Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Greta Matassa - Portrait
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Away from recording for almost a decade, this regional winner with a worldwide reach (when she wants it) shows how classic jazz vocal is done right. With a great eclectic sense of material, Matassa knows how to dive into every note and find even more than was put there originally. A real pro that's glad to do all the heavy lifting so you can sit back and listen, you might as well let her carry out this agenda to the max. Hot... read more
Scott Neumann Neu3 Trio - Blessed
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Drummer Scott Neumann hosts multi-reedist Michael Blake and bassist Mark Helias in nine compellingly free original compositions plus one well-selected Roswell Rudd piece. This recording is not without its Monk influence. "Keep Your Heart Right" is right out of the Monk rhythmic playbook via Roswell Rudd, with a theme that trips over itself while still remaining upright and heading in a swingtime direction. Blake's melodica gives "Garbanzo"... read more
Peter Epstein and Idée Fixe - Abstract Realism
by John Barron, All About Jazz
Abstract Realism is the debut recording for the band Id�e Fixe, an experimental ensemble under the leadership of saxophonist Peter Epstein, that has been in existence since 1997. Along with Epstein, the band includes guitarist Andy Barbera, bassist Sam Minaie and drummer Matt Mayhall. Special guests for the disc include bass clarinetist Brian Walsh and saxophonist Gavin Templeton. With minimal ideas as the basis for each track, the music takes... read more
Lincoln Goines - The Art of the Bass Choir
by Chris Jisi, Bass Magazine
At the top level of New York City's jazz, Latin, and studio scenes for four decades, bassist Lincoln Goines has put together this highly ambitious recording for his debut as a leader. With elegant textures inspired by Bill Lee's New York Bass Violin Choir and Steve Swallow's upper register explorations, Goines created a collage of styles and moods, built on a collection of favorite tunes and textured within the parameters of clearly voiced low... read more
Marc Seales - People & Places
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, People & Places, from Marc Seales with Ernie Watts and it's tasty. Opening with Rue Cler, with it's suspensive bottom created by Marc Seales on piano and floating lead by Ernie Watts on tenor sax sets a yearning feeling, anchored by Bruce Lett on acoustic bass and Moyes Lucas Jr on drums. Prelude is a quiet piano piece, nicely illustrated by Seales alone. Sensitive and introspective.... read more
speak - Speak
by Brad Walseth, JazzChicago.net
Some of the most exciting music of the year has emerged from Seattle, where Saigon-born trumpeter Cuong Vu (Pat Metheny) teaches at the University of Washington; and on Speak, the faculty advisor sat in on this recording with some of his talented students on an album of their original compositions. Citing varied influences from Ligeti to Toto, Speak combines the energy of progressive rock and polyrhymic jazz. Straggering toward you like that... read more
Geof Bradfield - Our Roots
by Dave Sumner, Bird is the Worm
There's something pretty cool about the way saxophonist Geof Bradfield uses old school blues and sacred music of the South as a way to pivot to varying expressions of hard bop, spiritual jazz, modern post-bop and even a quasi-contemporary jaunt on one track, while keeping the different expressions corralled under the basic concept and theme. With Clifford Jordan's Leadbelly tribute (1965's These Are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly) as... read more
Laurie Antonioli and Richie Beirach - Varuna
by Carol Banks Weber, AXS
Very rarely lately does the album artwork match the music waiting for the right listener to unlock a whirlwind of emotions. Here on Laurie Antonioli and Richie Beirach's vocal-piano duo album, they do as the pair invites listeners to sit in on their celestial conversation set to stun.
Bay Area jazz singer Laurie Antonioli is not a strong vocalist, but what she does with songs is carry them further than those with every octave on command or... read more
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