Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jessica Williams - With Love
by George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
Williams is an uncompromising artist who consistently produces one stunning album after another. In recent years, she has primarily recorded her own brilliant compositions. So this album of standards played solo is a welcome detour. She elects to state these serene and glistening melodies with only minimal improvisation. This is wise, because these melodies stand on their own. Every note says something, and Williams plays the necessary ones and... read more
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Lynn Darroch, The Oregonian - May 27, 2007
Darrell Grant strides into a ragtag band room where students have assembled for a beginning jazz combo class. Chairs and music stands are scattered around a piano and drum set, where Grant keeps the beat as they struggle with a tricky Herbie Hancock tune. Through frequent breakdowns, he guides them patiently.
The floor is covered with green linoleum in this windowless basement far from the New York stages where Grant made his mark as a... read more
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra - Sacred Music of Duke Ellington
by Andrew Lindemann Malone, Jazz Times 2006
Before this review delves into the overarching aesthetic issues which we critics so like to concern ourselves, I should note that the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra's two-CD compilation of pieces from Duke Ellington's three Sacred Concerts provides solid performances of mostly remarkable music. The Oregon Repertory Singers sound especially good under their conductor, Gil Seeley, delivering an exquisite textured account of Duke's a capella... read more
Jeff Johnson - Suitcase
by Tom Hull, Tom Hull on the Web
Jeff Johnson: Suitcase (2011 [2012], Origin): Seattle bassist, one of the label's mainstays, generally a mainstream player but here he not only moves into postbop, he gives us a practicum in how much of the avant-garde has been incorporated into the postbop paradigm. Hans Teuber plays bass clarinet, alto flute, and various saxes, with Steve Moore on piano and Eric Eagle on... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Ken Watkins, 100 Greatest Jazz Albums Blog
Bobby Broom, joined by Dennis Carroll (bass) and Kobi Watkins (drums), plays eight Thelonious Monk compositions in this guitar trio take on the great pianist's music.
Jazz musicians have never found it easy to capture the wonder and the eccentricity of Monk's music in any terms other than his own. Yet that has not stopped generations of players from taking on this challenge, so pervasive is his influence as one of the initiators of bop. Many,... read more
Michael Waldrop - Origin Suite
by Music Journalist, Jeff Tamarkin
Origin Suite accomplishes what so few contemporary big band albums are able to: It projects an intimacy, even as it opens vista upon vista and layer upon layer. So in sync are Michael Waldrop and his uniformly superb crew that - even at its most expansive, even as its soloists present their personalized statements and as its charts enter uncharted worlds - there's a singularity of vision throughout. A plethora of emotions, textures and languages... read more
Les DeMerle - The Jazz Spirit of Christmas
by Carol Swanson, christmasreview.com
So solid, so sweet! The Jazz Spirit of Christmas is classic jazz, through and through! This generous album (well over an hour of music!) will satisfy your every jazz need this holiday season.
The dynamic Les DeMerle (drums, vocals) is the moving force behind this project; his wife Bonnie Eisele (vocals, percussion) has been his sizzlin' musical partner for 17 years. The other three ensemble members are Ken Poplowski (tenor sax & clarinet),... read more
Jeff Johnson - Suitcase
by Brady Somers, Earshot Jazz
Jeff Johnson?s latest release, Suitcase, pulls from melodies and tunes written during an earlier era of his career. With long-time collaborator Hans Teuber on saxophones, bass clarinet and flute and newer music partners Steve Moore on piano and Eric Eagle on drums, Johnson leads the listener through a voyage of contrasted stylistic outings. From the chaotic yet controlled conversations in ?Shake It Off? and ?Picasso? to the serene pastures... read more
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