Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Bobby Broom - Upper West Side Story
by George Colligan, Jazz Truth
I am constantly being made aware of the major holes in my knowledge: I'm pretty ignorant about opera, I haven't seen "Predator", and I couldn't explain the Bosnian War if you offered me a million dollars. And also I've decided that I'm not as up on the great jazz guitarists as I should be. I've only recently been digging Charlie Christian, and I saw Pat Martino live two summers ago. I know a little about Wes Montgomery, Metheny,... read more
Deep Blue Organ Trio - Wonderful!
by Brian Vincent Pace, The Pace Report
During the mid-1950's a musical innovator was making waves in jazz music by playing the organ. Jimmy Smith had sonically taken the Hammond B-3 and played with either a quartet or trio that changed and gave way for how blues, gospel, soul, and jazz music was played forever. Although the organ trio wasn't nothing new at the time, Jimmy took what heard from his influences like Wild Bill Davis, Count Basie, and Fats Waller and did some heavy... read more
Tom Collier - Mallet Jazz
by Harvey Siders, Jazz Times
Imagine a front line of vibes and marimba-truly mallets in wonderland. On Mallet Jazz (Origin), Tom Collier, percussion-studies director at the University of Washington, and tireless L.A. session man Emil Richards switch between both instruments, backed by bassist Dan Dean and, variously, pianists Mike Lang and Don Grusin and drummers Joe Porcaro and John Bishop. Brubeck alumnus clarinetist Bill Smith makes a guest appearance.
All the tunes... read more
Jessica Williams - With Love
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Successful musicians play "the truth." If you want to hear some truth there are certain artists you can seek out. Thelonious Monk couldn't play anything but the truth, right from the beginning. Pianist Jessica Williams came upon the truth - a purer form of it, at least - after experiencing "the fix of Illness" that she has discussed on her website and in interviews. Her first "fix" came about via her struggle with hypothyroidism, and... read more
Marcos Varela - San Ygnacio
by Raul da Gama, JazzdaGama
Marcos Varela is a name new to me, but a veritable household name among musical cognoscenti in New York and elsewhere in America. Moreover he is a bassist who emerges from the performance on San Ygnacio with great credit - imaginative, capricious, and lyrical, and with technique aplenty in reserve. At times on the disc he can be, let's say, literal at the ppp, but he is also someone who likes to exploit the full dynamic range of the double bass,... read more
Scenes - Variable Clouds: Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival
by Paul Rauch, Earshot Jazz
The Northwest trio/quartet Scenes dates back twelve years or so prior to their 2001 album debut. Over the years, the band became a trio featuring guitarist John Stowell, bassist Jeff Johnson, and drummer John Bishop due to injuries that forced tenor saxophonist Rick Mandyck into a fourteen-year hiatus from playing the saxophone.
Mandyck returned to the band's recordings and live performances in 2019, culminating in the Origin Records release... read more
Bobby Broom - Upper West Side Story
by Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News
Best 20 jazz albums (so far) of 2012
Bobby Broom: Upper West Side Story (Origin). This is a super-good CD from Broom, one of the most unpretentious (and best) jazz guitarists. He plays as if he's playing for his life: Nothing "clever" about it, though if you were to analyze his solos, they probably would turn out to be way more advanced than those of the clever guys. Broom -- who played for years with Sonny Rollins --... read more
Dan Dean - 251
by Doug Simpson, Audiophile Audition
Electric bassist Dan Dean might not be well known by general jazz fans but he has extensive credits as a sideman for Ernie Watts, Diane Schuur and others; has contributed to television and film music; and is a music educator and an author of instruction books. Other artists, however, regard him with respect and four accomplished keyboardists are involved in Dean's latest outing, 251, a series of bass/keyboard duets.
The album title alludes to... read more
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