Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Bongwool Lee - My Singing Fingers
by Editor, DiscUnion (Japan)
Born in Seoul, Korea, debut work by a woman pianist, Bongwool Lee, living in NY. Piano trio work with Luques Curtis on bass and Kendrick Scott drumming - a rhythm team representing NY. Taylor Eigsti joins in on the fender Rhodes on the 8th song, and he has acclaimed that her music is "a strong melody, rich harmony, and a unique blend of unpredictable balance that is accessible and unpredictable." One more person in the NY jazz scene, a new... read more
Dana Hall - Into the Light
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Working out with Terell Stafford's crew in tow, this sounds like a date that would have been right for Maxjazz if it wasn't so left leaning. A well traveled drummer that knows how to give the rest of the crew some, Hall has an affinity for civil rights era jazz but plays it like he's in the present looking forward rather than standing still on the progressive shores of 1964. A first class set of sitting down jazz, Hall's long over due solo... read more
Pharez Whitted - For the People
by Aaron Cohen, Downbeat Magazine
Trumpeter Pharez Whitted does not hide his populist intentions He titled his latest album For the People (Origin) and loaded it with compositions that highlight a bright tone and optimistic spirit.
"Music has the power to help mellow out some screwed-up philosophies," Whitted said at a cafe near his home on Chicago's South Side. "I'd like my music to speak ot that. Believe in something--hope. I don't want to preach; I just want... read more
Benjamin Boone | Philip Levine - The Poetry of Jazz
by Optimism One, The Normal School Literary Magazine
WORD MUSIC: A DISCUSSION WITH BENJAMIN BOONE
The definitions of music and poetry are similar enough to trouble distinction. In fact, descriptions of poetry often, if not always, include allusions to its musical qualities - its rhythms, its repetitions, its tone, its accents—all words that could also describe a song. And the formal study of poetry, even in our modern privileging of free verse, still includes at least some discussion... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by Larry Hollis, Cadence Magazine
For VanHemert's newest recorded effort, producer Michael Dease has assembled a crack combo that should ring a few bells among regular readers. Joining the two other horns are the same names that graced Sharel Cassity's recent Sunnyside disc reviewed in the last issue of this mag. Also present is the same drummer along with Helen Sung and Rodney Whitaker rounding out the solid underpinning. The leader has a handful of discs out and while he's... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by Rob Young, Urban Flux
It wasn?t until recently had the honor to listen to pianist Jessica Williams play for the first time. With that said, her latest recording ?SONG OF EARTH? is simply stunning accomplishment for her. In fact, I have a tendency of shying away from solo recordings but I?m reminded with this lovely offering by Williams of the importance of artists recording solo projects. Moreover, I?m still in awe by the fluidity of her compositions, ambient tone... read more
Hal Galper - E Pluribus Unum - Live in Seattle
by Ken Dryden, New York City Jazz Record
Hal Galper has long been a part of the jazz scene, having recorded extensively as a leader over the past four decades and appearing on sessions by Sam Rivers, Phil Woods, Cannonball Adderley, Lee Konitz and Chet Baker, among others. Galper began with classical piano studies at an early age, spent time at Berklee and absorbed much from several Boston-based artists before leaving for New York City. Galper began leading his own groups in the ?70s.... read more
Josh Nelson - The Sky Remains
by Carol Banks Weber, Festival Peak
Pianist/composer Josh Nelson sees the world differently. A restless, bold dreamer, he uncovers the extraordinary in people, places, and things we often take for granted - with an uncanny sense of beauty, humanity, and musical imagination. He did it in the 2011 sci-fi/steam punk album Discoveries, which kicked off his well-received, multi-media "Discovery Project" series of shows traveling up and down the West Coast. He did it again with... read more
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