An ace guitarist that can play with the shimmering lines of Joshua Breakstone or Pat Martino covers songs even though he can write interesting stuff and calls in first call hands to lend a hand because it's obvious he cares. A solid, swinging date that sure to delight jazz guitar fans, everything you could want in a smoking performance is delivered here. Well done... read more
We've been covering Thomas Marriott since his third CD back in 2007. Last June, he showed that he could more than hold his own when matched with Ray Vega in a trumpet fest. He has been featured as a lead sideman on many of his label mate's CDs. His rise as a first choice trumpeter has been steady, almost meteoric.
His latest CD for Origin is Human Spirit, and it is a joy. Adding a Hammond B-3 to the mix with fellow Northwesterner... read more
Heard a track from this on my local pubic radio station and was so blown away I had to park the car in order to give it my full attention and find out who the players were. East Indian violin of the highest caliber intertwined with equally virtuosic violin rooted in Western classical, Appalachian blues and Celtic reels, all grounded with gorgeous bass and tabla. The compositions are intricate and compelling, the playing is dazzling. The best... read more
Let's start this week with Chicago based saxophonist John Wojciechowski and his new album Focus on Origin Records. He teams up with a monster of a rhythm section, pianist Ryan Cohan, bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Dana Hall. Wojciechowski's a pretty aggressive player on the tenor, and from the get-go on this disc, it's clear he's not planning on taking any prisoners. With such a sympathetic rhythm section, he tears through every nook and... read more
If you're gonna take on a legend, tread lightly. Particularly when you put forth genre-changing arrangements to classic songs. While David Bowie did use a jazz band led by Donny McCaslin to record Blackstar, the Metropolitan Jazz Octet take on 11 Bowie classics in full jazz form, and do so successfully. Vocalist Paul Marinaro soars passionately over each song, without coming even close to trying to imitate Bowie. That freedom of expression is a... read more
4-STARS When pianist Hal Galper first heard the live recording that became The Zone: Live At The Yardbird Suite, he didn't recognize his own playing. On that November 2016 gig—at the eponymous club in Edmonton, Canada—"the music came from some place deeper," Galper wrote in the album's liner notes. The bandleader, who's a long way from his 1970s electrified workouts on the Mainstream imprint, called that place "the zone," where the... read more
Sometimes when a release is billed as "intimate" or "personal" the words "dull" and "boring" can be easily slid in the mix and sadly be a pretty accurate representation of the end result of recording. I call this artistic death by self indulgence.
Not here.
Bobby Broom is an artist that is not doing as much of an autobiographical release as much as Upper West Side Story is a story told from the artistic perspective of how it all... read more
Veteran tenor saxophonist Don Lanphere is a modern Lazarus, a bebop-blowing master brought back to life by Jesus. The 73-year-old Yakima-bred musician was a teenaged fixture on the New York scene during 52nd Street heyday. He made his recording session debut with Max Roach and Fats Navarro in New York in 1948 and hung out with Charlie Parker at bebop's birth. By the time Lanphere was 22, he had a heroin habit, an arrest record, and had lost his... read more
This is just a small collection of the Origin Records reviews. Click here to view all reviews or try to Search for your favorite CD title.
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Budapest, Rudolf Radnai
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease Big Band - Return Trajectory
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect