Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
David Friesen - A Light Shining Through
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
A rich tapestry of ideas both concise and drawn out are delivered by David Friesen, who plays the Hemage bass, piano and percussion with a mix and match team of saxist Joe Manis, percussionists Alex Fantaev & Charlie Doggett and the guest appearances of the Kyiv Mozart String Quartet. The sixteen pieces include a handful of pieces 5-6 minutes with strings such as the graceful "Softly Tells The Story" and A Light Shining Through" that include... read more
Carlos Vega - Art of the Messenger
by Paul Abella, WDCB, Chicago
Carlos Vega's Art of the Messenger might very well end up being a contender for one of my favorite albums of the year. And when you dissect the pieces, it's easy to understand why. First, start off with a who's who of young(ish) Jazz players in Chicago - Vega plays tenor sax and writes the songs. Victor Garcia is the trumpet player, Stu Mindeman is on piano, Josh Ramos is on bass and Xavier Breaker is playing the drums. Second, write some... read more
Sam Yahel - Truth And Beauty
by Nate Chinen, New York Times
Painting Sounds Using a Palette of Shadowy Colors From Pop and Postbop
The Hammond B-3 organist Sam Yahel began his second set at the Jazz Standard on Tuesday night with a row of intervals arranged to avoid any hint of resolution. This dash of atonality was fleeting - after a minute or two he plunged into a tune along with guitar and drums - but Mr. Yahel made it an efficient statement of purpose. This was an organ-trio gig, he seemed... read more
Anthony Branker and Word Play - The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
This session lead by composer and music director Anthony Branker can be approached one of two ways. Musically, it boasts of a horn section of David Binney/as, Ralph Bowen/ts-ss-fl and Conrad Herwig/tb that is second to none, with Bowers delivering a riveting tenor solo on "Our Dreams." The rhythm section of Renato Thoms/perc, Donald Edwards/dr, Kenny Davis/b and Jim Ridl/key is swinging yet flexible over things like post bop cookers like... read more
David Friesen and Glen Moore - Bactrian
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Both David Friesen and Glen Moore play bass and piano on this collection of duets and solos. Friesen plays a Hemage bass and Moore a regular acoustic one, and they emphasize the rumbling conversations of the strings on the babbling "Still Waters" and the agile "Caravan." Friesen's piano is pensive with Moore on"Soft as Silk" and when the roles are reversed, a bop feel is created on "Kontrast." Quiet and... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by Donald Elfman, New York City Jazz Record
The four artists (Jessica Williams, Denny Zeitlin, Arturo O?Farrill, Gabriel Zufferey) who make up this quartet of splendid new solo piano recordings are careful and thoughtful in their choice of both notes and spaces. The performances collected here are clearly about expression.
In concert at Seattle?s The Triple Door, on Songs of Earth Jessica Williams? concept and technique are grand and symphonic but fall, as she rightly says, into no... read more
Ray LeVier - Ray's Way
by Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes, May 2009
Lots of young musicians go out and get some established people to play on their debut recordings as leaders. Ray LeVier got strong ones: Joe Locke on vibes, either John Abercrombie or Mike Stern on guitar, Dave Binney on alto saxophone and Francois Moutin on bass. But very few debut albums create such tight, committed, synergistic ensembles. This band should go on tour. The only question would be which guitarist to bring. Abercrombie, who... read more
Xose Miguélez - Ontology
by Matt Micucci, Jazziz
Internationally renowned Spanish saxophonist-composer Xose Miguelez's latest album, Ontology, began with his research on traditional Galician music. That research led him to a discovery of a recording by ethnic musicologist Dorothé Schubart of a ballad sung by his own great-aunt Amparo almost 40 years ago in a village in the Galician hills named Cerdedelo-Laza. The first-four note motif at the beginning of this ballad is the root of all... read more
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