Origin Records Reviews

Mimi Fox - Standards, Old & New
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

Guitarist Mimi Fox's nearly 30-year career has produced several solo standards recitals. Standards, Old & New steps out of the box for some not-so-standard standards from the folk realm (pastoral arrangements of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" and Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind") and more recent jazz (a marching rendition of pianist Chick Corea's "500 Miles High").

Fox received... read more

Jaiman Crunk - Encounters
by Editor, Die digitale Jazz - Zeitung

Supported by a cast of some of the biggest names in jazz today, composer and guitarist, Jaiman Crunk, presents a variety of original compositions in his debut album, ?Encounters?. The album includes compositions ranging from a refreshing ballad entitled, ?What You Know?, featuring pianist, Bill Anschell, to an upbeat composition full of colorful sounds and harmonies entitled, ?She Stepped Away?, featuring Randy Brecker (Flugelhorn), Ada... read more

Mattias Svensson - Embrace
by Mike Gates, UK Vibe

4-STARS There's a quiet confidence running through "Embrace" that comes from musicians who know instinctively when to push and when to listen. Bassist Mattias Svensson has long been one of the understated anchors of Scandinavian jazz - many will know his work with the Jan Lundgren Trio - and this project feels like a natural extension of that lineage, enriched by the presence of two masterful collaborators.

Svensson first crossed... read more

Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble - The Atwood Suites
by Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen

TOP 10 CANADIAN JAZZ ALBUMS OF 2018 The Toronto-raised composer and saxophonist, who is on faculty at the University of Western Michigan, released a splendid and ambitious double album in April, reuniting with some stellar talents that he previously made music when he lived in New York City. Rathbun's gorgeous compositions and orchestrations stirringly set the poetry of Margaret Atwood to music, and Luciana Souza's pristine voice looms... read more

Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Doug Collette, StateOfMindMusic.com

Sonny Rollins and Bobby Broom are long standing collaborators having worked together in the great saxophonist's band going on thirty years now. The guitarist has nurtured an increasingly fruitful solo career for himself? the latest product of which is squarely in the great jazz tradition of "Newk" himself? whose initial offering in a series of concert releases bodes well for the archive project.
The increasingly esteemed Broom does as much for... read more

Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)

There is something of the sunrise in Addis Ken, of a horizon between the liturgical traditions of the Jews of Ethiopia, jazz, blues and African rhythms. A dialogue between Ethiopian saxophonist and singer Abate Berihun and the trio of Israeli pianist Roy Mor, Addis Ken tells as much a personal story as a collective adventure. Roy Mor looks back for us on this musical encounter where jazz becomes a bridge between cultures and a universal... read more

David Friesen - Day of Rest
by Dan Bilawsky, JazzTimes

Bassist David Friesen often goes to his secondary instrument—the piano—to add new dimensions in color and texture to his recordings. But completely putting aside his main axe to focus on musing from the bench, as he does on this outing, is a step beyond the norm. Patiently working his fingers around a welcoming Ravenscroft grand, Friesen creates a series of attractive and unostentatious miniatures embodying quietude. Taken together, these... read more

Peter Erskine & the JAM Music Lab All-Stars - Bernstein in Vienna
by Stephen Graham, Marlbank (UK)

4-STARS Here's a swinging, tone perfect, small jazz group live version of some of the gems from the Leonard Bernstein catalogue powered by Weather Report drummer Peter Erskine and beautifully arranged by pianist Danny Grissett - interesting touches include using harmonica (Bertl Mayer) as lead voice on 'I Feel Pretty'. Drummers check out Erskine's masterful touches on 'It's Love'. Great too to hear swinging guitarist Andreas Varady in... read more

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