Born in 1938, he has remained a "musicians' musician" despite a long career as an instrumentalist, band leader, composer, arranger and teacher. He was a member of the Cannonball Adderley quintet for almost three years, followed by a further ten in that of Phil Woods. In the second half of the 1970s he himself headed a band whose line-up is easy to find: the two Brecker brothers Randy and Mike formed the explosive front line, Wayne Dockery (not... read more
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
Truth And Beauty, Sam Yahel's fourth offering as a leader, finds the organist joined by Joshua Redman and Brian Blade, two of his closest collaborators. The trio is incredibly tight, which comes as no surprise given their time spent playing together in the Yaya3 collective. Redman plays superbly throughout; in Rollins-esque fashion, he builds several of his solos from a melodic fragments, developing it into a complete statement. Yahel... read more
4-STARS Janis Ian. Folk legend. Singer. Songwriter. A star for five decades. A songwriter's songwriter. It takes a brave soul to set out to "redefine" her songs at all, but in another genre and style altogether requires a giant leap of faith.
US jazz artist Sarah Partridge is that person who dreamed up this project; to reinterpret some of Janis' well known and lesser known songs in her own style. She has Janis appear on the record... read more
Marc Bernstein, Sinne Eeg and Co. have with sensuous textures, created a monstrously beautiful vocal jazz album.
The resident American jazz saxophonist and bass-clarinetist, Marc Bernstein, has repeatedly shined on his previous albums, and he does it yet again on his new album, Hymn For Life, which is alluringly beautiful and melodic. A feature of the album is the airy presence, and very woody sounding bass clarinet that clings sensually up... read more
Chicago guitarist John Moulder delivers an impressive live set with his quintet on The Eleventh Hour, recorded at the legendary Green Mill jazz club. Moulder's compositions tend to lean on modal frameworks with odd-metered grooves. His pieces have accessible qualities while presenting daunting musical challenges to the players involved. A thoughtful improviser who takes the time to tell a compelling story, Moulder is able to utilize a variety... read more
It's not often that seasoned jazz musicians find one of their own recordings truly revelatory in hindsight. Yet here's a striking example. As acclaimed veteran pianist Hal Galper recalls in his CD liner notes, he had no intention of releasing this live 2016 trio session with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop until he heard a playback and found himself wondering, "Who is this pianist?" To Galper, the playback revealed such a heightened... read more
Michael Zilber's resumé is rich and varied, deserving much wider recognition. Originally from Canada, he spent the first part of his career in New York then moved across the country to San Francisco, where he now resides. This is by far his most ambitious project and first recording with big bands, following the very successful Originals for the Originals and the quartets he shared with guitar great John Stowell. Zilber's writing reflects a... 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.
Dave Slonaker Big Band - Shifty Paradigms
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Ben Patterson - Stretch
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Gabriel Espinosa - The Brazilian Project
by Pablo Iván Argüello , El Heraldo de Mexico
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Mark Ruffin, My Jazz Life
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Richard Kamins, Step Tempest
Gabriel Espinosa - The Brazilian Project
by Navya Dixit, Lemon Wire
Mattias Svensson - Embrace
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Eddie Allen and PUSH - The Rhythm
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease - MSU Jazz Trombones: Spartan Strong
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Paul Ricci - The Path
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect