Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Benjamin Boone | Philip Levine - The Poetry of Jazz, Vol. 2
by James Read, UK Vibe
In the last years of his life Pulitzer prize-winning former US Poet Laureate and jazz aficionado Philip Levine undertook a series of collaborations with saxophonist and band leader Benjamin Boone. Last year saw the posthumous release on Origin Records of the first volume with an all-star lineup, 2019 offers this second installment.
Levine, the son of Jewish immigrant parents began his working life in the Detroit car industry in the 1930s as a... read more
Trio East - Best Bets
by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Trumpet, bass and drum trios are not all that common. The trumpeter must have strong endurance and enough imagination to keep the set interesting, even when the bassist and drummer are operating as equals. Recording as Trio East on Best Bets, Clay Jenkins shows that he is very much up to the role, coming up with consistently creative ideas without any hesitation. Bassist Jeff Campbell and drummer Rich Thompson are both very active (particularly... read more
Western Jazz Collective - Dark Journey: The Music of Andrew Rathbun
by George Kanzler, THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
If jazz is "the sound of surprise," then the septet (sometimes octet with guest percussion on some tracks) Western Jazz collective definitely delivers. Dark Journey (The Music of Andrew Rathbun) features multireed player Rathbun's kaleidoscopic compositions, works far from the conventional 32-bar or 12-bar tunes that dominate the jazz canon. his pieces unspool like skeins of multi-colored and textured threads that weave complex forms. Many of... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
Guitarist Broom, a long-time sideman to tenor titan Sonny Rollins, has released a series of exceptional trio recordings in which he explores, deconstructs and otherwise re-invents familiar pop material (2001's "Modern Man" and "Stand!" and 2007's "Song and Dance"). On this exemplary outing he investigates Monk's music, introducing some daring new arrangements while maintaining a reverence for the material.
"Evidence" opens with a grooving... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
August 10, 2009
Thelonious Monk seems to bring out the best in Bobby Broom.
For though jazz listeners know Broom for the buoyant, blues-based sensibility of his guitar work, he attains a new degree of fervor in the music of Monk.
Certainly he did over the weekend at the Green Mill Jazz Club, where he celebrated the release of his latest CD, "Bobby Broom Plays for Monk" (Origin Records). Even more than on the recording, the Chicago... read more
Robby Ameen - Live at the Poster Museum
by Mark Griffith, Modern Drummer
This is one of the best drummer led records that I have heard in a long while. We can tell that many of these musicians have been working together for a while in Conrad Herwig's Latin Side... band. However, under Ameen's leadership the Latin flavors get further twisted into a mélange of fusion, jazz, Latin, groove, and everything else; "Ameenmusic" if you will. And with Ameen's first live recording of his band, the music really jumps out of the... read more
Doug Beavers 9 - Two Shades of Nude
by Kyle O'Brien, Jazz Society of Oregon
Trombonist Beavers is known for being a member of the Mingus Big Band and also for his association with Eddie Palmieri. On his second disc as a leader and composer, Beavers leads eight other fine musicians through a disc of originals and tightly arranged covers. It's a small, modern jazz big band that tackles the music with verve. The title track shows off Beavers' fortitude as a composer. Its long note theme soars over a bubbling bop, and his... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by Ric Bang, JazzScan
Pianist/composer Jessica Williams is an elite musicians who is so well known that she needs little introductory or background verbiage to inflate reviews of her albums. Like many pianists, she began her studies with the classics and switched to jazz during her teens. Unlike most beginners, however ? who start out playing with unknowns ? Williams was associated with icons from the get-go; her first group was headed by Miles Davis drummer Philly... read more
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