Since Brad Goode left Chicago a few years back, he's been on a tear, recording three CD's in three years. His latest, on Origin Records, is by far the best of the bunch. Finally, with the aid of a band willing to play his tunes the way that he wanted to write them, Goode can be heard in a whole new light. And in a light that takes him from being "another good trumpeter" to being in a class all his own.
Polytonal Dance Party is a fantastic... read more
The title of this debut recording from Seattle-based guitarist Martin Budde suggests the music has been percolating in the backwaters of his musical endeavors over the past few years. Indeed, that is the case, as the past five years have found Budde smack dab in the middle of the musical collective, Meridian Odyssey. The music was inspired by, and recorded during, the pandemic shutdown of 2020. This was a time when this collective of young... read more
Composer & arranger Anthony Branker has put together an intriguing six piece suite with a sextet and vocalist that can be approached both musically and socially. Of the latter, the theme of the piece is concerning latent and overt racism in America a la the Trayvon Martin case and the latest presidential election campaign. Musically, it?s hard to beat Ralph Bowen?s tenor sax gliding over the rhythm section of Jim Ridl/key, Kenny Davis/b and... read more
Californian Allison Adams Tucker is far from the first artist to parlay an album-length playlist into an around-the-world travelogue. But she comes by the concept more honestly than most, having circled the globe multiple times, performing everywhere from Tuscany to Tokyo, all the while developing credible fluency in six languages. Nor has her musical maturation been strictly linguistic. She began singing at age 5, in her native San Diego, and... read more
Bassist Sommers has been an increasingly busy figure in Chicago and beyond for more than a decade, and here he makes his belated recording debut as bandleader. Throughout, Sommers puts the emphasis on the music, rather than himself, creating a welcoming environment for colleagues Geof Bradfield on reeds and Dana Hall on drums (hence the title of the album, a kind of acronym for these musicians' names). These players speak the same musical... read more
Benjamin Boone plays alto and soprano sax as he leads a funky team of Bernard Ayisa/ts, Victor Dey/key, Bright Osei/b and Frank Kissi/dr through a set of soulful struts. Sandra Huson adds lovely voice on a handful of the tunes, most notably on the disco ball of "Without You" with Boone's soprano lovely on a tender hearted title track. Osei's fingers do the walking on the upbeat read of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" and the team gets a bit... read more
The tenor sax extraordinaire Matt Otto has a lengthy history of live performances, and here he captures that energy with Jeff Harshbarger, John Kizilarmut, Hermon Mehari, Matt Villinger and Alex Frank for these 9 fusion filled songs.
'Little Things" wastes no time making an impression with Otto's radiant sax alongside Kizilarmut's agile drumming, and "Hawk" follows with a radiant demeanor that emits a calming intimacy that makes great use... read more
The Cool Season: Origins Records Holiday Collection, Vol. 2 sounds like a label sampler, but is rather the work of one quartet. Volume 1 (12/03) was a fine effort with distinctive arrangements of some lesser-known carols paired with swinging versions of holiday standards. The one drawback of that session was the way the two were mixed, creating some incongruous juxtapositions. This session avoids that problem.
With bassist Jeff Johnson and... 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)