Five Play
Arbors, 2004, CD
Instrument: Instrumental
Issue: 11.1
Jazz Ruler Type: Bebop
Performance: 4
Sound: 3
Score: 
O’s Notes: This brassy quintet is all female and expanded by two for Plus. Many of you may be wondering about the validity of an all-woman jazz band… This is their second recording on Arbors and like the first this one really swings. Anat Cohen (sax, cl), Karolina Strassmayer (sax, fl), Tomoko Ono (p), Norilo Ueda (b) and leader Sherrie Maricle (d) are Five Play. Their guests are Jami Dauber (t) and Barbara Laronga (t) each who play on three of the ten tracks. While most of the tracks sizzle, we really liked “Funk In A Deep Freeze” and “Polka Dots and Moonbeams”. Rest assured that these gals can swing as well as any gender of jazz musicians. Forget about gender; just sit back and enjoy it!