Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Nanami Haruta - The Vibe
by Paul Abella, WDCB, Chicago
In a word, wow. Trombonist Nanami Haruta wastes no time in knocking one right out of the park with her debut album, The Vibe. Mentored by Michael Dease out of Michigan State University, he joins her on the album, on trombone and bari sax. The rhythm section on The Vibe is enviable, featuring Xavier Davis on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass and Ulysses Owens, Jr behind the drums. Haruta's a talented composer as well, contributing two lovely ballads... read more
Benjamin Boone - The Poets Are Gathering
by Skip Heller, All About Jazz
BEST OF 2020 Saxophonist Benjamin Boone's The Poets Are Gathering (Origin) was maybe the most interesting new disc this year. Ever since Ken Nordine crossed swords with Chico Hamilton sideman Fred Katz to spawn the long-loved Word Jazz albums, the two disciplines have had mutual respect but an uneasy coexistence. Boone thrives on the uneasy, and here he is joined by eleven of the finest Central/Northern California poets for a... read more
Dana Hall - Into the Light
by Aaron Cohen, Downbeat, April 2010
When Dana Hall talks about global connections or musical nuances, his words convey a quiet authority. The drummer's background - which embraced equally intense levels of science and technology alongside music and scholarship - has provided him with a unique perspective on those large and small concepts. And Hall's recent CD debut as a quintet leader, Into The Light (Origin), shows how he blends those disparate ideas.
Today, Hall is... read more
Scenes - Along the Way
by Rick Holland, Jazz Radio 247
Origin has released a beautiful disc featuring a guitar-led rhythm section, featuring John Stowell. He's accompanied by John Bishop and Jeff Johnson. This disc features 10 new originals by John Stowell and Jeff Johnson. They're explorative originals, which expand a players harmonic and rhythmic sensibilities. The group plays them passionately and creatively.
Scenes was a group that originally started as a quartet. Tenor saxophonist Rick... read more
Big Neighborhood - 11:11
by Dick Crockett, Bopndicks 20 Picks Nov 2006
A quartet of alto saxophone, guitar, bass and drum. Simple yet more complex for this band plays big. Chris Fagan 's saxophone sings like a Paul Desmond in Toronto, a clear fall evening on lake Ontario. Then there's Dave White's acoustic guitar riffs like Charlie Christian in odd characters as the rhythmic double times a pace or two in contrapuntal harmony with a groove Messianic! There's proportional jamming as in the "The Lake," an R&B... read more
José Luiz Martins - Odyssey Mixtape
by John Ephland, DownBeat
Full of spice, bristling with energy, Odyssey Mixtape plays like a party album, engaging anyone inclined who has an urge to move, if not dance. Produced by pianist/keyboard ist/composeer José Luiz Martins and flutist/vocalist Alex Hamburger, the music pops along from track to track. Its Brazilian harmonies and rhythms spread across an eclectic mix of music styles. Very radio-friendly, these seven tunes are easy on the ears with well-played... read more
Sarah Partridge - Bright Lights and Promises: Redefining Janis Ian
by Robert Rusch, Cadence
SARAH PARTRIDGE's BRIGHT LIGHTS & PROMISES [Origin Records 82732] is subtitled Redefining Janis Ian. Ian made her mark early in her career as a teenager in the mid 1960s. By the mid-1970s she was on the map with her anthem "At Seventeen", a cutting commentary on the standards of beauty and adolescent cruelty (and this was pre-social media!). Recorded 8/18&19/16, the 13 Ian tunes [65:12] here are handled well by Partridge and cohorts [Allen... read more
Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra - Refractions
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The twenty-four piece Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra boasts a full roster of instrumentation, including double reeds and French horns, for a sound that is somewhat rare in the professional jazz world, but familiar to anyone guiding a child through a high school music program with a "concert band." Lush and multi-layered, Refractions contains a full range of color and emotion.
The word "symphonic" comes to mind with so many deftly-woven... read more
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