Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
David Friesen Circle 3 Trio - Triple Exposure
by Ric Bang, Jazz Scan
I sometimes wonder what it must have been like, to be present at a concert given by one of the true masters. Well, I've never been lucky enough to catch bassist David Friesen in person, but - thanks to the magic of albums - I can listen to him any time I so desire. Anyone similarly lucky is blessed.
Friesen, now 74 years old, got his start with the ukulele at age 10; he graduated to the guitar six years later. At that point he was 19, during... read more
Hal Galper - E Pluribus Unum - Live in Seattle
by Brad Walseth, JazzChicago.net
Recorded live at the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle, E Pluribus Unum is a true triumph of piano trio jazz. Backed by veteran bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop, pianist Galper displays an incredible array of jaw-dropping keyboard skills as the trio performs four original compositions and three interesting covers. A stunning version of Irving Berlin's "How Deep is the Ocean" immediately catches attention with Galper's... read more
Laurie Antonioli and Richie Beirach - Varuna
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
This absorbing release - an album that's something of a sequel to The Duo Sessions (Nabel Records, 2005) - finds vocalist Laurie Antonioli and pianist Richie Beirach painting one divine musical tableau after another. There are vivid numbers that place Antonioli's seraphic vocals atop Beirach's dense and full-flavored chords, spare readings that allow fragility and the human condition to come to the surface, and standards shaped and molded to... read more
John McLean - Better Angels
by Dr. Mike, Radioio.com
Jazz guitarist John McLean's 25 year career has included work as a performer; composer; arranger; producer;bandleader,and educator. Since completing studies at The Berklee College of Music (B.M.) and the University of Miami (M.M.), Mclean has toured throughout the world performing and recording in a wide variety of musical contexts. He has appeared and recorded with such artists as Kurt Elling; Mose Allison; Dave Douglas; Dr. Lonnie Smith;... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Gary Fukushima, LA Weekly
The Martian Chronicles author Ray Bradbury said, "You fail only if you stop writing." Josh Nelson, who otherwise would be merely the world's best jazz piano accompanist, has written a lot of music as of late, continuing to unearth new worlds with his Discovery Project. His new album, Exploring Mars, is an homage to the Red Planet and its secrets. Let's hope what JPL finds up there is as fantastical and lyrical as this music, especially... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Michael Ambrosino, All About Jazz
Ma Rainey channeled music as her ritual of "singing to understand life." Congressman John Lewis leveraged music towards the "good trouble" he created fighting for civil rights in an uncivil land. Anthony Branker understands music as the calculus of his life's workâthe art of weaving words and sound into transcendent tapestries that explore the rich, complex, and nuanced aspects of intolerance, beauty, prejudice, spirituality, gender, equality... read more
Walt Blanton / Tony Branco / John Nasshan - Monuments
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
"Las Vegas isn't known for its jazz scene. That doesn't mean there aren't jazz players though. Origin dug up an excellent trumpeter at UNLV, and he brought a couple of musical comrades along. The trio plays through an entirely improvised session, covering a lot of musical ground. The album opens with a building trumpet line moving into a thumping piano/drum combination before the title track is over. The album develops in complexity as the trio... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Hobart Taylor, KUCI, Irvine, CA
A concept album that begins with a jazz bed under a reading from Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" and continues with a variety of styles to evoke mental images and imaginings of the "red planet". I like the offbeat ballad "How I Loved You on Mars", the Metheny like "Sojourner","Memnonia Quadrangle", a guitar meditation, and "Spirit" A reprise of the first cut without the Bradbury narration and with a fine trumpet... read more
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