Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
PJ Newman - The Hand Of Dog
by Craig Matsumoto, KZSU
Jazzy sax solos over odd synth soundscapes. Newman starts with sampled sounds and synth washes, overlaying a concretely jazzy soloist -- often Jessica Lurie, a saxophonist with an adventurous but accessible style (check out her pop/fusion band, Living Daylights). A mix of thoughtfulness and fun jamming.
This doesn't apply to Track 5 (see below).
1- Slow, pretty sax tones
2- Bright sax wanderings over synthy soundscape. Cool hand drums... read more
Alon Farber Hagiga - Reflecting On Freedom
by Mattie Poels, Music Frames (Netherlands)
The band Hagiga plays a very varied repertoire. Swing, jazz, funk and even Moroccan-oriented music are featured. Reflecting on Freedom has therefore become a varied album. Hagiga plays tight and skilfully: we hear three wind players and a rhythm section in beautiful themes, with excellent solos by all musicians. Double tempo, counter rhythms, virtuosity; it all sounds very organic. The album opens with Israeli Song. A sublime piece that... read more
Paul Marinaro - Mood Ellington
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
4-STARS In an era when most jazz vocalists seem to chase innovation through phrasing acrobatics or pop-inflected crossovers, Paul Marinaro's new double album feels almost radical in its restraint. The Chicago baritone approaches Duke Ellington's canon not as a museum piece but as a living, breathing songbook, reimagined through thirteen of today's leading arrangers, yet rendered with a reverence that evokes the golden age of the American... read more
Piet Verbist Zygomatik - Cattitude
by Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther, JazzHalo (Belgium)
Die vorliegende CD enthält acht Eigenkompositionen des in Antwerpen beheimateten Kontrabassisten Piet Verbist. Zu seiner Band zählen unter anderem der Saxofonist Jeroen van Herzeele, der gemeinsam mit Massot und Blondiau auch in Maäk zu hören ist. Neben van Herzelle am Tenor- und Sopransaxofon ist noch ein weiterer Saxofonist in der Band, der Baritonsaxofonist Vincent Brijs. An Fender Rhodes und an der Wurlitzer hören wir Bram Weijters und... read more
Shawn Purcell - Oblivity
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
4 1/2 STARS
For nearly two decades, guitarist and composer Shawn Purcell served in military music ensembles, an experience that almost certainly shaped his meticulous sense of orchestration and his instinct for placing instruments in the precise order and hierarchy needed to evoke a particular mood. In Purcell's hands, it is always about beauty and elegance: music that is at once intricate and painstakingly crafted, where the... read more
Kelly Brand Nextet - The Door
by Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes, May 2008
The Nextet (nice neologism) is first an outlet for the compositions and arrangements of Kelly Brand, and second a showcase for some of Chicago's best straightahead jazz players: tenor saxophonist Geof Bradfield, trumpeter Art Davis, bassist Kelly Sill (Brand's husband) and drummer Jon Deitemyer. Brand writes polished melodies and subtle harmonies and clever charts that reflect her upbeat attitude toward life. This positive energy gives The Door... read more
Mark Taylor - Spectre
by Andrew Gilbert, Seattle Times
By taking his time and letting his music develop at its own pace, Mark Taylor has become one of the essential players on the Seattle jazz scene.
While steadily pursuing his own musical vision, the alto saxophonist has toiled fruitfully as a sideman, contributing to more than half a dozen excellent ensembles. From long-running institutions like the Jim Knapp Orchestra (which plays the first Monday of every month at the Seattle Drum School) to... read more
Hadley Caliman - Gratitude
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise, June 5th, 2008
If you've never heard of tenor sax player Hadley Caliman, you're forgiven; I lived and worked in Los Angeles for more than 35 years, and I didn't encounter him....and that's where he made his name from the 1950s through the '70s.
As soon as he graduated from high school, he began to play in numerous jazz clubs located along Central Avenue. His idol was Dexter Gordon, with whom he studied, and Caliman played so much like him that he got the... read more
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