Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Alex Graham - The Good Life
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
This quartet session, led by sax player Alex Graham, takes a crack at showing off all that can be right with a quartet in the post-bop era. The tone is generally light, with a fair amount of call and response between Graham's sax and the rhythm section. Generally the demeanor is bouncing, almost like an updated Sunny Side of the Street. The band deals well with originals as well as nice pieces from Wayne Shorter and even a small-band arrangement... read more
Kelly Brand Nextet - The Door
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
One of the things I miss most about no longer living in the Chicago area is seeing and hearing groups like pianist Kelly Brand's Nextet, known only to a small number of enthusiasts in the immediate neighborhood but deserving a much wider audience. One of the musicians I miss most is trumpeter Art Davis, a bellwether of the ensemble who has long been an admirably resourceful improviser and one of the Windy City's unsung treasures.
True story.... read more
Mimi Fox - Standards, Old & New
by Barry Cleveland, Guitar Player Magazine
Mimi Fox Expands Jazz Guitar from the Inside Out
MIMI FOX WAS A PRECOCIOUS YOUNGSTER, playing drums and then guitar before reaching her teens. She rapidly taught herself to play pop, folk, R&B, and other styles?but it was encountering John Coltrane?s Giant Steps that set her firmly on her current path. She relocated from New York to the San Francisco Bay Area around 1980, a time when there was a vibrant local jazz scene. ?I used... read more
George Colligan & Theoretical Planets - Risky Notion
by Travis Rogers, Jr., Music Life & Times
George Colligan has released an album of new compositions with young musicians and Colligan himself in a new role with the CD "Risky Notion" by George Collian and Theoretical Planets (Origin 82681).
Most people who know George Colligan think first of him as a pianist and that is as it should be, to think of him as a pianist first. What falls far short of the mark, however, is to think of Colligan only as a pianist. His first love was drums.... read more
Dave Slonaker Big Band - Convergency
by Jonathan Widran, JW Vibe
It's been almost ten years since the Dave Slonaker Big Band earned a Best Large Jazz Ensemble Grammy for their critically acclaimed debut album Intrada - but the extreme amount of time between that classic and the group's latest Convergency is understandable.
When he's not writing, arranging and conducting his tuneful, vibrant and swinging compositions for the Big Band, he's busy as one of the top arrangers and... read more
Jack Mouse - Range of Motion
by John Barron, The Jazz Word
The title of this release aptly describes the various grooves cultivated by veteran Chicago drummer Jack Mouse. At times caught up in delightful swing, as on "The Breezeling," and at other times deliberately funky, as on "Hip Check," Mouse propels his bandmates forward with a fresh combination of energy and finesse. Guitarist John McLean, who at times conjures up a John Scofield vibe, trumpeter Art Davis and saxophonist Scott Robinson... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by John Henry, Audiophile Audition
I think this is the finest solo piano CD I?ve enjoyed in years! ***** 5-stars
Jessica Williams is one of the top jazz pianists playing today, and if you?re a jazz piano fan and not familiar with her work, remedy that right away. She had classical training and was the house pianist at San Francisco?s Keystone Korner for many years. Jessica has been a three-time Grammy nominee. She is currently based in Seattle, and this new CD... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by Larry Hollis, Cadence
Songs of Earth dispenses with the upright bass and trap drum kit for a solo piano recital from Pacific Northwest player Jessica Williams. She had built up a healthy discography before she started devoting herself to solo settings in the eighties and these mostly improvised meditations were taken from tapings over a two year period (2009-2011) at Seattle's Triple Door. Pensive is the operative word here drawn from a half-dozen Williams writings... read more
Looking for a specific review?
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.
Search Reviews:
Recently Added Reviews:
Affinity Trio - Hindsight
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Les DeMerle Sound 67 - Once in a Lifetime
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Maddie Vogler - While We Have Time
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Maddie Vogler - While We Have Time
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Benjamin Boone - Caught in the Rhythm
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Maddie Vogler - While We Have Time
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
John La Barbera Big Band - Grooveyard
by Russell Perry, WTJU
Bobby Rozario - Spellbound
by Russell Perry, WTJU
Matt Otto - Umbra
by Russell Perry, WTJU
John La Barbera Big Band - Grooveyard
by Arturo Gomez, KUVO (Denver)