Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Randy Halberstadt - Flash Point
by Don Lerman, Cadence
Pianist Halberstadt, a prominent musician in the Pacific Northwest Jazz scene and a Jazz professor at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, has previously recorded CDs which feature his writing (compositions or arrangements) for Jazz trio (Inner Voice, 1991 on Pony Boy, Parallel Tracks, 2004 on Origin) and for vocalists (Clockwork, 1996 on Pony Boy). His current release again features his writing, this time for Jazz... read more
Florian Hoefner - Coldwater Stories
by GÁSPÁR KÁROLY, JazzMa (Hungary)
"The cold shower that warms the heart"
In a "modest" way, I quote from a recent report: the universe of jazz is unknowable! We can meet again and again with the recordings of unknown artists, and we can run into music that we immediately fall in love with. I feel like I'm in such a galaxy now, in connection with the new piano album by the pianist Florian Hoefner, "Coldwater Stories." I started to listen to the puppet totally "Hoefner's". As I... read more
Greta Matassa - Portrait
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
4-STARS Greta Matassa has made choices in her career that have sacrificed some visibility in exchange for lifestyle. Yet the Seattle based vocal artist has established herself firmly as one of America's finest singers, and one of the best that jazz has to offer in the new century. To this point, the jazz public at large had not heard from Matassa in 5 years, since her last solo release for Resonance Records, "I Wanna Be Loved"... read more
Dave Hanson - Blues Sky
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
If you are drawn to albums that immediately immerse you in a refined, poetic atmosphere, this one is for you. It stems from a particularly captivating artistic approach, during his week-long residency at the Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver in 2024, Dave Hanson took the opportunity to highlight both his piano playing and his arrangements for a small ensemble. The result is this quartet recording, his first in such a format. Joined by saxophonist Wil... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - Songs My Mom Liked
by Stephen Graham, Marlbank (UK)
We've long appreciated the work of the composer Anthony Branker going back over a decade to Uppity on the same issuing label here Origin - and our admiration grows still more. Themed as a celebration of and dedication to the composer's mother who is in her late eighties and who is suffering from dementia, Branker knows how much his music lifts his mother and revisits some of his earlier work in her honour.
It's a really good band that Branker... read more
Sam Yahel - Truth And Beauty
by Ric Bang, Davis Enterprise, March 6, 2008
This trio utilizes a Hammond B3 organ (Sam Yahel), a tenor sax (Joshua Redman) and drums (Brian Blade). All are superior musicians.
Six of the nine tracks were written and arranged by Sam; the rest include a bop standard by Ornette Coleman, a tune by Paul Simon and another by Gilberto Gil/Joao Donato.
The tunes range from simple to complex, and cover a spectrum of meters: from standard 4/4 to waltz, Latin-tinged and no regular beat at... read more
Chris Walden Big Band - Home Of My Heart
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
A young big band conductor. A rarity to be sure, but not necessarily an oxymoron. Chris Walden proves that in this album, a surprisingly versatile primer of the big band. Walden can use traditional techniques, with a soloist over the top of a soft backing of horns, as you'll hear in the Christopher Cross-penned "Rainy Day in Vancouver," as well as his own Film Noir series. He can invoke the spirit of Tadd Dameron's bop big bands, which you'll... read more
Deep Blue Organ Trio - Folk Music
by Rick Anderson, Notes, June 2008
The "organ trio" format is one of the most venerable and fiercely defended combo configurations in jazz. Organists are generally adamant that no bass is needed, and take pride in being able to provide running basslines themselves using the pedals of the Hammond B3 organ (the preferred instrument in this configuration) while playing melody and chordal accompaniment on the manuals?and soloing, of course. This trio, comprised of organist Chris... read more
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