Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Marcos Varela - San Ygnacio
by Domi, Republic of Jazz
Drawing on collaborators from throughout his time in New York, Varela assembles a stand-out cast of veterans and peers. The album's core rhythm section is composed of two jazz giants: pianist George Cables, a key mentor, and drummer Billy Hart, one of Varela's earliest employers. They're joined by another longtime employer, trombonist Clifton Anderson, as well as two of Varela's most gifted contemporaries, saxophonists Dayna Stephens and Logan... read more
Florian Hoefner - Coldwater Stories
by SERGE JULIEN, Maxazine (Netherlands)
Three years ago, the German jazz pianist and composer Florian Hoefner exchanged the vibrant city life of New York for the Canadian fishing town of St. John's in Newfoundland. The impact of that step, Hoefner, was splendidly translated into his new album 'Coldwater Stories'.
Although this is Hoefner's fourth CD, he debuts as soloist. In order to feel as comfortable as possible, he chose the Sendesaal in German Bremen for the recordings. For... read more
Bill Anschell - Improbable Solutions
by Russell Perry, WTJU
Over the past 40 years, you could count on releases from pianist Bill Anschell (Nneena Freelon) to be acoustic piano fare ... until now. While the additional layer of sonic busy-ness didn't do anything for me, Dan McClenaghan of AllAboutJazz thought otherwise, "The results of Anschell's "out of his comfort zone" project is gratifying. He uses the electronics deftly, adding washes that sound like cool breezes wafting down the river valley, eerie... read more
Bill Anschell - Improbable Solutions
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4-STARS Most fans of Seattle-based pianist Bill Anschell will not see this one coming. His comfort zone on his own recordings has been as a mainstream acoustic jazz artist, on albums like Shifting Standards (2018), a piano trio affair, Rumbler (2017) and Figments (2011), a solo piano outing. All of these were released on Origin Records.
Anschell, who formerly worked as vocalist Nnenna Freelon's musical director, crafts his recordings... read more
Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Group - Live In Seattle
by Ric Bang, the Davis Enterprise
*****
This CD presents the 2005 award-winning concert - and U.S. debut - of the Joe Locke and Geoffrey Keezer quartet. Until recently, this group toured only in Japan, although it made two recordings for the Sony "Eightly-Eight" series label.
But even a cursory look at the leaders' backgrounds and experience will reveal that we're dealing with a pair of Wunderkinds.
Locke plays vibes and has long been recognized as the heir apparent... read more
George Colligan - The Endless Mysteries
by John Kelman, All About Jazz
While music fans often think of the artists they love as gifted people whose lives are consumed by the pursuit of their art, all-too-often they ignore equally important, if seemingly more mundane, needs: making a living, perhaps having a family...things to which most people aspire. With music sales on the decline, most musicians pay the rent by touring and, in some cases, teaching, but for those who've failed to achieve greater recognition,... read more
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Pianist Darrell Grant showcases some of neo-bop's strengths on this ambitious two-disc set from Origin Records. Looking back to the bop era for inspiration, Grant also astutely mixes in classical elements, folk themes, flirts with light R&B, and walks surely and boldly into pop territory, all through a bop lens from the vantage point of the 21st century. Working with guitarists Bill Frisell and Adam Rogers, saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibist Joe... read more
Matt Otto with Ensemble Iberica - Iberica
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Music from Kansas City that calls itself jazz but sounds more like Paul Winter that Count Basie? Yep. The sax man hooks up with a guitar trio and some other players, all of whom seem to have more of a world sensibility than you might expect from the heart of the heartland. Right in step with the original world beaters like Winter, Paul Horn or Oregon, this is music with an exotic edge that soothes the savage beast. Tasty stuff that has the... read more
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