note	1998
1998-12	Friendly Fire	Blue Note	1999	with Joe Lovano, Jason Moran, Cameron Brown, Idriss Muhammad
1999-04	Inner Circle	Blue Note	2002	with Stefon Harris, Jason Moran, Tarus Mateen, Eric Harland
1999-05	New Directions	Blue Note	2000	with Stefon Harris, Jason Moran, Mark Shim
1999-09	The Invisible Hand	Blue Note	2000	with Gary Thomas, Andrew Hill, Jim Hall, Scott Colley, Terri Lyne Carrington
2001-01	Symbols of Light (A Solution)	Blue Note	2001	with Jason Moran, Scott Colley, Marlon Browden, Nioka Workman, Judith Insell, Marlene Rice, Christian Howes
2003-01	St. Louis Shoes	Blue Note	2003
2004-01	Public	Blue Note	2004	Live
2005-02	Channel Three	Blue Note	2005	with Jeff "Tain" Watts, Matt Brewer
2008-08	9 Levels	Inner Circle Music	2008
2023-10	Minimalism	Inner Circle Music	2023	with Tal Cohen, João Barradas, Nimrod Speaks, Adam Arruda, Viktorija Pilatovic, Alessandra Diodati

As sideman

With Franco Ambrosetti

Movies Too (Enja, 1988)
Music for Symphony and Jazz Band (Enja, 1991) – recorded in 1990

With Uri Caine

Cipher Syntax (JMT, 1989) as Strata Institute
The Goldberg Variations (Winter & Winter, 2000)

With Gary Thomas

By Any Means Necessary (JMT, 1989)
Pariah's Pariah (Winter & Winter, 1998)

With Andrew Hill

1989: Eternal Spirit (Blue Note, 1989)
1990: But Not Farewell (Blue Note, 1991)

With others

Cecil Brooks III, The Collective (Muse, 1989)
Terri Lyne Carrington, Structure (ACT Music, 2004)
Steve Coleman, Drop Kick (Novus, 1992)
Andrew Cyrille, Low Blue Flame (Tum, 2006) – recorded in 2005
Robin Eubanks, Karma (JMT, 1991)
Jimmy Herring, Lifeboat (Abstract Logix, 2008)
Jason Moran, Soundtrack to Human Motion (Blue Note, 1999) – recorded in 1998
Tineke Postma, Sonic Halo (Challenge Records, 2014)
Project Z, Lincoln Memorial (Abstract Logix, 2005) – recorded in 2002
Sam Rivers' Rivbea All-star Orchestra, Inspiration (BMG France, 1999)
Sam Rivers' Rivbea All-star Orchestra, Culmination (BMG France, 1999)

References

^ ^a ^b Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (1999). "Osby, Greg". The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 508.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Greg Osby: Biography". All About Jazz. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
^ Ankeny, Jason. "Greg Osby". AllMusic. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
^ Chinen, Nate (2019). Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century. Vintage Books. pp. 106–108.
^ Lyles, Ronald (April 6, 2011). "Greg Osby Discography". JazzDiscography.com. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
^ Varga, George (October 24, 2014). "Sax Great Greg Osby Transcends the Dead". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
^ Fripp, Matt (January 21, 2022). "Interview with American Saxophone Great Greg Osby". JazzFuel. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
^ Chinen, Nate (August 4, 2010). "Bridging Jazz Generations Without Nostalgia". New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2022.