Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John McLean - Better Angels
by John Barron, All About Jazz.com
Guitarist/composer John McLean is an emerging musical voice for the 21st century. Steeped in tradition and propelled by contemporary influences, the Chicago-based musician sculpts an uncanny representation of an ever-widening American musical landscape. Better Angels, McLean's second release as a leader, is a stunning collection of original compositions and standards, featuring McLean's blistering guitar and his unconventional ensemble comprised... read more
Dick Reynolds - Music & Friends
by George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
The liner notes indicate that Reynolds has spent much of an honorable music career as a do-everything musician in Chicago. All well conceived work, to be sure, but I have this notion of having seen his name on scores of albums by quality pop and sometimes jazz singers "back in the day." The "friends" referred to in the title are both the talented players on the album and the recipients of several tributes. Among these are a few to personal... read more
Jack Perla - Enormous Changes
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A very personal album from a cat that has had his share of enormous changes over the last few years, Perla takes a break from his opera world commissions and heads back to late 60s jazz rock for a mental and spiritual cleansing that finds him right in the pocket of pre-fusion where the seeds were being sown. This feels much like the kind of post civil rights jazz "Stan" Clarke was recording for Polydor prior to Return to Forever coming... read more
Brent Jensen - Trios
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
What can be done with a basic jazz trio? Brent Jensen appears to be setting out specifically to answer that question on his fourth album on Origin. With his alto sax he combines with portions of two existing Origin bands: guitarist Jamie Findlay and bassist Zac Matthews of the Acoustic Jazz Quartet on half of the tracks, and bassist Doug Miller and drummer (and label founder) John Bishop of New Stories on the alternating half. The trios make a... read more
Jaiman Crunk - Encounters
by Ian Patterson, All About Jazz
Seattle-based guitarist Jaiman Crunk hasn't taken half measures on Encounters, his debut as leader. In addition to marshalling over 20 top jazz musicians?cherry picked for specific roles?Crunk employs fourteen brass, woodwind and string musicians from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra on half the compositions. These four numbers in particular underline Crunk's notable compositional and arranging skills and he succeeds, as few do, in marrying the... read more
Jack Mouse - Range of Motion
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Jack Mouse drives a team with Scott Robinson/woodwinds, Art Davis/tp-fh, John McLean/g and Bob Bowman or Kelly Sill/b. Mouse?s compositions have a lithe melodicism to them, with themes from ?LaPorta? or ?Hip Check? veering into solos at a whim. There is definitely a pocket for the band to groove on, but it?s about as deep as one on Karma Jeans, as McLean?s fuzzy electric guitar goes more vertical than horizontal in... read more
Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra - Without a Trace
by Edward Blanco, All About Jazz
4 1/2 - STARS The Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra follows up the highly successful debut album Portraits and Places (Origin, 2016), with another masterpiece recording on Without A Trace offering new and exciting arrangements of three standards and four creative Reeves originals that all together, pack quite a powerful musical punch. A full-tenured professor at The City University of New York (CUNY), composer, trombonist and flugelhornist... read more
Dan Cray - Meridies
by Ric Bang, Jazz Scan
Origin Records always finds promising new jazz musicians; pianist Dan Cray, one of the youngest to come along in awhile, is the most recent example. He?s in his mid 30s, graduated from Chicago?s Northwestern University in 1999, and currently is working on a master?s degree at New York University, where he?s also a member of the faculty. He was a finalist in both the 2003 Monterey Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition and the 2004 American... read more
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