Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Les DeMerle - Cookin' At The Corner, Volume 1
by Edward Blanco, All About Jazz
A veteran first-call musician and leader of many bands who has also shared the stage with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Mel Torme, power drummer Les DeMerle's fourth album on the Origin label, Cookin' at the Corner, Volume One, was recorded live at the Jazz Corner in Hilton Head, South Carolina in 2005. DeMerle and crew deliver a swinging performance of jazz vocals and instrumentals music, playing thirteen classic standards... read more
Keigo Hirakawa - Pixel
by Oza, Jazz to Audio (Japan)
Keigo Hirakawa is a pianist residing in Dayton, Ohio, with the title of a Ph.D. in engineering, it seems. Another album that resonates with me? It wasn't on my radar, but I'm enjoying listening to it thanks to a recommendation. By the way, it appears to be his third leader album.
The lineup consists of a quintet with guitar and saxophone. I checked the members on his blog, and except for Robert Hurst, I hadn't heard of the others. The lineup... read more
Allison Adams Tucker - WANDERlust
by Dee Dee McNeil, Musicalmemoirs' Blog
This vocalist is quite extraordinary. She sings well in English, French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and Japanese on this groundbreaking recording. Yes, six languages and all sung with emotion, passion and sounding very authentic to this listener's ear. The singer and her longtime pianist, Josh Nelson, flew to New York and recorded with an International group of musicians. The results is a unique and pleasurable project. Tucker majored in... read more
Lower Monumental - Mayday Session
by Stephen Latessa, All About Jazz
When I was living at home, there were certain types of music that would cause my mother to knock on my bedroom door as she walked past and ask, "what are you listening to?" in a tone that seemed to wonder whether she had a reason to be worried. The Mayday Session is that type of music. It isn't particularly loud or jarring, but there are enough kinks and corners with who-knows-what on the other side of them to make the whole project vaguely... read more
Michael Dease - City Life: Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill is on a remarkable roll, authoring an impressive run of compositions represented on eight albums released on the Origin Records label. Each has featured a bandleader associated with the top shelf staff at Rodney Whitaker's jazz program at Michigan State University. City Life (2025) is the third under the leadership of trombone great Michael Dease. The two-disc release includes 19... read more
Hal Galper - O's Time
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
50 years in, Galper has done an enviable job of keeping jazz piano trio fresh, creative and insightful. Even when playing a chestnut, it's not about playing pretty for the people, it's about making them sit up and listen, and he does it without hitting you over the head. Successfully taking bop into the new century, Galper is on the money throughout with restless creativity that draws you in and keeps you there. Well done... read more
New Stories - Hope is in the Air
by Peter Monaghan, Earshot
After many years of relative obscurity, Elmo Hope is getting at least some of this due. A contemporary of Thelonious Monk, Hope long was overshadowed by that askew genius. With some overcorrection, he of late has been compared in greatness with Monk. That might be over-reaching, but the point, really, is that comparisons aren't as useful as plain appreciation of an undoubtedly great musician's accomplishments.
In fact, as Don Sickler relates... read more
Thomas Marriott - Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson
by Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes, May 2008
Thomas Marriott is one of the two first-tier trumpet players to come out of Seattle in the last decade. The other is Cuong Vu. Marriott is the more "inside" of the two, but not by much. Crazy is creatively off-the-wall. It is also a sincerely affectionate tribute. Marriot does not offer bebop versions of Willie Nelson songs but uses them to provoke extravagant acts of the imagination. Some ("Phases & Stages," "You Wouldn't Cross the Street") are... read more
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