Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Collier & Dean - Sleek Buick
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Wouldn't you like to be able to say Don Grusin, Alex Acuna and Ernie Watts were your old pals? Wouldn't you like to have Allen Vizzutti and Gary Herbig in your Rolodex? This vibe/bass duo who've been at it for 40 years, since they were teens, can and does. Hip, creative but still accessible, everybody here is playing like they are having a good time and by all bets, it seems like the spirit should be infectious. The vibe goes back to the... read more
John Gross / Billy Mintz - Beautiful You
by Tim Duroche, Willamette Week
Recorded live at the Tugboat Brewing Co., Beautiful You is a stunning document. Tenor saxophonist John Gross and New York-based drummer Billy Mintz-both veterans of the L.A. studios and big bands-are singular forces on their respective instruments. Truly a musician's musician, Gross is a coolly compelling player with an elevated sense of beauty and tension. From his opening notes on "Shmear"-reminiscent of Sonny Rollins' thematic stabs on "East... read more
Eric Jacobson - Heading Home
by Kevin Lynch, Milwaukee Shepherd Express
The album title suggests the cumulative memory of a journey that, once you hear this album, may have been epic. There's nothing grandiose about the Milwaukee trumpeter Jacobson's new album but his journey has inspired a whole album of original material and its strong stuff, one through eight. It opens with a burner that asserts not just the ability to play at a ridiculous speed, but as if they need to, given the title, "Survival."
By... read more
Jon Hamar - Hymn
by C. Michael Bailey, allaboutjazz.com
Track review of "Comes Love" - Origin Records bassist Jon Hamar effects an intimate trio with alto saxophonist Todd DelGiudice and pianist Geoffrey Keezer on Hymn. Heard most recently, prior to this date, on Richard Cole's Inner Mission (Origin Records, 2007), Hamar's Hymn is heavy on introspective yet muscular originals, as Hamar also chooses some sturdy standards upon which to improvise.
Hamar closes his disc with... read more
Ben Thomas Tango Project - Eternal Aporia
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The multi-instrumentalist and composer Ben Thomas has a lengthy and esteemed career in jazz sounds, and here he offers us another interest of his, tango music, where Eric Likkel, Steve Schermer, Gretchen Yanover, Brandon Vance and Jonathan Geer accompany him.
"Tangent 7" opens the listen with playful Thomas' vibraphone alongside Yanover's warm cello and Geer's strategic keys in the upbeat climate, and "Safeguards" follows with a calmer... read more
Chad McCullough - Dark Wood, Dark Water
by John Barron, All About Jazz.com
Seattle trumpeter/composer Chad McCullough makes his recording debut as a leader with Dark Wood, Dark Water, a diverse sextet outing featuring eight original compositions and a fresh take on the Lennon/McCartney classic "Blackbird." Along with the all-star rhythm section of pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Jeff Johnson and Drummer John Bishop, McCullough is joined by saxophonists Mark Taylor and Geof Bradfield.
McCullough proves a... read more
John Stowell / Michael Zilber - Basement Blues
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Here's a soothingly swinging album by a quartet lead by saxist Michael Zilber and guitarist John Stowell. Together with John Shifflett/b and Jason/dr they mix a pair of covers with their own well crafted and wide ranging originals.
Zilber's tenor is rich and full on the kinetic read of Bill Evans' "Very Early" while he gets warm and bluesy on the spacious "Violin Memory." He gets a bit fragmented with Stowell on the bopping interpretation... read more
Shawn Purcell - Oblivity
by Editor, Jazz2Love
As a composer, arranger, leader, and guitarist, Shawn Purcell original works layer instruments, forming a massive conglomerate that quakes, rattles, simmers, thrusts, roars, and reels on his 2025 project Oblivity. Performing alongside tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf, trombonist Ben Patterson, keyboardist Chris Ziemba, acoustic bass player Jeff Reed, drummer/percussionist Steve Fidyk, and vocalist Darden Purcell, his material jumps out at... read more
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