Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Hal Galper - Trip the Light Fantastic
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
About eighty percent of the jazz piano players out there can fit into one of two schools: that of the introspective, harmonically rich Bill Evans mode; or the more percussive and gregarious Bud Powell bebop approach. There's also a small slice of the that pie that draws it primary inspiration from bright and splashy Art Tatum/Oscar Peterson pre-bop playing style, along with various subsets. Then there are those who take a foundation of one of... read more
Steve Million - What I Meant to Say
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Four jazzbos became good friends in Kansas City in the 70s before they drifted away on the sands of time. But it didn't make their friendship drift away as 2019 brought them back together to kick it out as a crew one more time. Deceptively deeper than hotel lobby music, these cats know what to do to power a piano quartet to great heights by breaking a minimum of sweat. Simply a tasty workout that's on the money throughout and always hitting... read more
Matt Jorgensen +451 - Hope
by Peter Monaghan, Earshot Jazz
This marvelous quartet has just been named the 2003 Acoustic Jazz Group of the year in the Ear-shot Jazz Golden Ear Awards, and it's clear on this disc why they were accorded that popular vote. Jorgensen's 451 is as polished a band as any that we've heard in Seattle in quite some time. It exhibits that poised tension between discipline and abandonment that makes for great live gigs. The musicianship of its mem-bers is outstanding. And it... read more
Dan Dean - Fanfare for the Common Man
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
5-STARS Songs Without Words (Origin Classical, 2017) opened the door to Dan Dean's giant step into "going vocal"— an innovative approach to his choir-like voice-layering presentations of classical music. Rain Painting (Origin Records, 2021), teaming Dean with guitarist John Stowell, proved a perfect digression into Stowell's distinctive compositions, employing Dean's vocal harmonies, bass playing and drum programming with... read more
Clay Giberson - Minga Minga
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Clay Giberson goes solo on piano for eleven of his own compositions that show an allegiance to impressionists like Satie and Debussy. There is a lyrical classicism to pieces like "Little Bird" and the reflective "Burst" while "Adah" has Giberson using silence as a note.A dash of Gershwin buoyancy adds a dash to "Astir" and " Closer to You" and he shows his ability to swing on "Minga." His hands feel warm on "Stride Right" while a touch of... read more
Paul Ricci - The Path
by David R. Adler, JazzTimes
Paul Ricci is a wonderful player — not pyrotechnic, supremely tasteful, rhythmically and harmonically adept, with a warm, clean tone that makes The Path a beauty to listen to. Finished in stages across many years, the album features electric bass maestro Anthony Jackson, who has since passed — so rock-solid and distinctively creative on everything he touched. His presence and that of drummer Steve Jordan and percussionist Manolo Badrena... read more
Bobby Broom - Song And Dance
by Glenn Astarita, ejazznews
Guitarist Bobby Broom is one of the few jazz artists who can spin a pop standard into a deeply personalized musical statement. The artist's broad musical vernacular serves as a rock-solid foundation, enhanced by his enviable technical faculties. Nonetheless, Broom's longtime gig at Pete Miller's Steakhouse in Evanston, Illinois looms as just one anecdote within a rather distinguished career, hearkening back to his days in New York.
Broom's... read more
Kiki Valera - Vivencias en Clave Cubana
by Paul Rauch, Earshot Jazz
The legacy of Cuban cuatro master Kiki Valera began with one of the most influential bands in the history of Son Cubano—La Familia Valera Miranda. The current Seattle resident has released an album of twelve original compositions on the highly regarded Origin Records label.
Valera's innovative approach to improvisation is well within the Son tradition, the music and dance of the eastern hill country of Cuba. There is however, a freedom and... read more
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