Artist: Ochion Jewell Quartet
Title: Volk
Label: self-produced
Genre: minimal jazz/contemporary music
CD Review by Dawoud Kringle
I was unfamiliar with Ochion Jewell when I was first asked to review Volk. I did a little digging on his website and elsewhere. I found a quote he put on his bio page that spoke volumes: ““Growing up in Appalachian Kentucky without any music venues led to a strong connection to the inherent music of nature. No matter where I go, I can still feel the honesty of that place as the foundation of my art and who I am.” Jewell’s training and experience, first in classical music, then in jazz and improvised music, not to mention his work as a sideman with the likes of Smokey Robinson, Chaka Khan, Gregory Hines, Kid Rock, Meatloaf, George Strait, Crystal Gayle, and Michael McDonald, were instrumental in forming a unique musical personality.
