Bassist Jeff Johnson teams up with John Gross/ts, Art Resnick/p and Billy Mintz/dr for a collection of lyrical originals. He links well with Mintz, blending in with the brushes on the soft "My Heart" while adding textures around "Watercolors" and subtly soloing on a reflective "Companions". Resnick is in a Bill Evans mood on "Watercolors", while giving a rich intro to the supple "Leviathan" with Gross in a warm ember mood for the richly swinging... read more
Jim McNeely is of course one of the reigning masters of mainstream Jazz piano, with a pedigree that includes time with the Jones-Lewis Band and with Joe Henderson. I first heard him behind Stan Getz on a night when he stole the show from the fussy saxophone maestro. On "Boneyard" he is, as you would expect, tasteful, neat, in the pocket yet never glib. His playing is particularly lovely on "Naomi" and "in the Wee Small Hours," where his touch is... read more
"...a lush cinematic soundscape."
Kim Richmond is a Left Coast saxophonist and arranger who has won his bread performing in pop-oriented settings. Well respected and sought after, Richmond has made several recordings as a leader. On Refractions, he opts for an impressionistic/expressionistic big band sound, music that ebbs and flows, demanding the attention of the listener. There are no mindless blues here.
Refractions... read more
This reviewer has had a favorite jazz label for a while now. I don't care what re-releases MCA and the big boys may come out with. Give me Origin Records and their constantly updated catalog every time. New material. Hot, or smooth, or big sound. Doesn't matter. Whoever makes the decisions about what gets sent to stores is a jazz lover. You can tell. Also by the length of these cds. 30 minutes to Origin means one track. Try 70+ minute cds, like... read more
Mamutrio was founded when 19-year-old drummer Jesse Dockx convinced his teachers, alto saxophonist Lieven Cambré and bassist Piet Verbist, to collaborate with him. Primal Existence is an hour-long exposé on how to make a traditional approach sound contemporary. Part of the group's success lies in its demarcated sound registers: Verbist holding down the bottom, Cambré in the upper-middle, Dockx' cymbals on top, his snare and toms filling in... read more
Sonny Rollins once called himself a ?survivor of jazz?s illustrious period.? Such is the case with Ira Sullivan and Stu Katz, who are both forged in the style of bebop?s halcyon days. Unlike young lions, who transcribe the records of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, Sullivan and Katz rubbed elbows with Jackie McLean, Milt Jackson, Art Blakey, Sonny Stitt, and Red Rodney. The richness of their bebop language is evidence of these associations.... read more
When I hear a big band playing nearly all original material, I'm looking for intricacy, creative arrangements, scintillating solos and melody lines that don't enter the land of confusion. And that's just what we have in this Los Angeles gathering of undoubtedly some of the finest players in Smogville. Oddly, the only standard in the set is "It's Only a Paper Moon." The rest of the selections are outstanding examples of current big band... read more
Piet Verbist is far more off the radar than he should be. The bassist has a real talent for creating modern works that balance expertly between new- and old-school forms of expression. The axis of this meeting point is where deeply melodic forays and from-the-heart blues occupy the same space, unconflicted. His latest is yet another example, and well worth scooping up. Note that Bram Weijters is the pianist in Verbist's quintet; Weijters is... read more
This is just a small collection of the Origin Records reviews. Click here to view all reviews or try to Search for your favorite CD title.
John La Barbera Big Band - Grooveyard
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Martin Budde - Back Burner
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
Alon Farber Hagiga with Dave Douglas - The Magician: Live in Jerusalem
by Dan Ouellette, Jazz & Beyond Intel
John Bishop - Antwerp
by Ed Sapiega, Jazz Views (UK)
Benjamin Boone - Caught in the Rhythm
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)
Maddie Vogler - While We Have Time
by Dorothea Gängel, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)
Affinity Trio - Hindsight
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)
Bobby Rozario - Spellbound
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)
Jeff Johnson - My Heart
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)
Michael Dease - The Other Shoe: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)