Sun Pictures (feat. Ben Wendel, James Muller & Ted Poor)

Aussie bassist Linda Oh has emerged as one of the most promising jazz players to hit the New York scene. This is thanks to her playing in Dave Douglas’s quintet as well as leading her own bands and writing music. Here—on her second album as a leader for Douglas’s Greenleaf imprint (and third overall)—she offers up seven original tunes, joined by saxophonist Ben Wendel, guitarist James Muller, and drummer Ted Poor. Oh has a subtle ear for writing, and the band is right there with her on these mostly live-in-the-studio recordings. The notable exception is the dreamy opening track, “Shutterspeed Dream,” where Oh remixes pieces from the session into an opening teaser of sorts. The main feature then gets off to a strong start with “Polyphonic HMI,” thanks to strong joust-and-parry soloing from Wendel and Muller. While Oh typically seems content to write the tunes and anchor them alongside Poor, the bassist shines as a soloist on “Terminal 3” and “Blue Over Gold.” Oh says in her liner notes that to capture memories she writes songs rather than take photos, and there's no doubt that the songs here are from an artist looking to share who and what she is.