Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Randy Halberstadt - Flash Point
by Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
Seattle-based pianist Randy Halberstadt leads a potent quintet date featuring Origin regulars Thomas Marriott on trumpet and Jeff Johnson on bass, as well as alto saxophonist Mark Taylor and drummer Mark Ivester. They deliver strikingly original interpretations of Miles Davis' "Solar," Sam River's "Beatrice," and "On Green Dolphin Street," in addition to six intelligent post-bop flavored Halberstadt originals. Marriott is prominent on the... read more
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz.com
Pianist/composer Darrell Grant's Truth and Reconciliation might be categorized as "music to make the world a better place." A strong case could be made that all music -- indeed, all art -- has that purpose. Grant's aspirations in that direction here are more on-the-sleeve than you find on most musical endeavors. The results on the project are remarkable for their celebratory beauty and unadorned artistic truth.
The core of the music-making is... read more
David Friesen Circle 3 Trio - Where the Light Falls
by Brent Black, Bop-N-Jazz
Widely acknowledged as one of the finest bass players over the last forty years, David Friesen's Circle 3 Trio and Where the Light Falls may be his finest release yet.
Remember melody? Improvisational music was built around the strength of melody long before meter and technique moved to the head of the class. Friesen never forgot melody, he manipulates and manufactures all the possibilities that exist in a simple unadorned melody.... read more
Jeff Johnson - Near Earth
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
Among the things coming recently from Seattle's Origin label is some top-notch improvisational jazz, much of it from a small collection of local musicians banding together from time to time for sessions that magically form into a coherent whole. On Near Earth, three of these musicians do what they do best � make such music. Saxophonist Hans Teuber, bassist Jeff Johnson, and drummer Tad Britton play a few original Johnson numbers and a couple of... read more
Geof Bradfield - melba!
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Here's a great concept for an album, and it's done just right. Reedman Geof Bradfield puts together a musical suite that is a tribute to Melba Liston, who made her mark as a section trombonist, but more importantly as an arranger for Randy Weston. The team of Bradfield with Victor Garcia/tp-fh, Joel Adams/tb, Jeff Parker/g, Ryan Cohan/p, Clark Sommers/b and George Fludas/dr create moods ranging from bebop joints in LA ("Central Avenue") to... read more
Michael Dease - City Life: Music of Gregg Hill
by Arturo Pepe, Tracce di Jazz
A double disc of absolute substance is the one given to us by trombonist Michael Dease, born in 1982, a native of Augusta, Georgia, as well as his main mentor from Georgia, his colleague Wycliffe Gordon, older by a generation, a sort of institution in the field. Even Dease for several years can be considered as a true eminence of the instrument, although his name, in spite of the continuous placements in the DownBeat, won five times, is not very... read more
Brad Goode - The Unknown
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4 1/2 - STARS One of the joys attached to reviewing music is the exposure to artists who otherwise might not show up on the radar. For every Pat Metheny there are a hundred highly-creative, lower-profile, hugely-talented guitarists plucking the strings; for every Brad Mehldau plying the trade ten dozen marvelous, relatively unknown pianists show up in the mailbox or the downloads. And for every Ralph Alessi out there blowing their horns,... read more
Deep Blue Organ Trio - Folk Music
by Rick Anderson, Notes, June 2008
The "organ trio" format is one of the most venerable and fiercely defended combo configurations in jazz. Organists are generally adamant that no bass is needed, and take pride in being able to provide running basslines themselves using the pedals of the Hammond B3 organ (the preferred instrument in this configuration) while playing melody and chordal accompaniment on the manuals?and soloing, of course. This trio, comprised of organist Chris... read more
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