Those with a taste for grits and gravy in their musical diet will find a lot to savor on Roll With It. And while this group looks like a typical organ trio with tenor on the side, it packs a tangy flavor due to the solid and inspired musicianship of the participants, most of them living in the general area of the Pacific Northwest. Lead guitarist Corey Christiansen, who has returned to his native Utah after six years as the senior music... read more
If space travel involves great jazz music like Josh produces with his piano & trumpet (joined by a whole host of high-talent players), I've no doubt we would have a horde of folks signing up for the voyage. While it remains totally accessible, even for the traditional of jazz listeners, Josh makes it move in directions that you don't hear coming...songs like the wonderfully intriguing "Curiosity" weave through changes that many accomplished... read more
Take the album 'Continuum' by pianist Richard Sussman. He asked trumpeter Randy Brecker to play in his Quintet. And guitarist Mike Stern participates in 'Mike's Blues.' With which names you expect brute force jazz or explosive work, but the music is regulated. There is intelligent and it's nicely played. Band Leader Richard Sussman, in addition to the piano, also plays the synthesizer, offering up some varying sounds.
Original... read more
Bassist Jeff Johnson is one of the regulars in the Origin Records stable, and these two releases see him as leader, first of a trio with drummer Billy Mintz and reedman Hans Teuber, then with a quartet, adding pianist Randy Porter. Most of the selections on both are Johnson originals, with a few covers (Wayne Shorter, Henry Mancini, even Glenn Miller) thrown in. Johnson seems to favor a relatively free setting, using the composed tunes as... read more
Best Jazz on Bandcamp / Aug 2018 The Bad Luck duo is a powder keg of intensity, and it takes only the faintest spark to detonate. But the resulting combination of saxophone and drums isn't solely defined by its heat. There's a beguiling motion to the flames, a hazy sense of melodic deliberateness that's the key to the music's hypnotic effect. Drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch add generous amounts of electronic effects,... read more
Terrific pianist Dan Cray, a native of Glen Ellyn, moved to New York in 2009 after spending much of the previous decade building the reputation of his fine Chicago trio with bassist Clark Sommers (now teaching in Idaho) and drummer Greg Wyser-Pratte. On Meridies (Origin), his recent fifth album and first since leaving town, Cray tweaks the group, adding young saxophonist Noah Preminger and replacing Wyser-Pratte with Mark Ferber, but he doesn't... read more
Fans of alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman have had to sit through a long wait since the free jazz pioneer's last recording, Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar Records, 2006), a marvelous set that garnered the artist a Pulitzer Prize. Those fans are still waiting, though the iconic jazz man has teased them with his bits and pieces (non-album length) of his distinctive playing on bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma's For the Love of Ornette (Jam All... read more
Michael Waldrop skillfully explores the concentric circles of classical percussion 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.
Andrea Brachfeld & Insight - Evolution
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Jordan VanHemert - Nomad
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Piet Verbist - Secret Exit to Another Dimension
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Piet Verbist - Secret Exit to Another Dimension
by JEAN-CLAUDE VANTROYEN, Le Soir (Belgium)
Doug Scarborough - The Color of Angels
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Ben Thomas Tango Project - Eternal Aporia
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Xose Miguélez - Contradictio
by Pepe Cunha , Abrete de Orellas (Spain)
Xose Miguélez - Contradictio
by Candido Querol , B!ritmos (Spain)
Piet Verbist - Secret Exit to Another Dimension
by Bernard Lefèvre, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
Ben Thomas Tango Project - Eternal Aporia
by Georges Tonla Briquet, Jazz'halo (Belgium)