4-STARS Proving she has nothing to prove on This Bird Still Flies, meticulous Bay Area guitarist Mimi Fox uses her 11th recording as leader or co-leader to showcase her utter mastery of the acoustic instrument. Mixing five originals with standards, Beatles songs and a national ode, the 62-year-old guitarists' guitarist here takes care to let every nuance of fingerwork and dynamic control shine.
"Get Away Blues" opens the album... read more
4 1/2 STARS Growing up under the weight of communism in Poland in the late '60s and early '70s, Joachim Mencel dreamed of the freedoms and wonders of America. Stateside relatives sent food parcels, offering him his first tastes of Hershey's chocolate and the inviting aromas of Maxwell House coffee; and Polish public radio station Trójka filled his ears with jazz, gifting the sounds of Miles Davis, among other greats. By the time Mencel... read more
Bassist Lorin Cohen, born and raised in Chicago and currently living in New York, has toured extensively with the great Monty Alexander. And so it is only natural that the Caribbean also finds its way onto this diverse and exciting album.
Lorin wanted to use mallet instruments for his eight compositions and he got an ace team of people surrounding him here: master vibraphonist Joe Locke is featured throughout the album and leads, together... read more
Known primarily as Sonny Rollins' sideman, guitarist Bobby Broom has put out a few discs on his own, and this latest one might be his best one yet. Spaciously accompanied by Dennis Carrol (bass) and Kobie Watkins (drums), Broom grooves through a set of cleverly selected tunes, and makes them swing and sway. Clever arrangements of The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" and "The Little Rascals Theme" make these pieces seem like logical jazz standards.... read more
Drummer Jack Mouse has been around playing with a top notch list of jazz artists from James Moody and Stan Kenton to Randy Brecker and Kenny Burrell. With Range of Motion, he steps out to lead a set of musicians he's collaborated with over the years in a swinging examination of 10 of his original compositions. The debut recording is contemporary jazz played with cerebral passion.
The quintet features Scott Robinson on reeds and Art Davis on... read more
This album came about because Steve Million (a five-night-a-week working jazz pianist in Chicago) began studying classical music again. He says that the experience took him back to an early version of his playing, before he had committed himself to jazz. Remembering the Way Home is an attempt to capture the freshness of Million's first discoveries of music, filtered through the knowledge and skills he has since gained.
It works. This... read more
With a solid organ trio backing him, tenor saxophonist David Sills grabs your attention with his very first solo on Eastern View's opener, the Sills-penned (as are all the songs here) "New Break." The tune opens with an organ-supplied bass groove backed by shimmering cymbals; then the guitar and sax enter, peeling off some tangy mid-tempo lines, until the accompaniment pulls back and Sills steps out front, with a somewhat restrained (nicely so)... read more
Beautiful things happen when the heart is fully invested in everything you do, and one of the best examples I can think of is that which we see happen in music and in Jazz time and again. A publicist I know out of Israel sent me an email one day about this female guitarist whom I had never heard of, asked me if I wanted for her to send me the CD, and I said yes; the rest pretty much happened without rhyme or reason, which is how anybody should... 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
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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