Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by Fred Bouchard, The New York City Jazz Record
The laconic Japanese adage "Fall seven times, stand up eight" underpins a subtext behind the title of Jordan VanHemert's fifth leader date, Survival of the Fittest. A hearty, adept, good-humored tenor saxophonist, the 30ish Korean-born Michigander here re-assembles, with trombonist-producer Michael Dease, the sextet of their slightly elder peers that, in last year's Deep In The Soil (Topic), first examined the resilience, self-reliance and... read more
Cuong Vu - Leaps of Faith
by Peter Margasak, Downbeat Magazine
★★★★
Trumpeter Cuong Vu moved back to his native Seattle in 2006 to teach, but five years later he's still working with the members of his long-running New York trio, drummer Ted Poor and electric bassist Stomu Takeishi. But on Leaps Of Faith, a gorgeous live recording made in Seattle in April 2010, he brings in second electric bassist Luke Bergman?a former University of Washington student of his who's now a regular... read more
Randy Halberstadt - Flash Point
by Ken Watkins, 100 Greatest Jazz Albums
Seattle-based pianist Randy Halberstadt's second release for Origin offers three attractive dimensions to his music as performer and composer.
The band is Randy Halberstadt's regular trio - Randy Halberstadt (piano), Jeff Johnson (bass), Mark Ivester (drums) ? expanded to a quintet on seven of the nine tracks with the addition of Mark Taylor (alto /soprano saxes) and Thomas Marriott (trumpet / flugelhorn).
Miles Davis' 'Solar' and Sam... read more
John Stowell | Michael Zilber - Live Beauty
by Mike Joyce, JazzTimes
Anyone who has enjoyed previous collaborations by guitarist John Stowell and saxophonist Michael Zilber will be delighted to discover that nothing gets lost in the transition from studio to stage on this 2012 concert recording. It's an intimate quartet affair, marked by the kind of soulful, instinctual interplay that fans have come to expect.
In the album's liner notes, Stowell and Zilber briefly discuss their creative relationship, the yin... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Jack Goodstein, Blogcritics.org
Pianist-composer Josh Nelson's follow-up to his 2011 science fiction-inspired album Discoveries, Exploring Mars delivers everything you would expect from an album with that title. Taking inspiration from actual science as well as science fiction, Nelson takes the listener along on a journey of musical exploration of variations on his Martian theme. There are tracks devoted to the exploratory rovers. There are tracks devoted to Martian... read more
Bobby Broom - Upper West Side Story
by Ken Dryden, All Music
One of the top guitarists of his generation, Bobby Broom's preferred setting is a small group, while he excels in the demanding trio setting with bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Kobie Watkins (with Makaya McCraven replacing him on three songs). Upper West Side Story includes nine originals, none of which is likely to become a jazz standard, but all of which are stimulating. "D's Blues" has an engaging hard bop hook that pulls the listener in... read more
Anthony Branker & Ascent - Dance Music
by David Kane, Cadence
Composer/trumpeter/arranger Branker doesn't actually appear on [Dance Music] but his compositions do and they provide effective showcases for the talents of his band. In this instance, his talent for choosing top quality sidemen equals or surpasses his talent for composition. That's not to knock his writing which is solid and well-crafted in a Modern Mainstream mode (as all the CDs reviewed in this grouping are). As good as the tunes are... read more
Laurie Antonioli - The Constant Passage of time
by Dan Bilawsky, JazzEd Magazine
The movement of time and tide remain unhampered by artistic intentions, yet music has a way of marking or defining a moment and fixing itself to specific points on existence's steady line of progress. This seventh album from veteran vocalist Laurie Antonioli emphasizes that fact while also showcasing her way with words, wide-ranging interests, and deep interpretive insights.
Celebrating several milestones in 2018 - her 60th birthday, two... read more
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