Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jeff Johnson - Suitcase
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Who let these white guys loose in the church basement? Johnson and his long time improv pal, Hans Teuber, opens the lens to let some other youngbloods join the fun. Not quite arts council music, this is hipster improv done right, but even a Friday night show for this would be a sausage fest, y'know what I mean? It sounds like they know how to give the art jazz fan just what they are looking... read more
Thomas Marriott - Both Sides Of The Fence
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
Thomas Marriott's second recording is a thoroughly impressive affair, recorded over two studio sessions a few months apart. With a band including pianist Marc Seales, bassist Jeff Johnson, and drummer John Bishop, the leader kicks off the disc with "Both Sides of the Fence," a driving post-bop original that showcases his lyrical chops on flugelhorn in an uptempo setting. Seales switches to electric piano for Marriott's rather dark "The... read more
Michael Vlatkovich Tritet w/ Jonas Tauber and Ken Ollis - Queen Dynamo
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
A deeply interesting album of progressive jazz from the Portland trombonist Michael Vlatkovich. Abandoning his usual big band, Vlatkovich instead takes up a small trio (actually a "tritet" by his own account) of bass, drums, and himself on trombone. Joining Vlatkovich in the trio are Swiss classically-oriented bassist Jonas Tauber, and fellow Portland drummer Ken Ollis. The music is largely improvised, with some structure imparted by Vlatkovich,... read more
John Bishop with Jeff Johnson, Rick Mandyck, John Stowell - Scenes
by Peter Monaghan, Earshot Jazz
"Scenes," in which Bishop joins three proven players - saxophonist Rick Mandyck, bassist Jeff Johnson and Portland guitarist John Stowell.
It's a fine set, with responsive playing from the whole crew. Mandyck, Johnson and Bishop are long-proven in these parts, and so to is Stowell to listeners who've been around a while. Those will also know, however, that he has an odd stage presence, holding his guitar almost upright and playing it... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - Songs My Mom Liked
by Stephen Graham, Marlbank (UK)
We've long appreciated the work of the composer Anthony Branker going back over a decade to Uppity on the same issuing label here Origin - and our admiration grows still more. Themed as a celebration of and dedication to the composer's mother who is in her late eighties and who is suffering from dementia, Branker knows how much his music lifts his mother and revisits some of his earlier work in her honour.
It's a really good band that Branker... read more
Michael Waldrop - Native Son
by Olivia Peevas, Jazz Blues EU
Drummer, vibraphonist, and composer Michael Waldrop's on Native Son is an ambitious and diverse representation of his work, highlighted by a wide-ranging, cross-genre aesthetic and his wildly dynamic big band.
Inspired by the earthy and primal works of Cuban artist Wilfredo Lam, arranger Jack Cooper transformed three of Waldrop's compositions into an evocative and epic "Native Son," with the movements titled after three of his paintings.
A... read more
Richard Sussman - Live at Sweet Rhythm
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
Life has few certainties, but the constant and ever-moving nature of time is one of them. Events, both miniscule and monumental, pass by and usually leave nothing more than a memory or, in the case of music, a record. Such was the case with pianist Richard Sussman's Free Fall (Inner City Records, 1978). Joined by some burgeoning young talent in 1978, Sussman's album became an underground classic and that seemed to be the end of it. All the... read more
Marcos Varela - San Ygnacio
by Terrell Holmes, New York City Jazz Record
Listen to Marcos Varela's San Ygnacio and its' clear that this bassist not only knows how to make excellent straightahead jazz, he makes it sound easy.
It's not surprising that the album is so good, considering those Varela has playing with him, all fine composers and arrangers themselves. All one needs to do is look at Varela's counterparts in the rhythm section: pianist George Cables, defined by his harmonic sophistication and... read more
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