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Reviews

Kate Olson — So It Goes
(OA2 22246, 2026, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-06-27

So It Goes Cover art

It’s been probably fifteen years since I first saw Kate Olson playing soprano sax in a little place in Seattle called Cafe Racer, and I remember being immediately struck by her technique and imaginative soloing, plus the fact that she gave the instrument a tone that wasn’t grating or sappy, as it so often has. In the years since then, I’ve seen her in a wide range of different settings, from bari sax in a funk band to solo tenor with electronics to fronting an exciting electric band. She’s got a number of releases on Bandcamp with some of those projects, but So It Goes is her first release billed under her own name. On it, she leads a quartet featuring Tim Carey (electric bass, electric guitar), Evan Woodle (drums), and Conner Eisenmenger (trombone, trumpet, effects); on two tracks, Geoff Harper replaces Carey on double bass; and Wayne Horvitz plays piano on three tracks. Olson plays soprano and tenor saxes with some effects. The electronic aspects are subtle and not the focus of the music, which runs from swinging post-bop (“Bumbling Thumbs Blues”) to grooving cosmic jazz (“Translinear Light”) and a number of stops in between. “ShouldaCoulda” is a slinky jazz waltz with tasty chords on the electric bass (think of Tony Levin’s part on Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” but more jazzy). On many of the tracks, the interaction between sax and trombone is the highlight, whether it’s unison lines, harmonies, or counterpoints. “All Pear-Shaped” is a particularly fun track, with its Monkish dissonances. Woodle is perfect on the drums, subtly keeping things swinging while ranging freely with his accents. Carey’s parts are great as well, and he gets in some nice solo spots — he’s also known to use Stick-like tapping on his six-string bass. All of the tracks are built from the melodies, which are beautiful without being wimpy. All in all, So It Goes shows a musician who has absorbed the language of jazz and found interesting things to say with it.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Wayne Horvitz, Kate Olson

More info
http://kateplayssax.bandcamp.com/album/so-it-goes

 

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