The trio format without a chording instrument (a guitar or keyboard) tends to loosen the atmosphere, giving the music a more fluid feel. Bassist Jeff Johnson, joined by saxophonist Hans Teuber and drummer Tad Britton, achieves a compelling chamber-like fluidity on Near Earth.
Teuber's tenor saxophone approach here has a clean, clear, bracingly cool feel on its interplay with with Johnson's round bass lines and the intricate textures from... read more
We can wrap this one up in short order. Mimi Fox is a terrific guitarist who possesses an immaculate touch and electrifying awareness, who swings hard and whose love for the music she plays is obvious. There's no doubt about that. And Standards is a marvelously recorded sample of her superb artistry. There's no doubt about that either.
On the other hand (he sighs), there is one false note, on tracks 1 and 6 ("All Blues," "Footprints"), both... read more
Sometimes aesthetic theories are clear (and necessary) only to the artists who invented them. Ornette Coleman has never satisfactorily explained what he means by "harmolodic," but it doesn't matter. The claims that Hal Galper makes for his "Rubato concept" are sometimes abstruse. It doesn't matter. What is clear is that Galper's investigations into the "bending and shaping of tempo" set him free.
Not many artists make stylistic... read more
Since the 1960s, Stevie Wonder's "My Cheri Amour" has remained one of the most memorable love songs in popular music. In collaboration with Motown songwriters Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, the hit song was originally titled "Oh My Marcia"?at the time, a tender ode to Wonder's girlfriend in his adolescent years. The two broke up, the song underwent a name change, and the rest is history.
The Deep Blue Organ Trio offers its own heartfelt... read more
If you are looking for a single collection of fresh, new, groove-based tunes and are a fan of jazz, funk, and rock, look no further than "The Way of the Groove." Ben Patterson, a master trombonist, composer, arranger, and former long-serving member of the Airmen of Note, brings forth a delightful album with his latest release. Featuring all original compositions and an outstanding band, listeners are sure to savor this exciting new... read more
5-STARS Lenny Bruce might have skewered it with his skit, "Psychopathia Sexualis." Mike Myers' mildly misogynist poet might have parodied it in the movie I Married an Axe Murderer (1993). It has been dismissed as a late-fifties fad associated with the Beats. And, yet, the desire of poets and jazz musicians to combine their art forms has proven surprisingly durable.
Sometimes, the practice is just plain embarrassing and made worse by... read more
Six tracks - the shortest at 9:31, the longest at 24:36 - spread over two CDs recorded live at the Berlin Philharmonic in 1977 gave me the feeling of being there. This feeling helped on by the audience's enthusiasm.
If Michael Brecker had blown these choruses at a JATP concert 30 years earlier he'd have been accused of exhibitionism or playing to the crowd. However, by this time, such pyrothechnics had been absorbed into most saxophonists'... read more
Sam Yahel Trio
The Village Vanguard
New York, NY
July 17, 2011
The world has changed in numerous and startling ways since pianist Bill Evans recorded Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961) a half century ago, but two things remain as consistent as the rising and setting of the sun: The Village Vanguard still presents the best that jazz has to offer, and boundary-pushing piano trios are still an important part of the mix that they... 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.
Michael Bisio & Timothy Hill - Inside Voice / Outside Voice
by Grego Applegate Edwards, Applegate Blog
Rich Thompson - Who Do You Have to Know?
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Les DeMerle Sound 67 - Once in a Lifetime
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Metropolitan Jazz Octet - The Bowie Project
by Paul Reynolds, All About Jazz
Keigo Hirakawa - Pixel
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Rich Thompson - Who Do You Have to Know?
by Editor, Jazz Rochester
Mimi Fox Organ Trio - One for Wes
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Naama Liany - Daydream
by Editor, Kultur Luxembourg
Lincoln Goines - The Art of the Bass Choir
by Marty Gunther, Chicago Blues Guide
Michael Dease - The Other Shoe: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Various, DownBeat Hot Box