Origin Records Reviews

Don Lanphere - Where Do You Start?
by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Few veterans of the classic bebop era were still active in 2002, and even fewer were still in their musical prime. Don Lanphere is a major exception. Rather than just recreating the past (which in his case includes leading a date that featured Fats Navarro), Lanphere always looks ahead. A distinctive tenor-saxophonist, Lanphere also doubles effective on soprano and leads a top-notch sextet in the Pacific Northwest. Where Do You Start has a... read more

Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Stuart Broomer, All About Jazz.com

There's something almost contradictory about Monk compositions: they're insistently individualistic, built on odd chord changes with often minimalist melodies. But as idiosyncratic as they are, they often succeed in bringing out what's best in the musicians playing them, as if those tunes are open to individuality as well as being the product of it. Through the years musicians of wildly divergent styles have approached Monk's music: the piquant... read more

Marlene Rosenberg - MLK Convergence
by Georges Tonla Briquet, JazzHalo (Belgium)

The CD title is not only a direct reference to Martin Luther King but also to the mixed cultural background of the group members. So a statement like jazz in the sixties. The effect may not be as extreme as that of her great examples from that period, due to the solid composition of her own compositions, the two well-chosen covers from Stevie Wonder ('Visions', 'Loves In Need Of Love Today') and Rosenberg does not miss their goal in the detailed... read more

Bill Anschell - Improbable Solutions
by ERIC OLSON, Earshot Jazz

It takes all of five bars for a ring modulator to slink, unassumingly, and rather unexpectedly, into the opening track of Seattle-based pianist Bill Anschell's newest work. A few seconds on, when guitarist Brian Monroney flicks his strings like Avi Bortnick on one of John Scofield's Überjam records, the album title falls into place: Improbable Solutions. There's no saying what "problem" this excellent album is bent on solving, but its... read more

Dawn Clement - Delight
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move

A Bold and Intimate New Album from Pianist and Vocalist Dawn Clement, Releasing on Bastille Day.

There are artists who quietly chart their course through the contemporary jazz landscape, and then there are those, like pianist, vocalist, and composer Dawn Clement, who illuminate it. For more than two decades, Clement has been crafting a distinctive voice, intellectually sharp, emotionally resonant, and rhythmically enthralling. Her... read more

Hood Smoke - Laid Up In Ordinary
by Tim Seisser, Bass Musician Magazine

Born in Milwaukee, Bryan started playing bass at the age of twelve. Now in his tenth year based in Chicago, Bryan can be heard playing everything from modern jazz to authentic Latin to funk-dripped soul. Bryan?s versatile bass skills and compositions have brought him national recognition and solidified his reputation as one of music?s brightest stars.

Tim: So tell the readers a bit about your background in music and how you came to play... read more

Dan McCarthy - Epoch
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

4 1/2 STARS As intimated by the gray horizons on this album's cover, there's a silvery beauty and dusky design element at play in Epoch. Vibraphonist Dan McCarthy, a Canadian-turned-Brooklynite with a keen appreciation for suspense and patient development, tests the boundaries and borders of shadows and shape with stunning results. Elevated by the pillars of mystique and mournfulness, this statement proves beautifully gripping.... read more

John Bishop - Antwerp
by Joe Ross, Roots Music Report

5-STARS John Bishop, Seattle-based drummer, educator and owner of the Origin record label, has over four decades of performance and recording experience with appearances on more than 100 albums. He was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame in 2008. Antwerp is Bishop's first album under his own name in 15 years.

He first met pianist Bram Weijters and bassist Piet Verbist in Belgium about 2008. The three friends played Europe and... read more

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