Origin Records Reviews



Jeff Johnson - My Heart
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly

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

Kelly Sill / Jim McNeely / Joel Spencer - Boneyard
by Phillip McNally, Cadence Oct-Dec 2007

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

Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra - Refractions
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

"...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

Jim Knapp Orchestra - Secular Breathing
by Ben Ohmart, Muses Muse

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 - Primal Existence
by Tom Greenland, The New York City Jazz Record

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

Ira Sullivan & Stu Katz - A Family Affair - Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase
by Dan Healy, Chicago Jazz Magazine

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

Dave Slonaker Big Band - Intrada
by George Fendel, Oregon Jazz Scene

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 - Suite Réunion
by Dave Sumner, Bird is the Worm

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

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