Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John McLean - Better Angels
by Paul Abella, Chicago Jazz.com
John McLean's last album, Easy Go, was a personal favorite. So I awaited his latest, Better Angels, with baited breath. While this is a vastly different album than its predecessor, it has its own charms that make it an equally engaging and interesting album.
McLean has chosen some fantastic sidemen for this project, all of whom bring something fantastic to the table. For fans of homegrown jazz, none of these players needs an introduction. Jim... read more
Greg Yasinitsky - YAZZ Band: New Normal
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A proven swinger rallies his troops up to the fact that the tracks they started before Covid got started will have to be finished remotely if they are to be finished at all. This is one leader that doesn't have to worry about getting fragged by friendly fire as they rise to the challenge. Sounding delightfully seamless, this hard charging crew makes it easy to say that big band is hear to stay. A real pulse pounder that feels like a throw... read more
Rich Thompson - Less Is More
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
The pocket for Rich Thompson?s team of Terell Stafford/tp-fh, Doug Stone/ts, Gary Versace/p-B3 and Jeff Campbell/b is fit for a pair of Oshkosh overalls. A hip hard bop ?Lotus Blossom? and jaunty ?I?ve Never Been In Love Before? set a black diamond of a ski slope for Stafford?s cheery trumpet. Campbell?s bluesy bass oozes through a vibrant B3 on ?Hoot Gibson? and Stones? smoky tenor fills the room on a smooth as silk ?I Didn?t Know What Time It... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs For A New Century
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
She's a little bit late to release songs intended to kick off a new century, but Jessica Williams can be forgiven that as her music more than makes up for it. The album is actually titled as it is in celebration of Williams' emergence from a low time following the 9/11 attacks, and as such has a fairly upbeat tone throughout the proceedings. Aside from a stray Sonny Rollins composition (which Williams treats masterfully as a blues romp with some... read more
Human Spirit - Dialogue
by Tom Hull, Jazz Perspectives
Human Spirit: Dialogue: Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival (2011 [2012], Origin): Seattle group, named for recent Thomas Marriott album -- Marriott plays trumpet, Mark Taylor alto sax, and Matt Jorgensen drums, each contributing tunes (Marriott 4 of 8, the others two each), but since that doesn't quite make for a modern postbop band, they added "special guets" Orrin Evans (piano) and Essiet Essiet (bass) -- Evans was an especially... read more
Jim Knapp Orchestra - Secular Breathing
by Tobias Richtsteig, Jazz Dimensions (Germany)
(Translation)
In Seattle, in the northwest of the USA, a remarkable music scene flowers. The Grunge and Jimi Hendrix, also to jazz musicians such as Bill Frisell their homeland did not only find here. Trumpeter and Big band leader Jim Knapp seize its with the third album "Jim Knapp Orchestra" chamber-musical-complex aspects up, "Secular Breathing" is simultaneous; directly responding modern jazz.
Jim Knapp made itself as Bandleader and a... read more
James Moody - 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by John Murph, DownBeat
To commemorate jazz legend James Moody's centennial birthday celebration, Origin Records releases the sanguine James Moody: 80 Years Young-Live At The Blue Note. The album captures both a March 2005 birthday party and a victory lap for Moody as he fronts a stellar and rotating cast of musicians that includes trombonist Slide Hampton, pianist Cedar Walton and alto saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera. The vibes are as relaxed... read more
Affinity Trio - Hindsight
by Ed Sapiega, Jazz Views (UK)
This jazz trio is simply amazing, with a unique combination of instruments - trumpet, piano, and bass. Interestingly, I don't even miss the drums. The three musicians mesh very well with each other as a creative music organism. I kept thinking they were amoeba-like, conforming to each artist's individual sound space. This trio played weekly gigs for a year plus before recording this self-produced debut album in a single day. Their collective... read more
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