Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Gwendolyn Dease - Beguiled
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
4-STARS While this fourth album from marimbist Gwendolyn Dease is rightly seeing release on the classical arm of Origin Records, it wouldn't have been completely out of place if it had landed on the jazz side of that imprint. Dease bypasses contemporary marimba fare and late twentieth century favorites from the usual suspects like Ney Rosauro, Casey Cangelosi, Joseph Schwanter, Keiko Abe, and Jacob Druckman, focusing instead on newly... read more
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The Austrian vocalist Maja Jaku brings her distinct voice to these 7 personal tracks that comprise this rich 5th album.
"The Witch" starts the listen with Dezron Douglas' emotive bass and Alan Bartus' intimate keys that suit Jaku's striking voice, and "I'm A Queen" follows with Johnathan Blake's strategic drums amid the expressive singing.
"Blessings Will Come" and "Never Let Me Go" land in the middle. The former has Jaku singing with a... read more
Bill Anschell - Rumbler
by Hobart Taylor, KUCI - Irvine, CA
Bill Anschell is a pianist arranger who provides here that subtle miracle of jazz performance, making an elephant walk on stilts. Deep in tone and soul his tunes and a couple of covers, (most notably Monk's "Misterioso" with a super performance from Seattle's Richard Cole on sax),have solidity and assuredness, and yet seem casual and airy at the same time.... read more
Brent Jensen with The Acoustic Jazz Quartet - The Sound of A Dry Martini
by Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
Educator, clinician, and A-one alto sax player, Brent Jensen honors one of the most self-effacing musicians in the history of jazz, Paul Desmond. The title comes from Desmond's ambition to "sound like a dry martini," probably very light on the vermouth. There are many "Desmond-isms" that he liked to use to describe his work. On the secret to his unique tone, he said "I honestly don't know! It has something to do with the fact that I play... read more
Emma Larsson - Sing To the Sky
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
She might have moved from Sweden to New York just a handful of years ago but she transplanted her Euro winning ways to the big apple in fine form and serves up the kind of date that serves as an invitation to see her as many nights as possible in whatever venue she's bringing her jazz vocal chops to. The kind of stuff that was made to pack jazz rooms regularly, Larsson swings and swings like a native and knows what it is to deliver a gasser.... read more
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Mike Gates, UK Vibe
Trumpeter Jared Hall's new release, Hometown, is an engaging and assured album that successfully blends the warmth and lyricism of cool jazz without ever feeling complacent. Rooted in reflection but propelled by a modern sensibility, it's a record that values tone, interplay, and a collective spirit that runs through the whole recording.
Hall has spent years building his voice across diverse jazz scenes, from the Midwest to the... read more
Storms/Nocturnes - VIA
by Mauretta Heinzelmann, NDR Radio, Germany "Album of the Week"
"Via", the new album by the trio "Storms / Nocturnes" is at all musical qualities, the most striking feature of the addiction factor: it looks forward to hearing it again and again, a positive atmosphere full of life rings through in almost every way. by casual virtuosity as well as by sensitive melodies are influenced piano, vibraphone and saxophone. an exceptional cast, the clear crystal chamber music as well as dense complex harmonics allows... read more
Charlie Ballantine - East by Midwest
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Charlie Ballantine is a guitarist whose instrumental finesse may well call to mind the delicate touch of Chet Atkins. In this album, he offers a jazz/picking blend, steeped in the lingering echoes of Wes Montgomery and Freddie Hubbard that still seem to float in the city's air. Since relocating to the East Coast a few years ago, the change in scenery, the new collaborators, and the vibrant atmosphere have infused his music with a fresh dynamic;... read more
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