Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Paul Marinaro - Mood Ellington
by Dee Dee McNeil, Musical Memoirs
One of Chicago's premiere jazz vocalists, Paul Marinaro, released his debut album in 2013 called "Without A Song." He followed up with "One Night in Chicago" in 2015. Then, two more releases in 2022 and 2023. His popularity spread across Illinois state like wildfire, soon crossing midwestern borders and becoming known to the country as perhaps one of a handful of respected male jazz singers who are active around the country.
On this... read more
Cuong Vu - Leaps of Faith
by Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
Like Smith's, Vu's is a pianoless quartet, but the instrumentation is rather different: his trumpet, two electric basses and drums. He begins with three standards, "Body and Soul," "All The Things You Are" and "My Funny Valentine," assuring listeners that he is about more than 21st century space music. It's a clever strategy. Vu, bassists Stomu Takeishi and Luke Bergman and drummer Ted Poor bring plenty of adventurism to the classic ballads, but... read more
John Moulder - Trinity
by David R. Adler, JazzTimes, December 2006
John Moulder of Chicago spent five years composing the material for his album Trinity. It's an epic three-part program inspired by religious belief, but it can be appreciated on any number of levels. The sound of the recording is tremendous, as are the performances - from such players as pianist Laurence Hobgood, saxophonist Brad Wheeler, trumpeter Tito Carrillo, reedist Paul McCandless, drummer Paul Wertico and others. Moulder spends... read more
Brad Goode - The Unknown
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4 1/2 - STARS One of the joys attached to reviewing music is the exposure to artists who otherwise might not show up on the radar. For every Pat Metheny there are a hundred highly-creative, lower-profile, hugely-talented guitarists plucking the strings; for every Brad Mehldau plying the trade ten dozen marvelous, relatively unknown pianists show up in the mailbox or the downloads. And for every Ralph Alessi out there blowing their horns,... read more
Purna Loka Ensemble - Metaraga
by Patrick Neas, The Kansas City Star
'A general communication of good will.' East and West unite in the album 'Metaraga'
"East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet," Rudyard Kipling wrote. But violinist Purnaprajna Bangere is out to prove that not only can they meet, they can become one.
Bangere, a mathematician and musician based in Lawrence, and the Purna Loka Ensemble have recently released "Metaraga," an album that uses... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Josef Woodard, DownBeat Magazine
WHILE THE TRAJECTORY OF A JAZZ MUSICIAN'S career often follows a somewhat logical arc, others take more complex and evolving paths. The latter has been the fate — mostly self-designed — of Dr. Anthony Branker, whose latest album is one of his most ambitious projects. What Place Can Be For Us? A Suite In Ten Movements is a sweeping opus with sociopolitical and poetic content woven into a musical tapestry — with his band Imagine — which... read more
Jaiman Crunk - Encounters
by Don Lerman, Cadence
Original music from guitarist/composer Jaiman Crunk is provided on Encounters, a large scale production recorded over nearly a two-year period. Crunk?s arrangements of his own music utilize both larger ensembles of over twenty musicians and smaller groups of from two to six performers. The larger group, made up of rhythm section plus brass, winds, and strings, is heard on ?Spuren,? ?Beneath a Leaf,? and ?Let Me Slip Into Your Dreams Tonight,?... read more
Mamutrio - Primal Existence
by Hessel Fluitman, Jazzflits (Belgium)
Piet Verbist as a bassist and leader has already presented an abundance of different work. Alto saxophonist Lieven Cambré is also not a newcomer, but drummer Jesse Dockx is a fresh voice on the scene. Their CD "Primal Existence" is a set of generally quiet jazz. Cambré looks for a thoughtful way through the possibilities these themes offer him. Verbist puts calm security as the basis for the game while Dockx makes the music flow with his... read more
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