Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Chad McCullough | Michal Vanoucek - The Sky Cries
by Ken Watkins, Greatest Jazz Blog
As in last year's excellent 'Dark Wood, Dark Water', Chad McCullough teams up with saxophonist Mark Taylor ? also featured on Randy Halberstadt's recent 'Flash Point' - and two other mainstays of the North West jazz scene, Dave Captein (bass) and Matt Jorgensen (drums). The added dimension on 'The Sky Cries' is Slovakian pianist Michal Vanoucek.
It is probably too easy to say that Michal Vanoucek brings a classical European sensibility (the... read more
Thomas Marriott - Constraints & Liberations
by Peter Walton, Earshot Jazz
Released in November, Constraints & Liberations is trumpeter and flugelhornist Thomas Marriott?s second release of 2010, and it is his most satisfying disc to date. Marriott leads his quintet of saxophonist Hans Teuber, bassist Jeff Johnson, percussionist John Bishop, and pianist Gary Versace through seven original compositions, including Jeff Johnson?s ?Clues.? Hailed in Paul de Barros? liner notes as Marriott?s breakthrough album, Constraints... read more
John Moulder - Trinity
by David R. Adler, JazzTimes, December 2006
John Moulder of Chicago spent five years composing the material for his album Trinity. It's an epic three-part program inspired by religious belief, but it can be appreciated on any number of levels. The sound of the recording is tremendous, as are the performances - from such players as pianist Laurence Hobgood, saxophonist Brad Wheeler, trumpeter Tito Carrillo, reedist Paul McCandless, drummer Paul Wertico and others. Moulder spends... read more
Jeff Johnson - Suitcase
by Ken Dryden, All Music
Bassist Jeff Johnson has gotten recognition for his intuitive playing in Hal Galper's trio. His fifth CD as a leader is a free-spirited affair, where a lot of the music sounds improvised on the spot or with minimal sketches at best. Johnson is heard on both acoustic and Fender basses, and his group includes pianist Steve Moore, drummer Eric Eagle, and multi-reed player Hans Teuber. The opener, "Shake It Off," is a brief free jazz group... read more
Aaron Germain - Chance
by Ian Patterson, All About Jazz
San Francisco based bassist/composer Aaron Germain's follow-up to his debut Before You Go (Self Produced, 2010) harnesses some of the Bay Area's finest musicians on another set of the leader's original compositions. The personnel, who includes French/Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Le, is completely different to Germain's eclectic debut and it sounds like it too. Whereas Before You Go reflected Germain's command of bop, funk, blues and Latin,... read more
Michael Dease - City Life: Music of Gregg Hill
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The esteemed trombonist Michael Dease is joined by some first rate players for 2 discs of tunes that pay tribute to Gregg Hill's legacy.
The warm spirit of "Willow Walks In" opens, where Dease's strategic horn is met with Linda May Han Oh's frisky bass, and it isn't long until "Movie Theme" allows for Jeff 'Tain' Watts' unpredictable drums to complement Dease's soulful delivery.
Deeper into Disc 1, "Catalyst" is strong on atmosphere, as... read more
Anthony Branker & Other Ways of Knowing - Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
5-STARS To write about Anthony Branker is to risk superlatives. And yet restraint feels almost dishonest. He stands, more than likely, among the most important and influential American composers working today, not simply because of the sophistication of his craft, but because of the intellectual and moral architecture that sustains it. Once again, Branker delivers a work that is forceful, searching, at moments even unsettled, a score... read more
Richard Sussman - Continuum
by George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
When CDs contain mostly or exclusively original music, I look for one primary characteristic. If I can't find it, the CD is usually not a prime candidate for review. It's as simple as...a well-defined melody. If that's old-fashioned, so be it. But I lose my sense of direction when I can't discern a melody as a foundation for the improvisation which follows. I know nothing of Richard Sussman other than he's probably a New Yorker (judging from the... read more
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