Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Alain Mallet - Mutt Slang II: A Wake of Sorrows Engulfed in Rage
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
The art of jazz would seem to be a mystery to most, and at the same time, a language understood by many. In the entirety of its history, it has served as a central location for idiomatic change, a virtual jumping off point for explorative ventures into both new and traditional world forms. The wide lens of the music of pianist/composer Alain Mallet mirrors in a way, the large embrace of all humankind necessary globally to build a meaningful... read more
Peter Epstein and Idée Fixe - Abstract Realism
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Idee Fixe's method to music creation is a particularly improvised route. Rather than using composed sets, they improvise the backbone of jazz collectively. However, they go further -- they had no prior discussions, no (or rare) starting points from which to build. They simply start exploring ideas together while recording, leading to a particularly free format of jazz. The pieces on Abstract Realism tend to start out sparse, with a tone or two... read more
Lower Monumental - Mayday Session
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
Two-thirds of the group formerly known as Flatland return for a new debut with this one, a recording of a live improv session on one of Seattle's better avant-garde radio stations. The music is relatively similar to that of Flatland, with the notable removal of a bass and addition of a sax, courtesy of Saul Cline, a session player occasionally with Matt Jorgensen + 451. The atmosphere is particularly spacey here, but generally aims for the... read more
Hadley Caliman | Pete Christlieb - Reunion
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
Hadley Caliman recorded a few albums in the 1970s then didn't record as a leader for several decades until after retiring from his teaching job, then came a series of CDs issued by Origin, of which this is the third. This reunion with fellow tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb marks their first opportunity to play together since the mid-1960s, aside from one brief meeting in the forty plus year stretch leading up to this record date. Many two... read more
Jay Thomas with the Oliver Groenewald Newnet - I Always Knew
by Tara Peters, Earshot Jazz
Like stones polished by the sea, some ideas take time to wash ashore. The thought of a ballads project had been riding the waves of Jay Thomas' brain for years. A melodic and introspective multi-instrumentalist, Thomas has always been drawn to the great balladeers of jazz. It wasn't until collaborating with fellow trumpeter and arranger, Oliver Groenewald, that the idea caught its break. I Always Knew is the glistening gem—a dazzling collage... read more
Richard Cole - Shade
by Forrest Dylan Bryant, JazzTimes, May 2008
Saxophonist Richard Cole's third disc as a leader takes a patchwork approach, varying hard edged bop romps with sunny standards and cool contemporary fusion. The personnel is equally varied, as over a dozen of Seattle's better jazz players drift in and out, casting Cole's soulful tenor and quicksilver soprano in ever-changing light. Randy Brecker adds star power and some tasty trumpet to four tracks, but the most effective setting is an... read more
Big Neighborhood - Neighbors
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
This sax/bass/guitar/drums quartet struck me on first listen as a group that Steely Dan might hire for a recording session. The sound is crisp and clean, modern, with sharp lines and well-defined, ear-grabbing tangents. And democratic, as opposed to a sax-in-front-of-a-rhythm section affair. Then I heard some Pat Metheny shadings when guitarist David White brings the guitar synthesizer into the mix; but the sound is friskier than Metheny's, the... read more
Richard Sussman - Live at Sweet Rhythm
by Ken Watkins, 100 Greatest Jazz Albums
Back in 1978 Richard Sussman led a quintet that produced the much-admired album 'Free Fall'. Twenty-five years later the group reformed at the Sweet Rhythm for this live performance. The band - Richard Sussman (piano), Tom Harrell (trumpet), Jerry Bergonzi (tenor sax), Mike Richmond (bass), Jeff Williams (drums) - was carefully put together, as Richard Sussman explains:
'The first jazz that really turned me on was the quintet and sextet... read more
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