Ombak

Ombak is instrumental music for the 21st century…..the meeting point of Nirvana, Noise, Tommy Dorsey, dub and mathematics…there’s a lot of nice architecture here…. but there’s plenty of party going on.

-Grammy nominated trumpeter/composer Steven Bernstein

Ombak’s lean, focused music is the boiled-down essence of the Richmond improvisational scene….Flirting with infinity is not for the faint of heart (or ear), but the band leavens its often spare explorations with almost danceable vamps, brilliant quasi-psychedelic guitar solos, and bass and drum lines that reward repeated listening. (5 stars)

-Style Weekly: read more

From the starting gate, it’s clear that Ombak are an extraordinarily unique group, a swaggering quartet that chomps and bellows like Albert Mangelsdorff fronting prog-rock….Slushy tailgate, trombone multiphonics, damaged-blues fretwork and limber percussion stand well on their own, but Ombak are a collective venture whose parallel roads all lead to the same end, however upturned it might seem.

Bagatellen: read more here

With music that captures the band’s consistently forward-thinking live performances and brilliant packaging and design by .:. impossible, Framing the Void is a debut album for Hooten, his band, and Richmond, to be proud of.

-rvajazz.com:read more

They are a formidable set of minds and limbs, and when you rally them all at once they can make quite a glorious noise.

-rvanews: read more

They combine to bring heavy metal beats, neo-soul dance grooves, and stylish improvisation to the masses. It is no secret that Richmond prizes musicians who can really shred on their instruments, and Ombak offers this in addition to skillfully written compositions with infinite variety and versatility.

-rvajazz.com: read more

Ombak, sick purveyors of the tightest robot beats you have ever witnessed have taken/are taking over Cous Cous for a few weeks this summer. Get out of the river, call all your friends, and come hear Richmond’s very latest and tightest jazz gem. Tunes straight from the caves of steel that we call Bryan Hooten’s mind make you move, but then maybe stop and think, but then move again…it can get complicated all that moving and thinking, but when you’re done, you’re satisfied.

-rvanews.com: read more

On Ombak’s first release, Framing the Void, Ralston and Jones spin a riveting example of a uniquely locked in rhythm section, nestling a gritty, low-fi vibe inside trombonist and Ombak leader Bryan Hooten’s complex tunes.

The trombone/guitar pairing is unique. It’s like a twisted game of jazz skeet–as Hooten tosses wobbly, spherical notes to the sky, Pollard guns them down with alacrity. They’re playing the same melody, kind of, but the result is far more engaging than standard layering.

-rvajazz.com: Read more here