Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Piet Verbist - Zygomatik
by Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
Veteran Belgian bassist-composer Piet Verbist expertly blends bop, rock and funk feels on his debut as a leader. With huge upright tone, he lays down a heavy groove on the imposing opener, "PMS Alert," underscored by drummer Herman Pardon's muscular backbeat and Bram Weijter's slightly distorted Fender Rhodes. Tenor saxophonist Matt Renzi and baritone saxophonist Vincent Brijs create a telepathic dialogue on "Above & Beyond," before... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
Over a period encompassing several engagements at Seattle's The Triple Door, pianist Williams compiled six original compositions (of the seven played here) which seemed to have a common thread. All were completely improvised on the spot, and in her effort to meld them into an artistic whole, she chose pieces which complement one another. While the term "jazz pianist" is an honorable title, I've always felt that Williams takes it a step further... read more
Peter Lerner - Continuation
by Tessa D'Agosta, Chicago Jazz Magazine
With his latest record Continuation, multi-talented guitarist Peter Lerner continues to make a case for himself as Chicago's very own jazz authority. The nine-track, nearly 80-minute record showcases his creative versatility as a composer, arranger, and performer. Lerner manages to season each track with a different flavor--from Latin to blues to funk--without compromising the record's identity or natural flow. He shines not only when... read more
Dawn Clement - Tandem
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
It only takes one listen to Tandem to understand that pianist-vocalist Dawn Clement is a people person with a penchant for trying different things. That openness to various individuals and action points shows itself to be the heart of this collection of duo performances.
Despite being a prominent presence on the Seattle scene, working with high profile leaders like soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, and having a handful of highly praised... read more
Hadley Caliman - Gratitude
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
For his first album as a leader in a couple of decades, Hadley Caliman returns with a bang. Though released by Seattle's Origin label, it's not strictly Northwest jazz, and though containing a couple of players from the California scenes, it's not strictly West Coast jazz. It's something different, tangible, with ties to the classics but explorations well into the new beyond. For someone who's played with everyone from Dexter Gordon to Santana,... read more
Matt Jorgensen - Tattooed by Passion: Music inspired by the paintings of Dale Chisman
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Music based on visual art is nothing new (many know of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition if nothing else), but can be a mixed bag in terms of quality. Though both art forms can show improvisation and structure, musicians have to walk a fine line: too literal in their transcription of color and strength and they risk making terrible music; too free with the aesthetics of their own musical ideas and they risk ignoring the visual... read more
Benjamin Boone | Philip Levine - The Poetry of Jazz
by Michael Ullman, The Arts Fuse
In the early eighties, when we were both teaching in the English department of Tufts University, Detroit-born poet Philip Levine and I became friends. We shared some things: basic literacy, a Michigan background (I had lived in Ann Arbor for four years and he was raised in Detroit), and a love of jazz. I would make tapes for him. (He particularly appreciated the ninety minutes of Clifford Brown I assembled for him.) He would give me signed... read more
Clay Giberson - Pastures
by Hobart Taylor, KUCI - Irvine, CA
Pianist/composer Giberson is elegant and eloquent, both on his own charming earworms, but also on a jazz reworking of elder Joseph Brackett's Shaker hymn, "Simple Gifts". He is joined by Donny McCaslin on various reed instruments, and occasionally a string quartet.... read more
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