Credits: Rick Crittenden/fretless bass, composer Paul McCandless/oboe, soprano sax Art Lande/piano Chris Lee/drums Nancy King/vocal on Body and Soul Produced by Glen Moore of the group, Oregon. Rick Crittenden, Passages NewYork- October 2001 Cadence Magazine by Frank Rubolino Crittenden toured Europe with Oregon in 1988, and the event inspired the musically kindred studio date two years later. Oregon members Paul McCandless and Glen Moore join the bass player on selected cuts, and Ralph Towner did the closing arrangement, so the link to the music is direct. Crittenden composed eight of the tunes in the spirit of Oregon, and he designed the electric bass he uses on this date. It produces a softened tone to match the gossamery Jazz-Folk-Classical style that became the calling card for Oregon. Crittenden solos extensively and with great clarity. Three of the cuts are lovely duets - one is with tabla player Roger Hadley, another a dual-bass seance with Moore, and the third in deft support of vocalist Nancy King. In all configurations up to quintet, his permeating bass tone is ever apparent. Lande appears on seven of the nine cuts. His exquisite piano phrasing and delicate underpinning give the recording its quiet strength. Lande is a highly lyrical artist who takes off into intricate improvisational zones while interpreting the compositions of Crittenden. McCandless is another potent force on the date. Whether on soprano or oboe, he instills spiritualism with his spiraling smoke rings. The closing "bass/vocal" Body and Soul" with introduction by Lande features King on a sensual rendition with a fully improvised melody line having the potential to become another "Moody's Mood for Love." Crittenden is a composer of merit and a performer who breathes etherealness into his songs. If you enjoyed the journeys of Oregon, you will certainly appreciate Crittenden's synergistic efforts. Imagine Jaco Meets Oregon, August 31, 2001 Steve Silberman/Editor, Wired Magazine This is a really delightful album, particularly for the presence of Art Lande, an underappreciated and underrecorded genius who has never enjoyed the renown of other pianists who made such classic ECM albums as "Red Lanta." Lande and Oregon's Paul McCandless together are a dream team -- I wish they'd form a quartet. Rick Crittenden himself is a fine player, fluid and lyrical. The Jaco comparisons are inevitable -- his tone is decidedly post-Pastorius, and he uses harmonics as a melodic vehicle ways similar to Jaco's heartbreaking "Portrait of Tracy." But Crittenden is his own man, with a sweet compositional sense evident in "Swiss Bell," which is reminiscent of some of Ralph Towner's melodies circa "Roots in the Sky." This album is superbly recorded. This record should be snatched up by Oregon fans and those who are interested in what Lande's up to these days.