Origin Records Reviews

Amit Friedman - Unconditional Love
by Riccardo Talamazzi, Off Topic Magazine (Italy)

I don't know the reason for the delay regarding the release of this new record by Amit Friedman , Unconditional Love.Finished recording in the summer of 2018, perhaps due to the pandemic hitch that also hit Israel hard, Friedman's third titular job is only now being released almost three years after its completion. Rightly celebrated in his homeland, less known beyond the borders, Friedman leads his sax, especially the tenor, towards a brilliant... read more

Matt Jorgensen +451 - Hope
by Peter Monaghan, Earshot Jazz

This marvelous quartet has just been named the 2003 Acoustic Jazz Group of the year in the Ear-shot Jazz Golden Ear Awards, and it's clear on this disc why they were accorded that popular vote. Jorgensen's 451 is as polished a band as any that we've heard in Seattle in quite some time. It exhibits that poised tension between discipline and abandonment that makes for great live gigs. The musicianship of its mem-bers is outstanding. And it... read more

Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra - Groove Junkies
by Scott Yanow, LA Jazz Scene

In the liner notes to Groove Junkies by Harry Schnipper of Blues Alley Jazz, the music of arranger-composer Ben Patterson is accurately described as "hard-driving, bone-chilling, electrified funk." While there is no shortage of contemporary funk recordings, 13-horn 17-piece ensembles that perform in this style are not exactly common.

The Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra, which is based in Washington DC, plays five originals by its leader and... read more

Daniel Barry - Music Of The Spheres
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Barry takes the opposite tack of Tsatsanis and Lenti by composing for the future and his approach is novel. Barry recorded Music of the Spheres in a two-million gallon cistern found on the grounds of the Fort Warden State Park in Port Townsend, Washington. The empty cistern has a natural 45-minute reverberation time that surrounds and extends all sounds made not unlike depressing a piano's sustain pedal to the nth... read more

Kelly Harland - Long Ago And Far Away - Kelly Harland Sings Jerome Kern
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise, December 4, 2003

Vocalist Kelly Harland has been singing for a long, long time. I'm sure you've heard her, but I'm also sure - unless you're a music insider - that you don't know her.

Why? Because she's what is known as an "on-call" studio and backup vocalist. This Seattle-based artists is one of the many folks who make singing commercials and is hired by visiting "name" acts, to be part of background vocal groups that support the shows.

"Long Ago and Far... read more

Tom Collier - Alone in the Studio
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

4 1/2 STARS Percussionist Tom Collier has the solo touch. His previous recording, Tom Collier: Plays Haydn, Mozart, Telemann and Others (Origin, 2012) had the vibraphonist and educator making his way through a Baroque and classical recitals to great effect. Presently, Collier strolls through some originals and standards and not-so-standard standards making up this most inventive and clever collection of songs.

Alone in the... read more

Metropolitan Jazz Octet - The Bowie Project
by Neil Tesser, All About Jazz (Liner Notes)

In the words of David Bowie: "Changes."

The Metropolitan Jazz Octet's two previous albums teem with unadulterated jazz. Paul Marinaro is a hard-swinging, expressive baritone steeped in the Great American Songbook and the jazz tradition. So what in the galaxy are they doing with the music of pop legend—and onetime glam rocker, dancehall king, visual visionary, music man of multiple personae, and cultural icon—David Bowie?

Historians... read more

Charlie Ballantine - East by Midwest
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move

Charlie Ballantine is a guitarist whose instrumental finesse may well call to mind the delicate touch of Chet Atkins. In this album, he offers a jazz/picking blend, steeped in the lingering echoes of Wes Montgomery and Freddie Hubbard that still seem to float in the city's air. Since relocating to the East Coast a few years ago, the change in scenery, the new collaborators, and the vibrant atmosphere have infused his music with a fresh dynamic;... read more

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