Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
speak - Speak
by Laura Bellini, BBC
Seattle-based quintet Speak is an asymmetric outfit, the only previously well-known member being trumpeter Cuong Vu (who has collaborated with Pat Metheny). The rest of the ensemble is comprised of Vu's students, met at the University of Washington.
Speak, strong with the boldness that comes of youth, are unapologetic from the start. Opener Amalgam in the Middle is a stylistic manifesto, displaying straight away their signature recipe of... read more
Scott Reeves Quintet - The Alchemist
by Richard B Kamins, Step Tempest
Many musicians used the pandemic to create new work, to hone new skills, and to find new ways to express themselves in a most uncomfortable. It's possible Scott Reeves (valve trombone, alto flugelhorn, electronics) did all those things but he also went through his archives. When he did, Reeves listened with fresh ears to a 2005 live gig he recorded at City of College of New York with Russ Spiegel (guitar), Mike Holober (piano, electric piano),... read more
Richard Cole - Shade
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Shade is an outstanding album of contemporary jazz from (mostly) tenor saxman Richard Cole. This album opens with a bang and a slightly larger ensemble in something of a tribute to Joe Henderson. Cole, as well as trumpeters Thomas Marriott and Randy Brecker, take some outstanding solos here. In pianist Bill Anschell's composition "Moxy," the band slims down to a quartet and combines a frenetic piano with Monk-inspired horns. A Fender Rhodes is... read more
Sam Yahel - Truth And Beauty
by Adam Gold, The Pheonix
Sam Yahel's expressive approach to the Hammond B3 organ has made him one of the most sought-after sidemen in jazz. He's appeared on Norah Jones's Come Away with Me and Madeleine Peyroux's Half the Perfect World, toured with guitarist Bill Frisell, and supported tenor-saxophonist Joshua Redman in the backbeat-jazz-pioneering Elastic band. Truth and Beauty sees him reunited with Redman and fellow Elastic band drummer Brian Blade, and the trio's... 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
Ryan Shultz - Hair Dryers
by Paul Abella, Music Lounge - WDCB, Chicago
Hailing from Chicago is the cast of characters assembled for Ryan Shultz's latest album, Hair Dryers (also Origin Records). This is an exciting album, with half the time spent exploring the outer edges of Miles Davis' 60s quintet and half going for broke with sounds and ideas right out of the mid-70s fusion era. While during the daytime on 'DCB Jazz, we'll be spending almost all of our time with the acoustic music, you can expect to hear... read more
Scott Burns - Passages
by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Scott Burns has a large tone on tenor and a hard-driving style that is at times reminiscent of Lew Tabackin and Pete Christlieb. His set of originals include the swinging "Lead the Way," a brooding ballad in "Black Orchid," the optimistic "Downhill Stroll" and the minor blues "Storm Rising." The fine rhythm section features plenty of solo space for pianist Ron Perillo and stimulating support from bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer George Fludas.... read more
Richard Sussman - Live at Sweet Rhythm
by Kyle O'Brien, Oregon Jazz Scene
Pianist and composer Sussman has gotten the band back together. The band here is called the Free Fall Reunion Band. "Free Fall" was the 1978 album that the group recorded together, which reviewed well in Down Beat. The members of the group went their separate ways, including Sussman, who became both a synth and piano sideman and also an educator at the Manhattan School of Music. In 2003, the group reunited for a gig in New York, and the... read more
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