I was an only child born in Peoria, Ill., just a couple of stones' throw to Chicago, before we moved to Lincoln when I was one year old. My dad worked for my mom's family, selling jewelry and buying clothes for their store. He'd go to the market in New York semi-annually and fly to meet my mother and me in Chicago for our annual summer vacation. She and I would take the train to rendezvous there. When I was 10 and very much into baseball, they... read more
Top 10 Innovative Jazz Releases of 2009
For the past 20 years or so, excellent guitarists have been plentiful in Chicago, and Moulder ranks high among them. On "Bifrost," he offers some of the most profound work of his career, alternating vastly scaled tone poems with exquisitely delicate, spiritual pieces. His work only deepens with... read more
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, While We Have Time, by Maddie Vogler and it's quite entertaining. Opening with, The Need To Be, Maddie Vogler on Alto Sax, is joined by Tito Carrillo on trumpet and Flugelhorn, Matt Gold on guitar, Jake Shapiro on piano, Samuel Peters on bass and Neil Hemphill on drums. This track shows a definite interest in exploring Vogler's Cuban roots. Her sax soloing on this track is mature and... read more
This Origin Records 2006 release starts with deconstructing the melody Night & Day and has wonderful rhythms (!!) floating over the bar lines. Monkisms, use of space, ? time feel, and the chordal voicings are all very musical. The accompaniment of Miller and Martinez is top shelf here (as is everyone on this CD).
Then comes an original tune more rhythmic in it's melody than say a more typical linear approach as in an older song-style standard �... read more
For pianist Brittany Anjou's new recording, she uses Esperanto for the title (translated as "Unrequited Love") as a symbol for the international language utilized to create her music.
The not-quite-centerpiece of the recording is the five-part Reciprokataj Suite—not-quite because the sections are 'interrupted' by other originals yet the album feels like a beautifully unified whole. The disc opens with "Starlight", which finds electronic... read more
There's a visceral moment in music when sound stops being just sound — when it dissolves the boundary between performer and listener, body and memory, history and pulse.
It is here, in that fertile space between rhythm and remembrance, that Anthony Branker's new album, Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit, stakes its claim.
More than a collection of compositions, it arrives as a tapestry of stories, a suite of sonic meditations... read more
Day Of Reckoning is Dan Zinn's fifth album as a leader and lead it he certainly does. The reedist is very much at the forefront of this music, the band patter for his play. There's a buoyancy to the music here, floating along with ease, the players seemingly having a good time. Most performances, though, are just warm, never scalding hot.
"Continental Divide" gets enjoyably wild early on, until the tune shifts into a simpler gear, coasting... read more
One of the most denigrated categories is "jazz female vocalists." Most either try to sound like a quirky indie like Norah Jones, or try to jump on the Diana Krall bandwagon by ONCE AGAIN revisiting the Great American Songbook. Well, if you want something else, here is an artist that has the pulse of jazz, but delivered in fresh voice. What a joy!
Emma Larsson writes all of the material here, and it's worth listening to. She bonds with an... read more
This is just a small collection of the Origin Records reviews. Click here to view all reviews or try to Search for your favorite CD title.
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Budapest, Rudolf Radnai
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease Big Band - Return Trajectory
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect