Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Dan Dean - 251
by Brian Sorgel, JazzTimes
The Seattle counterpart of Steve Swallow, bassist Dan Dean is able to swing persuasively, comp authoritatively and improvise melodically on electric bass. O the series of intimate duets he is showcased walking, chording, and soloing freely in the company of four decidedly different keyboard stylists. With Larry Goldings on Hammond B3 organ, Dean explores Thelonious Monk's "In Walked Bud," james Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)," Jobim's "One... read more
Anthony Branker and Ascent - Together
by John Barron, The Jazz Word
Composer Anthony Branker continues his pattern of assembling a first-rate group of musicians to interpret his works on Together, his fourth release for Origin Records. This rhythmically charged set features saxophonists Mark Gross and Ralph Bowen, along with the rhythm section of Jonny King on Fender Rhodes, Kenny Davis on upright and electric bass and drummer Donald Edwards.
The music gets off to a brisk start with "Unity," a pulsating... read more
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra - Sacred Music of Duke Ellington
by Evan Dobbins, Jazz Radio 247
In the jazz world, recreating much of Ellington's repertoire can be a touchy subject. Some feel that what Ellington's bands created is so unique, that to revisit it would be akin to repainting the Sistine Chapel -- that some things are meant to stand alone, admired but untouched. When it comes to attempting to simply imitate these works, I would have to agree. On their recent release, Sacred Music of Duke Ellington, The Seattle Repertory Jazz... read more
Chris Walden Big Band & The St. John's Choir - Kurt Marti Suite
by Dick Crockett, Bop 'n DIck's 10 Picks
How can an orchestration based on the verse of Kurt Marti can be so majestic and powerful, especially when the lyrics are sung in German by the St Johns Choir, Hamburg? For someone who doesn't understand the language, there's something more universal here with voice and orchestration with Chris Walden and his arrangements. Walden draws upon his resources and a big band arranger, writer and leader to create this, the musical voice of Kurt Marti.... read more
Allison Adams Tucker - WANDERlust
by Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes
Californian Allison Adams Tucker is far from the first artist to parlay an album-length playlist into an around-the-world travelogue. But she comes by the concept more honestly than most, having circled the globe multiple times, performing everywhere from Tuscany to Tokyo, all the while developing credible fluency in six languages. Nor has her musical maturation been strictly linguistic. She began singing at age 5, in her native San Diego, and... read more
Matt Otto - Umbra
by Ed Sapiega, Jazz Views (UK)
Matt Otto, saxophonist and leader, is an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at Kansas University and an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers. Otto's website mattotto.org contains articles and lessons for and about music. Otto has spent over thirty years becoming a master improviser.
For this CD Otto uses Kansas City and St. Louis musicians. Some, like the bassist and the drummer, have played with Otto for sixteen years. Otto and the keyboardist... read more
Brittany Anjou - Enamigo Reciprokataj
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
In which we find our fearless leader making a piano trio debut that goes somewhere else but really doesn't. Not willing to take on art for art's sake, this tyro that's sought out and studied with dyed in the wool pros shows that you don't need to microdose acid to expand your mind. Almost like taking the history of piano trio, putting it in a Yatzee cup and shaking it up to see where the future might lie, this amazing kaleidoscope of sounds just... read more
Sam Yahel - Truth And Beauty
by Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News
What you've got here are some smart things Generations X jazz musicians have been doing in record studios lately - some of the cream of Generation X in the Sam Yahel Trio's "Truth and Beauty".
The liner notes on "Truth and Beauty" (thank you, John Keats) are by generational valedictorian and pianist Brad Mehldau, who tells us he and Yahel were New York Jazz arrivals together from 1988 to 1990. He admits that while "flexibility is a hallmark... read more
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