Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Gene Argel - Luminescent
by Tree Palmedo, Jazz Society of Oregon
Four decades into his career, Gene Argel has finally dropped his debut album. Recorded with some of Seattle's finest players, Luminescent is a bridging of Argel's original home -- he grew up in Tacoma -- and his adopted one, the island of Maui, where Argel has lived since 1982. There's a lot of catching up to do, and the album does its best to cover years of ground: some tracks are swinging, others funky, others haunting tributes to the... read more
Chris Walden Big Band - No Bounds
by Fred Bouchard, Downbeat, December 2006
Arms-wide embraces and straightforward voicings mark the squeaky-clean but silky-smooth style of trumpeter and film and TV composer Walden. A cast of 60-plus with international guests wail these tight-as-a-cricket charts and take brisk solos. Tierney Sutton sings Peggy Lee straight-arrow on "People Will Say We're In Love" as trombonist Bob McChesney goes wild. The album features Walden's spacious, seamless charts, but offers few surprises:... read more
Jim Knapp Orchestra - Secular Breathing
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
The cleverly titled Secular Breathing is the third recording by composer/arranger Jim Knapp's Seattle-area orchestra and arguably the best to date, thanks to Knapp's handsome and provocative charts, the presence of guest trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and the return of former JKO drummer Jon Wikan, who now lives in New York City. Knapp's richly textured arrangements lend muscle to the ensemble, making it seem larger and more robust than its actual... read more
Bill Anschell - Figments
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz.com
Bill Anschell is a lot of things. He is house pianist and mainstay at Origin Arts, showing up on a wide range of projects. He also contributes to this publication, writing with grace on craft of jazz. But, late at night, he is a musical James Joyce, spinning musical thread off the top of his head. And so he does on Figments.
Recorded over a series of late nights, after practicing his chosen craft, Anschell clears his mind and...begins... read more
Giacomo Gates - Centerpiece
by Jim Newsom, Portfolio Weekly
Origin Records is a Seattle-based boutique label founded by drummer John Bishop. Though Bishop's stated intent was to spotlight jazz artists of the Pacific Northwest, it's Connecticut-based vocalist Giacomo Gates that caught my ear with his recent Origin CD, Centerpiece. Gates is a soulful singer whose range is reminiscent of Kevin Mahogany and Johnny Hartman, and this disc swings like few others these days. You'll recognize most of the songs,... read more
Bobby Broom - The Way I Play: Live In Chicago
by D. Oscar Grimes, O's Place Jazz Letter
Guitarist Bobby Broom leads a trio with Dennis Carroll (b) and Kobie Watkins (d) for this live session at Pete Miller's Steakhouse in Chicago. They are playing bebop - eight covers of classic tunes. Bobby takes the bull by the horns on Parker's "Donna Lee" and Rollins' "Unit 7" with great fills from Watkins. Performing in a restaurant is always challenge but at least a few of the patrons were captured by Broom's work and there was lots of... read more
Amit Friedman - Unconditional Love
by JEAN-CLAUDE VANTROYEN, Le Soir (Belgium)
A jazz of today which swings, which grooves, with enthusiasm and who does not ask too many questions. In quartet with Tom Oren at the piano, Gilad Abro on double bass and Yonatan Rosen on drums, plus an oud, a singer and a singer for two pieces. Everything is from Friedman's pen, except "Junk" by Paul McCartney. And if it is sometimes nostalgic, with the memory of his father, who died in 2017, to whom the album is dedicated, the album is marked... read more
Ryan Cohan - Originations
by Ed Enright, Downbeat
EDITOR'S PICK Six integrally linked compositions constitute Originations, on which Chicago-based pianist and composer Ryan Cohan explores the assimilation of his reawakened Arab lineage and his Jewish upbringing.
Created with the support of a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commission, Originations brings a broad spectrum of disparate musical influences and sensibilities into focus as Cohan assimilates Middle Eastern and North... read more
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