Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Laurie Antonioli - Songs of Shadow, Songs of Light
by Doug Boynton, Girl Singers.org
Subtitled "The Music of Joni Mitchell," right out of the box, you know it's going to be a little bit of a tightrope act. It's not like "The Music of Cole Porter," or "Johnny Mercer;" songs that have been done a bazillion times, and no one (in my demographic, anyway) can remember exactly who did the original.
On these, there's no doubt. Joni Mitchell did the original. And mostly (in my demographic, anyway), we remember how... read more
Xose Miguélez - Contradictio
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The Spain native Xose Miguélez brings his inimitable saxophone playing to this worldly listen, where Jean-Michel Pilc, Marcos Cavaleiro and Carlos Barretto are along for the occasion.
"Meniña" starts the listen with a traditional Galician song, where Barretto's precisely plucked double bass and Miguélez's soulful sax help cultivate a very cultured jazz setting, and "You And The Night And The Music" follows with frisky drumming from... read more
Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Group - Live In Seattle
by Tom Morgan, Percussive Notes, December 2006
Live in Seattle was recorded in 2005 at the Ballard Jazz Festival and contains an eclectic mix of styles from fusion to hard swinging jazz to James Taylor. Vibist Joe Locke and pianist Geoffrey Keezer are joined by bassist Mike Pope and drummer Terreon Gully.
The group comes out of the shoot burning with Locke's "Van Gogh by Numbers," which is a fusion tune with a head that alternates between 4/4 and 7/8. The highly orchestrated beginning... read more
Scott Neumann Neu3 Trio - Blessed
by Ken Micallef, Downbeat Magazine
**** (4-stars)
Scott Neumann's sophomore solo release is not a blowing but a simmering session. His exceptional trio, with saxophonist Michael Blake and bassist Mark Helias, creates a furnace of ideas where creativity is inspired, swing incessant, and the performances exhilarating. The trio revels in a simpatico exchange. Precise movements and improvisations erupt from a collective identity where listening may be the greatest skill of all.... read more
Bobby Broom - My Shining Hour
by Brent Black, Critical Jazz
My Shining Hour is far more than one more artist taking the easy way out by banging out a selection of tunes from the Great American Songbook. Bobby Broom doesn't play covers, he reinvents and meticulously manipulates melodies to find a new way of looking at some time tested classics. To call some of these selections "eclectic" would be the equivalent of beating the proverbial harmonic dead horse. To call some of these selections... read more
Peter Erskine & the JAM Music Lab All-Stars - Bernstein in Vienna
by Gary Walker, WBGO Feature (NYC)
Leonard Bernstein created with a palette with colors from jazz, blues and popular music, shaping a classical sound that attracted fans from around the world. The Vienna-based Jam Music Lab All-Stars, under the direction of pianist Danny Grissett, and special guest, drummer Peter Erskine, saluted Bernstein in performance, captured here. It's a new Bernstein shine, with the collective working through "Somewhere," "Lonely Town," "Cool" and more,... read more
Scenes - Along the Way
by Richard Kamins, Courant.com
The trio of John Stowell (guitar), Jeff Johnson (acoustic bass) and John Bishop (drums), collectively known as Scenes, takes its name from a 2001 recording they made with saxophonist Rick Mandyck for Seattle's Origin label. "Along The Way" is their first release but it sounds like they've worked together for years.
Stowell, a fixture on the Northwest Creative music scene since the 1970s, is a fluid player who, like Monaco and Shepik... read more
Geof Bradfield - Urban Nomad
by John Barron, All About Jazz.com
On Urban Nomad, Chicago saxophonist Geof Bradfield and his powerhouse quartet perform with tremendous spirit, maintaining a momentum that is vibrant and infectious. Bradfield's inventive, yet tightly-focused tenor and soprano playing is propelled by pianist Ron Perrillo, drummer George Fludas and bassist Clark Sommers, soaring through a mostly original set of charged-up progressive jazz.
Bradfield's compositions are full of shifting time... read more
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