Origin Records Reviews

Greta Matassa - Portrait
by Paul de Barros, Seattle Times

Album releases by Greta Matassa and Kelley Johnson show two Seattle jazz singers at the top of their game

Two artists indelibly linked to Tula's Restaurant & Jazz Club, which is closing at the end of this month, are Seattle's best female jazz singers — Greta Matassa and Kelley Johnson — who both celebrated the release of new albums at the club this summer. Where they will debut their next albums is an open question, but in... read more

Dana Hall - Into the Light
by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

It isn't often that a recording debut stands as one of the strongest CDs of the year, but that's unmistakably the case with Chicago drummer Dana Hall's newly released "Into the Light" (Origin Records).

Hall, who also teaches at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has appeared prolifically on CDs of other artists, but he makes his boldest statement to date in his recording bow as bandleader. Fronting an all-star quintet, the... read more

Paul Ricci - The Path
by Dee Dee McNeil, Musical Memoirs

This is funk and fusion at its best. All the recorded music is composed by guitarist and band leader, Paul Ricci. As he states in the album liner notes:

"I collected my experiences and influences ...together in these compositions, in search of a personal common thread. New York has a mysterious way of presenting me with the cultural confluence of jazz, rock, blues, hard bop, organ trios, R&B, pop, Rhumba, Samba, varied Caribbean and... read more

Human Spirit - Dialogue
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record

Three of the prime movers of the Origin label sound join forces with two pals for a couple of live dates in Seattle at a local jazz fest that finds them dishing up a nu version of west coast cool for traveling through the new millennium Playing to a polite, sold out crowd that is there for the show, the crew delights and holds the audience in the palm of their hands. Sounding very much like one of those ?you should have been there ? nights, this... read more

Dee Daniels - Intimate Conversations
by George W. Harris, Cadence

Do you want to hear what a vocalist is supposed to sound like? Give this lady a try! Daughter of a minister, Dee Daniels gives a Spirit filled album where she is teamed with (mostly) one other musician on a Decalogue of tunes, ranging from Depression era Tin Pan Alley to R&B with some Baby Boomer tunes thrown in for a complete meghilla of cozy conversations. She pairs up with some of the best: Cyrus Chestnut/p, himself a worship leader at his... read more

Clay Giberson - Mirador
by Lee Prosser, Jazz Review

Recorded October 18, 2000 at Dead Aunt Thelma's recording studio in Portland, Oregon, MIRADOR introduces the music and piano work of composer Dave Giberson. A highly gifted pianist, I was reminded at times of the late jazz pianist great, Bill Evans. Dave Giberson has a nice, tight, melodic sound that is uniquely his own, and he demonstrates it on this CD.

Giberson is accompanied by Dave Captein on bass and Chris Lee on drums, excellent jazz... read more

Martin Budde - Back Burner
by Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther, Jazz'halo (Belgium)

Let's read what Origin Records has to say about Martin Budde: "... Seattle guitarist Martin Budde steers his trio through a collection of mostly original compositions on his f'rst Origin recording. Thoroughly rooted in the fluid, modern jazz guitar sounds of the last 50 years, ... Drummer Xavier Lecouturier and bassist Ben Feldman are his longtime collaborators in the more densely eclectic modern jazz sextet Meridian Odyssey, and here they... read more

Christopher Icasiano - Provinces
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

Christopher Icasiano plays (deep breath) drums, percussion , capi shells, synthesizers and keyboards on this collection of eight songs in two suites. The first suite, "Provinces" includes snappy snares with a dash of synth, leading to thick textures and sounds of space modules before drums flail guiding into hints of Tomita. Things close with a high hat mixing with more noodles than a soup kitchen. The "Taho" includes electronic percussion,... read more

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