Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Thomas Marriott - Individuation
by John Kelman, All About Jazz
All too often you hear that jazz is dead, that there is little of significance being created today. Maybe the playing field is just so large that it can be more difficult to identify major leaps forward than in past decades. Still, for a marginalized genre that is responsible for something like 3% of total CD sales in the United States, one need only look at the sheer volume of new releases by young artists each and every month to realize that... read more
Jessica Williams - Billy's Theme: A Tribute to Dr. Billy Taylor
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz.com
One great pianist deserves another. Billy Taylor, who needs no introduction to jazz fans around the world, is the honoree (tributary?) in this solo recital by longtime friend and ardent admirer Jessica Williams, who may need an introduction to some but can easily hold her own against the most accomplished pianists one cares to name.
As she has shown on many occasions (and recordings), Williams is a virtuoso with either hand or both. Her agile... read more
Ben Patterson - The Way of the Groove
by Jett Walker, Texas State University, International Trombone Association Journal
Composer, arranger, band leader, and former member of Airmen of Note (the premier jazz ensemble of the U.S. Air Force), trombonist Ben Patterson presents the release of his second album in just two years. It features returning collaborators Purcell, Henry, and Harrison, who recorded on Patterson's previous album, along with new contributors Hernandez, Appelman, and Reiger. All the tunes are original compositions (often with witty track titles)... read more
David Friesen with Orchestra and Quartet - Testimony
by Mattie Poels, Music Frames (Holland)
In a beautiful concert we hear jazz bassist and pianist David Friesen from the Ukraine together with his quartet and the National Academic Symphonic Band of Ukraine.
On the album Testimony we hear two concerts that were both recorded in the Ukraine (Kiev) where the bassist, pianist and arranger David Friesen comes from. Friesen is a master of themes: catchy melodies that sound familiar and worldly. His timing is reminiscent of that of the... read more
Chicago Jazz Orchestra with Cyrille Aimee - Burstin' Out!
by Matt Marshall, All About Jazz
Covering the Great American Songbook can be tricky, thankless work for a singer. The options for handling the material just aren't as numerous (i.e., nigh infinite) as they are for instrumentalists. Severely warping a melody, chopping it up or getting rid of it altogether work perfectly well if you're blowing through a horn. But such abstractions of voice can seem forced or simply too weird within a straight-ahead format. There's scatting, of... read more
Benjamin Boone with the Ghana Jazz Collective - Joy
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
4-STARS When saxophonist Benjamin Boone took a sabbatical from his teaching position at California State University Fresno to travel to Ghana as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, he envisioned a yearlong educational immersion in the music, arts and broader culture of the region. What he couldn't have imagined, which became reality, was connecting with a set of Accra-based musicians who would welcome him into the fold as a band mate. Eager to... read more
David Weiss Sextet - Auteur
by David R. Adler, JazzTimes
Real Talk: A Conversation with Trumpeter David Weiss
On the rigors of bandleading, and the discovery of rare tunes by Freddie Hubbard, Slide Hampton
Significant events can happen quietly in our jazz world (another way of saying they're getting ignored). Like the fact that trumpeter David Weiss recorded a previously unknown Freddie Hubbard composition, "Rebop," on his 2024 sextet release Auteur (Origin). There's a previously... read more
Doug Scarborough - The Color of Angels
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
RINGER OF THE WEEK Glorious musical journeys to far a way lands both acoustic and electric are delivered by trombonist Doug Scarborough and his wide ranging team of violinist Akram Abdulfattah, pianist Jeremy Siskind, bassist Damian Erskine, drummer Reinhardt Melz and Mustafa Boztuy on the hand percussive darbuka. The themes range widely, going from a table dance between the leader and Siskind on "Imaginal Cells" to a get down funk fest... read more
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