Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Meridian Odyssey - Earthshine
by Matthew Adkins, Earshot Jazz
It's become something of a truism to say the pandemic produced some incredible art. Here's a question, though: Can that flowering of creativity—originally sparked when we were all cooped inside—sustain itself now that we're all free to roam the wide world again? The latest Meridian Odyssey record, Earthshine, suggests maybe it can.
The quintet—saxophonist Santosh Sharma, guitarist Martin Budde, pianist Dylan Hayes, bassist Ben Feldman,... read more
Chris Walden Big Band & The St. John's Choir - Kurt Marti Suite
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz.com
The German-born composer/band leader Chris Walden pays the rent with his television and movie work, scoring over thirty feature and television films, in addition to his writing for a variety of musical artists, including?Christopher Cross, Michael Bolton, Sheryl Crow, Paul Anka and Olivia Newton-John. The art of his heart, though, must certainly be his big band recordings, including No Bounds (Origin Records, 2006) and the Grammy nominated (Best... read more
Doug Scarborough - The Color of Angels
by Michael van Gee, Jazz 'N' More (Switzerland)
5-STARS "The Color Of Angels" by the sextet of trombonist, composer and arranger Doug Scarborough presents a collection of new compositions that fuse Western music with traditional Middle Eastern music. The famous trombonist Bill Watrous describes the album as "some of the most interesting, original music coming from anybody in a long long time". Scarborough teaches at Whitman College in Walla Walla (Washington) and has been working for... read more
The Jazz Police - The Music of Daniel Barry
by Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
The Jazz Police are made up of musicians who see their task as creating and promoting modern big band music. For their second album for Origin, leader James Rasmussen has selected the music of one of the band's trumpet and flugelhorn players, jazz educator Daniel Barry. Drawing upon musicians from the fertile and active Northwest U.S. jazz scene, the group has 18 members plus four players added for certain tracks. Barry made a trip to Brazil... read more
Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Group - Live In Seattle
by Tom Morgan, Percussive Notes, December 2006
Live in Seattle was recorded in 2005 at the Ballard Jazz Festival and contains an eclectic mix of styles from fusion to hard swinging jazz to James Taylor. Vibist Joe Locke and pianist Geoffrey Keezer are joined by bassist Mike Pope and drummer Terreon Gully.
The group comes out of the shoot burning with Locke's "Van Gogh by Numbers," which is a fusion tune with a head that alternates between 4/4 and 7/8. The highly orchestrated beginning... read more
Thomas Marriott - Romance Language
by Raul da Gama, JazzDaGama
In the recent history of music, the term "mainstream" when associated with playing in the style of Jazz has attracted somewhat negative connotations which, although sometimes justified, is probably just as well especially in the case of this Thomas Morgan recording entitled Romance Language. His music certainly prepares the way for something we might suggest is a trend towards the "neo-Romantic" - even, that is, when "swing" becomes a part of... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Josef Woodard, DownBeat Magazine
WHILE THE TRAJECTORY OF A JAZZ MUSICIAN'S career often follows a somewhat logical arc, others take more complex and evolving paths. The latter has been the fate — mostly self-designed — of Dr. Anthony Branker, whose latest album is one of his most ambitious projects. What Place Can Be For Us? A Suite In Ten Movements is a sweeping opus with sociopolitical and poetic content woven into a musical tapestry — with his band Imagine — which... read more
Xose Miguélez - Ontology
by Matt Micucci, Jazziz
Internationally renowned Spanish saxophonist-composer Xose Miguelez's latest album, Ontology, began with his research on traditional Galician music. That research led him to a discovery of a recording by ethnic musicologist Dorothé Schubart of a ballad sung by his own great-aunt Amparo almost 40 years ago in a village in the Galician hills named Cerdedelo-Laza. The first-four note motif at the beginning of this ballad is the root of all... 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:
James Moody - 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by Tom Hull, Tom Hull On the Web
Michael Dease - Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by BMan, BMan's Blues Report
Rodney Whitaker - Mosaic: The Music of Gregg Hill
by BMan, BMan's Blues Report
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by Editor, The Walker's (Japan)
Dawn Clement - Delight
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
José Luiz Martins - Odyssey Mixtape
by John Ephland, DownBeat
James Moody - 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by John Murph, DownBeat
James Moody - 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by Ted Panken, DownBeat
Michael Dease - City Life: Music of Gregg Hill
by George Kanzler , The New York City Jazz Record
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by Fred Bouchard, The New York City Jazz Record