Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Hal Galper Trio - Airegin Revisited
by Bob Bernotas, Just Jazz Newsletter
?Rubato? is the concept. ?Playing without intention? is how they achieve it. Pianist Hal Galper and his colleagues, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, collectively and intuitively stretch time, expand harmony, and invent melody on what Galper aptly describes as a journey with no road map and no destination. Don?t ask any questions, don?t expect any answers. Just get on and enjoy the... read more
Kelly Sill / Jim McNeely / Joel Spencer - Boneyard
by Tom Conrad, JazzTimes
Jim McNeely is best known as a composer-arranger for large jazz bands. On Boneyard, he applies the mindset of a big-band arranger to the minimalist format of the piano trio. He also gets space (rare in his discography) to display his considerable prowess as a fleet, sophisticated, percussively ornate pianist.
McNeely is able to approach this recording architecturally because he is so familiar with its building blocks. McNeely, bassist... read more
Brent Jensen with The Acoustic Jazz Quartet - The Sound of A Dry Martini
by Michael Bettine, CD Review.com
Review: The title of this CD paraphrases what the late saxophonist Paul Desmond said he wanted to sound like. Idaho based Brent Jensen creates not so much a tribute album (which seem to be in vogue these days) as he does an album that captures the same essence that Desmond had.
Neither a hip bopper, nor a cool West Coaster, Desmond often seems to fall between the cracks of American jazz history. Best known for his long association with... read more
Kelly Brand Nextet - The Door
by Tim Gault, Chicago Jazz.com
Ding Dong. The ring of a doorbell starts the latest offering from Chicago pianist Kelly Brand. This noted Chicago mainstay here provides an invitation for us to hear a set of mostly new compositions from her pen. A couple of other cuts on the CD also employ some sort of sound effects to briefly frame the mood of these tunes. So we are offered a clever (but thankfully not kitschy) concept to draw us initially across the threshold. Once you enter,... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - Songs My Mom Liked
by Anna Steegmann, The New York City Jazz Record
Dr. Anthony Branker (who turns 66 this month) is a man of many talents. He started as a trumpeter with the Spirit of Life Ensemble and took new musical paths after brain surgery for arteriovenous malformation. In the jazz world, he is highly regarded as a composer and arranger, a leader of three jazz ensembles, and an educator who has taught jazz studies at Princeton University for 27 years.
Songs My Mom Liked, his tenth album with Origin and... read more
Joel Miller - Swim
by Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
In his sixth album, his first for Origin, Montreal tenor saxophonist Joel Miller again makes music that melds intricacy and accessibility. This time out, he is aided greatly by pianist Geoffrey Keezer, asJoel Miller Swim virtuosic as Miller in bringing relaxation to the complex lines in many of the leader's compositions. The young veteran bassist Fraser Hollins and drummer Greg Ritchie provide Miller and Keezer strength and flexibility... read more
Kobie Watkins Grouptet - Movement
by Michael Ferber, Michael's Jazz Blog
Drummer Kobie Watkins, born and raised in Chicago, has toured and recorded with a number of well-known musicians like Sonny Rollins, Bobby Broom (he plays on the three Bobby Broom albums which I have in my collection), Kurt Elling, Branford Marsalis and Joe Lovano. He presents here his first album with his Grouptet.
The Kobie Watkins Grouptet includes:
Kobie Watkins - drums
Justin Nielsen - piano
Ryan Nielsen - trumpet
Jonathan... read more
Hal Galper - O's Time
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
50 years in, Galper has done an enviable job of keeping jazz piano trio fresh, creative and insightful. Even when playing a chestnut, it's not about playing pretty for the people, it's about making them sit up and listen, and he does it without hitting you over the head. Successfully taking bop into the new century, Galper is on the money throughout with restless creativity that draws you in and keeps you there. Well done... read more
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