Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Xose Miguélez - Contradictio
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The Spain native Xose Miguélez brings his inimitable saxophone playing to this worldly listen, where Jean-Michel Pilc, Marcos Cavaleiro and Carlos Barretto are along for the occasion.
"Meniña" starts the listen with a traditional Galician song, where Barretto's precisely plucked double bass and Miguélez's soulful sax help cultivate a very cultured jazz setting, and "You And The Night And The Music" follows with frisky drumming from... read more
Benjamin Boone - The Poets Are Gathering
by Benjamin Kirk, Fresno State University Arts & Humanities
"That's my son collapsed there," poet Patricia Smith bluntly speaks in the album's opening line. "My son crumpled there," a rhetorical finger points past the distracting noise of the pundits and protests to the human crux of the issue. Smith's voice sharpens the accusation as Benjamin Boone's saxophone unravels the emotion behind the mother's words.
"My son dangling there. My son caged there...My daughter splayed there...My son hanging... read more
Ryan Cohan - Originations
by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
The best jazz recordings of 2020 to date: Savvy listeners already know that Chicago pianist-composer Cohan has a well-honed gift for writing long-form jazz compositions. It reaches a high point in "Originations," a suite Cohan performed to vivid effect at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2018. The new recording deepens earlier favorable impressions of the piece, which amounts to a series of tone poems in which Cohan explores his Middle... read more
John Stowell & Dan Dean - Rain Painting
by Florian Biss, Jazz N More (Switzerland)
When guitarist John Stowell discovered that Dan Dean, who had taken on the audio mastering of one of his recordings, was also an experimental vocalist and bassist, he asked him to work together with a very open outcome. Over a year ago, new soundtracks were recorded and mixed together in Dean's studio. Once Stowell recorded the themes of his compositions on the guitar, Dean put his layered "Vocalese" or a bass line above it, and so on. In... read more
Eddie Allen and PUSH - The Rhythm
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Brooklyn-based trumpeter Eddie Allen and his well-groomed sextet, PUSH, truly are Rhythm People, as they prove time and again on Allen's ninth recording as leader of his own group. Whatever the tone or tempo, PUSH swings its merry way through a dozen bright and upbeat tunes, most written and all arranged by Allen, wherein strong and dazzling rhythms are almost always front and center.
The lone exception to that rule is the brief "Psalms 150,"... read more
Paul Marinaro - Mood Ellington
by Robert Nicosia, Music Man
Acclaimed vocalist Paul Marinaro has released his fifth album, Mood Ellington, and the results are nothing short of triumphant. This ambitious project, into which Marinaro has poured a massive amount of work and passion, proves that every ounce of effort was well worth it. Mood Ellington is a 25-track double-disc exploration of songs written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and it stands as both a tribute and a reinvention of two of jazz's... read more
Chad McCullough - Dark Wood, Dark Water
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz.com
Seattle-based trumpeter Chad McCullough has assembled a North-West all-star line-up for his debut release, Dark Wood, Dark Water, mixing it up with Origin Records regulars on an inspired, modern-leaning post-bop outing.
On "Three Pillars," a silky three-horn harmony blows in like a brisk wind in the embrace of the top-tier rhythm team of bassist Jeff Johnson, pianist Bill Anschell and drummer John Bishop. McCullough and his... read more
Phil Kelly - Ballet of the Bouncing Beagles
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise
It's great when a wish comes true.
I previously reviewed an album ("My Museum") by Phil Kelly and the Southwest Santa Ana Winds Big Band, and expressed interest in future "Compass Wind" groups.
Well, here's another, and this ensemble is dubbed the Northwest Prevailing Winds.
Whatever. It's even better than its predecessor.
This is a truly big band of 22 musicians: four trumpets, four trombones, seven reeds and a seven-member rhythm section.... read more
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