Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jessica Williams - Songs For A New Century
by Thomas Conrad, All About Jazz
It is hard to think of a jazz musician who has gone her own way more resolutely than pianist Jessica Williams. She works only on her own solo and trio projects, never as a sideperson. She engineers her own albums for her own label, Red and Blue, and sells them on her own website, which she designs and maintains herself. She plays only in the venues she chooses (and she almost never chooses clubs). Even her place of residence is individualistic:... read more
Rich Thompson - Who Do You Have to Know?
by George W Harris, JazzWeekly
Drummer Rich Thompson puts together a hip little quartet that veers between a humming Hammond groover and a piano post bopper, depending which instrument Bobby Floyd is sitting behind. Along with Peter Chwazik/b and Corey Christiansen/g, Thompson mixes standards with new material, with Christianson's guitar reminiscent of John Scofield, particularly on the aforementioned's "Gray and Viceral" but also on the organ-ized funky "Street Cred" and... read more
Scott Reeves Quintet - The Alchemist
by Dee Dee McNeil, Musical Memoirs
This lost recording was originally performed 'live' at the City College of New York in 2005, sixteen years ago. During the 2020 pandemic, when Scott Reeves had time on his hands, like thousands of other musicians, out of curiosity, Scott Reeves gave this long shelved project a listen.
"I was excited to hear how the quintet played so well together and I felt this may have been among my own personal bests. During the time of this... read more
Bobby Broom - Song And Dance
by Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition
Bobby Broom has to be one of the hardest working jazz guitar slingers in the business. As well as being Sonny Rollins' choice guitarist, both for recording and touring, Broom also plays in the funky Chicago Hammond B-3 group, Deep Blue Organ Trio, which holds court at the Green Mill nightclub on a weekly basis. Broom's resume is extensive going back to the late 70s with Art Blakey, Hugh Masekela, and even a super brief stopover with Miles Davis.... read more
Geoff Stradling - Les is Mo'
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
On his Origin Records debut, Los Angeles pianist Geoff Stradling makes short work of showing why he was picked by the label. While the focus of Origin is generally on Northwest artists, they have some fair leniency if the music is good, and will pick up exceptional players that might not have been heard before otherwise. In the case of Stradling, you've probably heard him at some point in the past with his performances built in everywhere from... read more
Ben Thomas Tango Project - The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle
by Eric Olson, Earshot Jazz
Not quite an accordion, nor exactly an oversized harmonica, coming off somewhere between a blown reed instrument and a bowed string, the indelible, somewhat nasally bandoneon — the melodic mainstay of traditional tango music — is frequently a clarion call to the dancefloor.
But not always! On The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle, the newest album from the Ben Thomas Tango Project, the bandoneon functions as the most outspoken member of a... read more
Jeff Johnson - My Heart
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'n'More (Switzerland)
After 32 years, this album by bassist Jeff Johnson (*1954) is finally released, with a great quartet: John Gross (ts), Art Resnick (p) and Billy Mintz. Six of the bassist's compositions that he wrote for this quartet and which were perfected at several concerts in the US states of Washington and Oregon before being recorded - in just four hours - in the studio at the beginning of December 1991. Mostly recorded as first takes, they prove his... read more
Hal Galper - O's Time
by Philip Booth, Jazziz
Pianist Hal Galper's signature style involves bending and stretching pieces as far as they can go in the rubato style, and fully exploring where that strategy leads. For his sixth recording built on that approach, he again comes up with intriguing results, with the help of longtime collaborators Jeff Johnson and John Bishop on bass and drums, respectively.
The Trio's interpretations present an ever-engaging clash of form and freedom, with... read more
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