Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Tito Carrillo - Urbanessence
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
The other jazz tradition has been around as long as the music itself, as Jelly Roll Morton introduced "The Latin Tinge" to his earliest recordings. Here, street level Latin pulses are delivered by trumpeter and leader Tito Carrillo and his percolating band of Troy Roberts/sax, Ben Lewis/p, Clark Sommers/b, Jay Sawyer/dr and Victor Gonzalez/cong. There's fire in Carrillo's belly as he sears with Lewis on "Fly By Night" and smoothly glides over... read more
Hal Galper Trio - Invitation to Openness
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4-STAR Pianist Hal Galper turned away from the life of touring in 2000, and eased into "the shed," to work on some innovative ideas that would change the shape of the piano trio. Rubato is where he went—a style of playing that stretches time, making it flexible, unpredictable and free. It takes special trio mates to assist in this, and he found them in his East Coast Trio, with bassist Tony Marino and drummer Billy Mintz, eventually,... read more
Brent Jensen with David Sills - Stay Cool
by Steve Sando, Mr. Lucky
The Brent Jensen/David Sills Quartet quite cleverly revives the West Coast Jazz sound on the disc Stay Cool (Origin Records 82403). Honestly, we were expecting next to nothing and then found ourselves running over to the stereo to turn up the volume once the recording got started. West Coast Jazz, in certain circles, has the reputation for being the 1950s equivalent to white rap. "Certain circles" continue to take all the joy out of jazz. We'll... read more
Nanami Haruta - The Vibe
by Cree McCree, DownBeat (Interview)
BORN IN SAPPORO, JAPAN, Nanami Haruta started playing piano at age 5 and gravitated towards to the trombone when she was only 8 years old. The instrument was taller than she was. "They do have smaller trombones for kids but I just used a normal one," she recalled from Michigan State University, where she's currently enrolled in the jazz studies program. "What first made me want to play it was that the sound of the name trombone was funny," she... read more
Peter Erskine & The JAM Music Lab All-Stars - Vienna to Hollywood: Impressions of E.W. Korngold & Max Steiner
by Mark Griffith, Modern Drummer
Hopefully you have already read Peter Eskine's column this month on the making of his new record, so I'll skip the backstory, and just say that this is the best recording that Erskine has done as a leader since 3 Nights in LA. But it this a very different type of record, 3 Nights in LA was a freewheeling blowing date, Vienna to Hollywood is a carefully planned and arranged recording project with Erskine and Danny... read more
Michael Dease - City Life: Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill is on a remarkable roll, authoring an impressive run of compositions represented on eight albums released on the Origin Records label. Each has featured a bandleader associated with the top shelf staff at Rodney Whitaker's jazz program at Michigan State University. City Life (2025) is the third under the leadership of trombone great Michael Dease. The two-disc release includes 19... read more
Phil Kelly - Convergence Zone
by Bill Barton, Earshot
Composer/arranger Phil Kelly's new big band CD is truly a convergence zone between "tight" and "loose." Combining a stellar array of first-call studio players and smokin' jazz soloists from the Pacific Northwest with a few of his old friends from the Los Angeles, New York and Nashville scenes, Kelly has come up with a recording that combines consummate craftsmanship with flat-out fun in a most engaging fashion.
Kelly retired to the... read more
Florian Hoefner - Luminosity
by Chris Spector, Midwest Review
Furthering his dominance in the sitting down piano jazz field, Hoefner and his long time pals add a vet new kid to the mix on sax as the newly expanded four piece crew seem to assert ownership over cinematic playing that commands your full attention. Practically playing as one, weaving things so seamlessly that they get past you as you get lost in it, this is what so many other ensembles aspire to. Well done stuff with all the sounds your head... read more
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