Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John Gross / Billy Mintz - Beautiful You
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Beautiful You, featuring tenor saxophonist John Gross and drummer Billy Mintz, was recorded live at the Tugboat Brew Pub in Portland, Oregon, sound quality excellent. Remember just a few years back, in vinyl days, when live recordings meant murky sounds, bad mixes and distracting crowd noise. Well, not on this one. This live duo outing has a ringing, studio-quality sound.
Saxophonist Gross has worked with the Stan Kenton Band, Toshiko... read more
Brad Goode - Polytonal Big Band: The Snake Charmer
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Trumpeter Brad Goode leads strong and classy 16 team big band through a mix of originals and standards, all conducted under John Davis' baton. The charts keep your interest, and the band has its own signature sound, with punching accents on the bluesy bopper "Goose Chase" and a strong collection of sections that build up on the title tune, with Goode taking a solo that swerves like an entranced cobra. A take of Charlie Parker's "Ornithology" has... read more
Chad McCullough & Bram Weijters - Abstract Quantities
by Herman te Loo, Jazzflits (Netherlands)
The title 'Abstract Quantities' can put an unsuspecting jazz lover on the wrong foot. Indeed, there is not as many abstracts to the music of the quartet of the Belgian pianist Bram Weijters and the American trumpeter Chad McCullough. Both leaders can sign for the repertoire, with haunting melodies, bright writing. Sometimes forming loving songs (like the touching 'Little Song (for Mirthe)'), but there are other, more surprising forms. We... read more
Anthony Branker & Ascent - Dance Music
by Edward Blanco, All About Jazz
Dr. Anthony Branker holds an endowed jazz chair, and is currently director of the Program in Jazz Studies at Princeton University. A composer and musical director, Branker established the jazz collective, Anthony Branker & Ascent in 2004, featuring an A-list of players?among them, saxophonists Tia Fuller and Ralph Bowen fronting a light ensemble, with vocalist Kadri Voorand. Dance Music is the group's third album of all-original music, inspired... read more
Geof Bradfield - melba!
by David Whiteis, DownBeat Magazine
Chicago-based saxophonist Geof Bradfield said he was inspired to craft a suite in honor of the late trombonist and arranger Melba Liston while he was preparing a follow-up to his 2010 recording, African Flowers (Origin). Liston's arrangements for pianist Randy Weston were among Bradfield's primary influences in composing African Flowers. Now, he's incorporated them into Melba!, a six-part commission for septet that premiered in Chicago last... read more
Michael Orenstein - Aperture
by 2022 Top Track Contest, JazzTimes
Grand Prize: Michael Orenstein / Title: "Ode to Manuel"
"Ode To Manuel" is Orenstein's tribute to one of his favorite pianists, Manuel Valera. It was written when Orenstein was still in his undergrad at Oberlin Conservatory, and after playing it for years, Orenstein recorded it for his debut album, Aperture (Origin Records 2022). The listener will hear grooves inspired by Cuban music intertwined with colorful modern harmonies, performed... read more
Dawn Clement - Delight
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making a Scene Magazine
Dawn Clement lets you know from the very first tune on this album, that she is a technical master at the 88-keys. Her trio is full of legacy, passion, and tenacity. Clement's original tune is called "Outstretch" and it opens the album with straight-ahead jazz, a flurry of notes, some unexpected breaks in the rhythm, and a melody for the trio to enrich, each in their own improvised way.
"When we first came together as a trio, Buster, Matt, and... read more
Hal Galper Trio - The Zone: Live at the Yardbird Suite
by Mike Joyce, JazzTimes
It's not often that seasoned jazz musicians find one of their own recordings truly revelatory in hindsight. Yet here's a striking example. As acclaimed veteran pianist Hal Galper recalls in his CD liner notes, he had no intention of releasing this live 2016 trio session with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop until he heard a playback and found himself wondering, "Who is this pianist?" To Galper, the playback revealed such a heightened... read more
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