Greg Osby


Greg Osby is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.
WWW gregosby.com

Biography

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, then at the Berklee College of Music. 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. In 1985, he joined DeJohnette's group Special Edition. With Steve Coleman, Geri Allen, and Cassandra Wilson, he was a founding member of the M-Base Collective.
Osby began recording albums under his own name for JMT Records in the mid-1980s, then signed with Blue Note in 1989. In 2007, he formed his own label, Inner Circle Music. He gave exposure to young pianist Jason Moran, 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.
He has also played with Phil Lesh and Friends, and he has toured with the Dead, a reincarnation of the Grateful Dead. He received the Playboy Magazine Jazz Artist of the Year award for 2004 and 2009.
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."

Discography

As a member

;M-Base collective
;Other collaborations

As sideman

With Franco AmbrosettiMovies Too Music for Symphony and Jazz Band – rec. 1990After the Rain Cheers
With Jangeun Bae TrioGo Go+ Last Minute
With Steve ColemanDrop Kick, on two tracks
With Jack DeJohnette's Special EditionIrresistible Forces Audio-Visualscapes Earthwalk
With Jim HallPanorama: Live at the Village Vanguard, on two tracks
  • The Jim Hall Quartet, Live at Birdland - rec. 2012
With Stefon HarrisA Cloud of Red Dust BlackActionFigure
With Peter HerbornLarge One, featuring Gary Thomas, T. L. Carrington, a. o.Large Two
With Andrew HillEternal Spirit But Not Farewell – rec. 1990
With Terumasa Hino-Masabumi Kikuchi QuintetAcoustic Boogie Moment: Alive at Blue Note Tokyo
With Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith, Yo Miles!Sky Garden Upriver
With Phil Lesh and FriendsLive at the Warfield, San Francisco, CA Bethel, NY 7.09.06
With Jason MoranFacing Left Black Stars
With Paul Motian Trio 2000 + TwoLive at the Village Vanguard Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. II
With Lonnie PlaxicoPlaxico Iridescence Short Takes
With Sam Rivers' Rivbea All-Star OrchestraInspiration Culmination
With Michele RosewomanQuintessence
  • Quintessence, Contrast High
With Gary ThomasBy Any Means Necessary Pariah's Pariah – rec. 1997
With others