Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jeff Johnson - Near Earth
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The trio format without a chording instrument (a guitar or keyboard) tends to loosen the atmosphere, giving the music a more fluid feel. Bassist Jeff Johnson, joined by saxophonist Hans Teuber and drummer Tad Britton, achieves a compelling chamber-like fluidity on Near Earth.
Teuber's tenor saxophone approach here has a clean, clear, bracingly cool feel on its interplay with with Johnson's round bass lines and the intricate textures from... read more
Jay Thomas with the Oliver Groenewald Newnet - I Always Knew
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Jay Thomas plays trumpet and flugelhorn as well as alto, tenor and soprano sax for tribute to blue pastels from masters ranging from Duke Ellington to Chick Corea. Fellow brass man Oliver Groenewald does most of the charts for the team that also boasts Brad Allison/tp-fh, Dan Marcus/tb, travis Ranney/as-fl-cl, Greg Sinabaldi/bs-bcl, John Hansen/p, Michael Glynn/b and Adam Kessler/dr. The moods and textures are highly in debt to Gil Evans, with... read more
Alex Graham - The Good Life
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
This quartet session, led by sax player Alex Graham, takes a crack at showing off all that can be right with a quartet in the post-bop era. The tone is generally light, with a fair amount of call and response between Graham's sax and the rhythm section. Generally the demeanor is bouncing, almost like an updated Sunny Side of the Street. The band deals well with originals as well as nice pieces from Wayne Shorter and even a small-band arrangement... read more
Ryan Cohan - Originations
by Hrayr Attarian, Chicago Jazz Magazine
Pianist and composer Ryan Cohan is a master of creating harmony from contrasts. Over the years his works have incorporated many diverse influences and have become progressively more impressionistic. His acclaimed 2013 release The River even inspired painter Ellen Priest to create an abstract canvas that was displayed at St Peter's Church in Manhattan. Cohan's sixth release as a leader, the sublime Originations, matches his previous oeuvre in... read more
John Wojciechowski - Focus
by Paul Abella, WDCB
Let's start this week with Chicago based saxophonist John Wojciechowski and his new album Focus on Origin Records. He teams up with a monster of a rhythm section, pianist Ryan Cohan, bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Dana Hall. Wojciechowski's a pretty aggressive player on the tenor, and from the get-go on this disc, it's clear he's not planning on taking any prisoners. With such a sympathetic rhythm section, he tears through every nook and... read more
Scenes - Variable Clouds: Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The saxophonist Rick Mandyck, guitarist John Stowell, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop released their debut as Scenes in 2001, and this first live recording captures their unparalleled chemistry together, where mostly originals unfold with a strong sense of connection between the band and audience.
"Tilbury Hill" gets the listen off to a warm, soothing start, where the agile sax and spirited guitar is met with cozy drumming, and... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Philip Booth, Jazzlands
Anthony Branker's 10-movement suite, initially written in response to the forced migration of Syrians during their country's civil war, also points to the open racism, bigotry and cultural erasure on the rise in America, circa 2023. The ambitious, sprawling song cycle opens with the fusion-edged "The Door of No Return," its title a reference to the Senegalese site where Africans were captured and forced onto slave ships bound to the New World;... read more
Dave Slonaker Big Band - Shifty Paradigms
by Mark Griffith, Modern Drummer
Is there a busier drummer around than Peter Erskine? But as his schedule has gotten even busier, it seems that his playing has gotten less busy. And while there are many drummers in LA that can drive a big band through tricky charts, no one does it better than Peter Erskine. As I said in his Modern Drummer Legends book, I don't think that Peter Erskine has ever made a bad record. He always seems to give the music what it needs, and Shifty... read more
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