Jeff Oster is an important name in the music recording industry, and by all accounts, he is an outstanding flugelhorn and trumpet performer like no other. I can say this about the classical and jazz-trained horn player with confidence, even before sampling the first of eleven songs on his 2011 jazz fusion album he released titled Surrender.
By John P. Olsen
Surrender is Jeff Oster’s fourth album, of a total of six released under his own name. The most recent is Reach (2018). In 2021, he released Brothers together with Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton. For those as familiar with Jeff Oster as I am, then you recognize he is a dynamic session artist whose horn parts have played a vital role in music released by a multitude of top artists in the New Age and World music genres for many years.
While Jeff Oster has won album awards of his own, many of his collaboration releases won awards too, performing on studio recordings with artists like Fiona Joy Hawkins, Jamie Bonk, Matt Millecchia, Kori Linae Carothers, Lawrence Blatt, Ann Sweeten, Shambhu, and many more top new age artists producing music today.
Jeff Oster is likewise a strategic recording artist with GRAMMY® Award-Winning Will Ackerman, at his Imaginary Road Studio in Vermont. My point is, besides Jeff Oster’s Album of the Year award, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album award and Best New Age Song award, he is an important artist having an essential role in the success of other artists’ albums too. In turn, musicians on his album are Diane Arkenstone with vocals, and Bryan Carrigan on synthesizer and drum programming.
Surrender features 11 contemporary jazz-infused pieces that mirror the true nature of his abilities as a horn instrumentalist, which is the specialized work of a true music professional. And while one can say Surrender is designed as a new-age fusion album with a strong urban jazz influence, closer inspection reveals a style of its own. In many ways, there is an elegant and sophisticated tenor on each of the eleven songs, yet a poised and relaxed impression too, all in one smooth motion.
Co-produced with Bryan Carrigan, who also co-wrote, recorded and mixed, Surrender, Jeff Oster is a vital flugelhorn and trumpet specialist. This is true, whether it be his own project or an album for another, each are equally important.
For more information and music samples, visit jeffoster.com.
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Original post on Newagemusicworld.com.