Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Doug Scarborough - The Color of Angels
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
4-STARS The Color of Angels, an engaging album by trombonist Doug Scarborough's sextet, blends music with a jazz heart and Middle Eastern temperament. Scarborough, who teaches at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, has worked toward expanding the jazz idiom to encompass rhythms and harmonies from countries and regions not usually associated with the music.
The endeavor's fruits can be heard and appreciated on Angels, wherein... read more
Geof Bradfield - melba!
by Neil Tesser, Chicago Music
Geof Bradfield has drawn plenty of praise for his work as a reed soloist, and it's all deserved; on tenor and soprano saxes, plus bass clarinet and flute, his muscular, choate solos unfurl with a torrent of detail, even as he sketches the bigger picture. Surrounded by like-minded virtuosi -- as will be the case Saturday, when he plays the Green Mill with an all-star septet starring trumpeter Victor Garcia and guitarist Jeff Parker -- pretty... read more
Dave Liebman | John Stowell - Petite Fleur: The Music of Sidney Bechet
by Larry Blumenfeld, Jazziz
The most striking thing about the recent release Petite Fleur: The Music of Sidney Bechet is the sound of Dave Liebman's soprano saxophone on the opening title track, Bechet's best-known composition. That sound is large and pungent, with each held note featuring a bold and tightly wound vibrato--a far cry from the looser, more urgent sound, often leaning provocatively in and out of a given tone, that we've come to expect from... read more
Michael Dease - Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by MICHAEL STÜRM, Jazz Podium (Germany)
In Europe, Gregg Hill is a musical nobody, but in the USA, the composer has cult status, especially in jazz circles. There are musicians like bassist Rodney Whitaker, who have already released three recordings of the man from Michigan's compositions. Hill's fan group also includes trombonist Michael Dease.
This is the second time he has devoted himself to Hill's music on a complete album. What makes this music so special? Gregg Hill, that... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist for Libraries
If you had told me, before I listened to saxophonist Jordan VanHermert's latest leader album, that I would ever find myself happily bopping along to a vigorous sax-and-drums duet, I would probably have said you were crazy. And yet here I am, doing just that — and responding with similar delight to an uptempo sax-and-bass duet arrangement of "Come Sunday." It says something about VanHemert (and about the great drummer Lewis Nash and equally... read more
John Stowell / Michael Zilber - Basement Blues
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Basement Blues is the third Origin Records CD offering from the John Stowell/Michael Zilber Quartet, following Shot Through With Beauty (2009) and Live Beauty, (2013). Guitarist Stowell's approach is distinctive - silvery chords and pinprick single notes that reverberate from the rafters. Saxophonist Zilber is a flawless, soulful technician on soprano and tenor saxophones. Bassist John Shifflett and drummer Jason Lewis are perfection in the... read more
Scenes - Trapeze
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
With the original line up coming together for the first time in 20 years, they play together like they haven't missed a step. With most of the tunes by the MIA sax man who originally left for health reasons, everyone is right back in step. With a Seattle take on a New York feel for modern sax jazz, it's that hypnotic kind of set that breathes well in the background or foreground, powered by pros that know how to... read more
George Colligan - The Endless Mysteries
by Bobby Reed, DownBeat
Pianist and educator George Colligan's profile continues to rise. He may not be as well known in some circles as his outstanding trio partners on this project - bassist Larry Grenadier and Colligan's frequent employer, drummer Jack DeJohnette - but he certainly has the chops to hang with them. The Endless Mysteries, Colligan's 24th album as a leader, contains 10 original compositions, many of which the keyboardist developed while playing with... 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:
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Budapest, Rudolf Radnai
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease Big Band - Return Trajectory
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect