Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Greta Matassa - Portrait
by Paul de Barros, Seattle Times
Album releases by Greta Matassa and Kelley Johnson show two Seattle jazz singers at the top of their game
Two artists indelibly linked to Tula's Restaurant & Jazz Club, which is closing at the end of this month, are Seattle's best female jazz singers — Greta Matassa and Kelley Johnson — who both celebrated the release of new albums at the club this summer. Where they will debut their next albums is an open question, but in... read more
Bill Anschell - Figments
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
One of the more prolific exponents of the Northwest jazz sound, pianist Bill Anschell has figured in any number of excellent recordings, both as a bandleader and as an accompanist. In Figments, he takes a turn at solo piano, running through songs from pop, jazz, and the American songbook and reworking them into wandering (he describes it as stream of consciousness) arrangements that sometimes provide jazz underpinnings for classic pop, and... read more
Various Artists - Winter: An Origin Records Holiday Collection
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
A nice Christmas album from a quartet of players from the Origin stables. The bulk of the album is taken up with standards for the season, with a couple of old English carols thrown in, as well as a couple of new compositions by guitarist Dave Peterson (and a stray Horace Silver number). The tone taken throughout the proceedings is a full one, with thick notes on the sax and a good sustain on the guitar. Overall, the sound is very warm, very... read more
Toby Koenigsberg - Sense
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
Pianist Toby Koenigsberg's second CD as a leader is a mind-stretching trio affair featuring bassist Tyler Abbott and drummer Jason Palmer, delving into famous and lesser known jazz compositions, standards and originals. While most pianists tackle Bud Powell's works in a fairly straight-forward manner, Koenigsberg and his musicians reshape "Oblivion" with a steady, pulsing Latin rhythm behind the pianist which seems out of kilter but fits... read more
Steve Korn - Pride & Joy
by Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
For his second outing for the Origin label, leader/percussionist Steve Korn has made some significant changes. First and foremost, he has added a Hammond B3 organ to the instrumental mix, eliminating the need for the bass. He has also added another sax, dropping the trumpet. All of this results in a richer, fuller sound than on his initial release. But the basic underpinnings remain, playing modern-influenced music but in such a way so as not to... read more
Doug Lofstrom - Concertino: The Music Of Doug Lofstrom
by Robert Iannapollo, Cadence
Doug Lofstrom is a composer who is currently teaching at Columbia College Chicago. While the two main compositions on Concertino - Concertino For Oboe And Orchestra and Concertino for Harp And Orchestra, both 2011 - are both in the classical vein, it?s the third piece on the disc, ?The Plumed Serpent? (1982), that would most likely interest Cadence readers. In the early 80s Lofstrom was an active jazz bassist in Chigcao and he was in a trio... read more
Ron Di Salvio - Essence of Green, A Tribute to Kind Of Blue
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
A fine group of musicians from the Michigan area gather for what appears at first glance to be a song-by-song response to Miles' classic. The album opens with "Six Shades of Green," following the structure and feel of "All Blues" relatively closely. "Crossing Lines" follows the tone of "Freddie Freeloader" similarly. The chord progressions continue to follow the course set by Kind of Blue as the album progresses, with interplay between Ron di... read more
Clay Giberson - Spaceton's Approach
by Jan P. Dennis, Audiophile Audition
Relaxed, long-legged piano trio music of high achievement. 4-1/2 STARS
If there is a criticism to be leveled at this lovely music, it is that it proceeds at such a leisurely, unhurried pace as to lull the unwary listener into complacency. But hold on. Why not just juice up one's listening acumen? Wouldn't that solve the problem? Yes, but not everyone will either have the capacity, inclination, or patience to do... read more
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