Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Rodney Whitaker - Common Ground: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Editor, Jazz Chill
Common Ground is the first of five CDs that bass maestro Rodney Whitaker intends to release in 2019 in acknowledgment of his fiftieth birthday year. It's his seventh album, and embodies the musical values that Whitaker has projected on antecedent dates like When We Find Ourselves Alone, from 2014; such turn-of-the-century gems as Winter Moon, Ballads and Blues: The Brooklyn Session and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; and the critically acclaimed... read more
Greg Yasinitsky - YAZZ Band: New Normal
by Lance Liddle, Bebop Spoken Here
Back in 2018 I was impressed by Yasinitsky's recording - Yazz Band - in fact it was one of my Big Band CDs of the Year. After first listen, this one could also be in with a shout although, despite there being 16 names listed, it is actually a collective grouping with the various units ranging from 7 - 9 pieces and, truth to tell, due to the pandemic some weren't even there at all but recorded their part at home which, in some cases was Los... read more
Ray LeVier - Ray's Way
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
New York-based drummer Ray Levier contends for debut CD of the year with Ray's Way. He's assembled an all-star cast, including two of the finest guitarists plying the six string trade: John Abercrombie and Mike Stern, on five and four cuts respectively.
Levier's drumming has a "serve the music" approach that can be subtle or assertive, and often quite rock-influenced, as on the Mike Stern-penned "You Never Know," a tune that recalls Mark... 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
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
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
Matt Otto - Umbra
by Ed Sapiega, Jazz Views (UK)
Matt Otto, saxophonist and leader, is an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at Kansas University and an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers. Otto's website mattotto.org contains articles and lessons for and about music. Otto has spent over thirty years becoming a master improviser.
For this CD Otto uses Kansas City and St. Louis musicians. Some, like the bassist and the drummer, have played with Otto for sixteen years. Otto and the keyboardist... read more
Kelly Sill / Jim McNeely / Joel Spencer - Boneyard
by Mark E. Gallo, Jazz Review
This is solid, straight ahead jazz by three masters of the craft. Covering a program of jazz standards, obscurities and originals, the principals never fail to impress. Opening with the Kurt Weill classic "Speak Low," pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Kelly Sill and drummer Joel Spencer each exhibit a mastery of their instrument throughout the nine selections. Dizzy Gillespie's classic "Con Alma" is given a medium tempo reading, Dave Brubeck's lovely... read more
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