Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra - The Endless Search
by George Fendel, Oregon Jazz Scene
Please don't refer to them as a big band. About five minutes with this recording, and you'll agree that this is a jazz orchestra. Boasting many of Seattle's top-flight jazz cats, the SRJO presents here the recorded debut of Jimmy Heath's remarkable new suite in three movements, "The Endless Search." Commissioned and first performed by the SRJO in 2006, sax legend Heath is on hand to personally provide vigorous solo work. These charts are... read more
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Nick's Picks, Primetime A & E, May 2007
As an accomplished New York sideman for many years, pianist Grant bounced around the scene, and the country, releasing small group CDs along the way for Verve and the defunct 32 Jazz labels. After a self-imposed sabbatical, Grant returns with Truth and Reconciliation, a well-recorded CD of sturdy originals and covers that enlist top-flight players like drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci and guitarist Bill Frisell. Grant skillfully... read more
EEA - The Dark
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
EEA are a trio of jazz faculty members at the University of Nevada, Reno, consisting of saxophonist Peter Epstein, trumpeter Larry Engstrom, and pianist David Ake. The lack of additional rhythm instruments gives the players both plenty of freedom and responsibility, which they handle well. The trio's three group improvisations stand out with potent interplay, with the first sounding as if it could be used as a film soundtrack. Ake composed six... read more
Michael Bisio & Timothy Hill - Inside Voice / Outside Voice
by Grego Applegate Edwards, Applegate Blog
As we play out our lives in real time we trace the unfolding trajectory of the musical artists we gladly follow, so that each new album for example is not set in stone but plays upon the possibilities made available to the musical artist at any given point. In the case of bassist-bandleader Michael Bisio the new one is rather unexpected and in no way a kind of safe haven but rather a new set of risks entailed in a duet recording with... read more
Tom Collier - Mallet Jazz
by Ed Trefzger, JazzWeek
EDITOR'S PICK
It appears this is the year of the revitalization of the B3 and the vibes. Tom has enlisted the help of pianist Don Grusin and drummer John Bishop on a couple of tracks for this lively and spirited recording. If you have been looking for a recording that leans towards a younger audience - without losing your older one - you've found... read more
Jessica Williams - Billy's Theme: A Tribute to Dr. Billy Taylor
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz.com
One great pianist deserves another. Billy Taylor, who needs no introduction to jazz fans around the world, is the honoree (tributary?) in this solo recital by longtime friend and ardent admirer Jessica Williams, who may need an introduction to some but can easily hold her own against the most accomplished pianists one cares to name.
As she has shown on many occasions (and recordings), Williams is a virtuoso with either hand or both. Her agile... read more
Hans Teuber & Jeff Johnson - Deuce
by Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
Three thousand miles across the US, saxophonist and flutist Hans Teuber and bassist Jeff Johnson have been partners for as long Turner and Iverson have collaborated in New York. Teuber has been on all of Johnson's albums for their hometown Seattle label, Origin. This time, though, there's a difference; it's just the two of them. Their piece "Let's Pretend," composed—that is, improvised—in performance demonstrates how a "rhythm" instrument... read more
Dan Heck - Compositionality
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Though he'd left Seattle (and his earlier band, Bebop & Destruction) a few years prior, guitarist Dan Heck pulled some Seattle affiliates down to Florida for a recording session on Compositionality, a collection of originals spanning a range of ideas from bossa nova to modern drum-centric workouts. The album opens with a bumpy groove in a '60s vein that includes an electric bass solo courtesy of Rick Doll bubbly enough to have made Jaco... read more
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