Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John Stowell and Dave Liebman - Blue Rose
by Philip Booth, Jazziz
On the title track to Blue Rose, the first full-length collaboration between saxophonist Dave Liebman and guitarist John Stowell, Liebman supplies the lilting melody of the ballad Duke Ellington wrote for Rosemary Clooney. Meanwhile, Lieb's longtime friend and associate offers warmly hued chords and fills. The reedman's full-throated tone on soprano is at once earthy and sublime. Hie and Stowell connect intuitively. Sometimes they move... read more
Thomas Marriott - Constraints & Liberations
by Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
Seattle trumpeter-composer Thomas Marriott is joined by tenor saxophonist Hans Teuber, pianist Gary Versace, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop on this excellent release, his fifth for Origin. From the urgent free-leaning opener, "Diagram," which seems to use Miles Davis' "E.S.P." as a jumping off point, to the swinging title track, the moody meditative "Clues" and the atmospheric rubato closer, "Treadstone 71." Marriott and company... read more
Jeff Johnson - Tall Stranger
by Doug Simpsom, Audiophile Audition
Seattle's jazz scene is not well known for music that strays from a melodically mainstream focus. Emerald city bassist Jeff Johnson, though, has been producing challenging music that courses from avant-garde to stripped-down European-tinted free jazz, and his fourth album, Tall Stranger, finds the composer/player once again presenting liberating, sparse forms that stress trio improvisation.
Johnson is expertly abetted by friend and... read more
Kelly Sill / Jim McNeely / Joel Spencer - Boneyard
by Butch Berman, Berman Music Foundation.org
I was an only child born in Peoria, Ill., just a couple of stones' throw to Chicago, before we moved to Lincoln when I was one year old. My dad worked for my mom's family, selling jewelry and buying clothes for their store. He'd go to the market in New York semi-annually and fly to meet my mother and me in Chicago for our annual summer vacation. She and I would take the train to rendezvous there. When I was 10 and very much into baseball, they... read more
Matt Jorgensen - Tattooed by Passion: Music inspired by the paintings of Dale Chisman
by Kyle O'Brien, Jazz Society of Oregon
The title alone is enough to give this one a spin. On closer look and listen, drummer Jorgensen's disc is a musical exploration of the paintings of Dale Chisman. The title is taken from Chisman's abstract impression of an upside down bass viol. The accompanying tune doesn't have the immediate impact as the painting, but the light tune does evoke a sense of wonder, as if you're looking at the picture, not a part of it. Trumpeter Thomas Marriott... read more
Marlene Rosenberg - MLK Convergence
by Georges Tonla Briquet, JazzHalo (Belgium)
The CD title is not only a direct reference to Martin Luther King but also to the mixed cultural background of the group members. So a statement like jazz in the sixties. The effect may not be as extreme as that of her great examples from that period, due to the solid composition of her own compositions, the two well-chosen covers from Stevie Wonder ('Visions', 'Loves In Need Of Love Today') and Rosenberg does not miss their goal in the detailed... read more
Hal Galper - E Pluribus Unum - Live in Seattle
by Bret Saunders, The Denver Post
I hadn't thought of Hal Galper in a long time.
There were a couple of records showcasing his flawless piano technique that I had discovered at my college radio station in the '80s. I remembered that he was touring with saxophonist Phil Woods for a while. But for whatever reasons, I hadn't heard his music, other than an occasional cut on the radio, for a couple of decades.
It turns out that Galper, a Bostonian and respected educator,... read more
Doug Miller - Regeneration
by Peter Monaghan, Earshot Jazz
Here's what I'd do: Get your family members, relatives, and friends to write up and send you their lists of What I Want for the Holidays.Tear the lists up; delete the text messages or emails; buy each person one of these new or recent Northwest jazz albums instead.
In this era of fiscal restraint, one CD per person is gift enough. Let's get real.
Fortunately outstanding disks abound this year, thanks to the combined talents of some of the... read more
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