Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Doug Beavers 9 - Two Shades of Nude
by Tim Taylor, Audiophile Audition
Trombonist Doug Beavers produced the album and is the leader of this nine piece band of New York musicians. Beavers played with the Mingus Big Band and Eddie Palmieri establishing a good reputation amongst the musical community there. Beavers indicated he enjoys arranging and leading this type of group with his arrangements. He comes with an impressive education in music.
The beginnings of this group were in 2000 with the players getting... read more
Michael Zilber - East West: Music for Big Bands
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
On East West, his first-ever big-band enterprise, Canadian-born saxophonist Michael Zilber leads world-class ensembles in New York City and San Francisco, which speaks volumes about his artistry and gravitas. Zilber not only plays saxophone on both bands, he composed eight of the fourteen numbers on this handsome two-CD set and arranged all of them.
Even while playing and recording in smaller groups on both coasts and in Canada, Zilber had... read more
Phil Kelly & The SW Santa Ana Winds - My Museum
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
To paraphrase the peerless Bard of Avon, a wind from any other clime would blow as hot -- or as cool. Last year, composer/arranger Phil Kelly happily introduced big band enthusiasts to the turbulent NW Prevailing Winds (Seattle) on the stormy album Convergence Zone; this year, he has empowered the cyclonic SW Santa Ana Winds (Los Angeles) to raise the barometric pressure and spawn another tempestuous tour de force, My Museum.
Knowing there... read more
Eddie Allen and PUSH - The Rhythm
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Brooklyn-based trumpeter Eddie Allen and his well-groomed sextet, PUSH, truly are Rhythm People, as they prove time and again on Allen's ninth recording as leader of his own group. Whatever the tone or tempo, PUSH swings its merry way through a dozen bright and upbeat tunes, most written and all arranged by Allen, wherein strong and dazzling rhythms are almost always front and center.
The lone exception to that rule is the brief "Psalms 150,"... read more
Anthony Branker and Word Play - The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite
by Joe Tangari, Downbeat
In 1999, Anthony Branker was forced to stop playing trumpet due to a medical condition. Where many musicians would have felt silenced losing their ability to play, Branker shifted his energy to composing and assembled two collectives, Word play and Ascent, to bring his music to life.
Word Play is the band on his most recent release, The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite (Origin), a wide-ranging and powerful rumination on America's... read more
Anthony Branker - Beauty Within
by Raul da Gama, JazzDaGama
As a listener, Anthony Branker is no stranger to sound of the heart. As a composer his trained inner ear is always tuned into the rhythms of the heart. It is not that intellect and logic do not play a part in what he writes; it's just that his guiding light from which all music flows is the Almighty and God speaks to all men in the energy of the heart. For Branker his ear is tuned to interpret what's written on the blank slate; the - tabula... read more
Jim Norton Collective - Time Remembered: Compositions of Bill Evans
by Michael Roberts, Jazziz
It's a mystery why Bill Evans' compositions, beyond the usual suspects, aren't recorded more frequently. Certainly, his writing was entwined with his style and personality. But, as multi-reed player Jim Norton understands, the Evans songbook goes far deeper than "Waltz for Debby," Offering rich opportunities for interpretation. On this new collection, Norton's 12-piece band dives beneath the surface of the Evans catalog, and the leader's... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Jon Regen, Billboard
Veteran guitar ace Bobby Broom has worked with an illustrious list of jazz luminaries, from the late organist Charles Earland to the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins. On Broom's latest release as a leader, he tackles the nearly sacrosanct works of renowned pianist/composer Thelonious Monk with an artful mix of grit and grace. Backed by the sympathetic rhythm section of Dennis Carroll on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums, Broom bluesifies Monk's... read more
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