Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Alon Farber Hagiga with Dave Douglas - The Magician: Live in Jerusalem
by Jim Motavalli, The New York City Jazz Record
Jazz albums recorded in New Jersey, that's pretty common, but we don't see many coming out of Jerusalem. The Israeli jazz scene is unquestionably continuing to grow, and the talent there is top-notch. For The Magician: Live in Jerusalem, saxophonist Alon Farber has put together a great septet, one that sounds like a much larger band. And a visit from American trumpeter Douglas—who loves international sounds—is certainly a big bonus:... read more
Chris Walden & the LMR Jazz Orchestra feat. Tierney Sutton & Kurt Elling - Missa Iubileum Aureum: Golden Jubilee Jazz Mass
by Editor, Jazz Blues News
From his own Big Band albums, to his Grammy-nominated Symphony No. 1, or his hundreds of credits in film, TV, and writing for some of the world's biggest artists, composer/arranger Chris Walden has never shied away from monumental musical challenges. With Missa Iubileum Aurem, Walden was commissioned by trombonist & Napa Valley entrepreneur Ted Hall, in celebration of his 50th Wedding Anniversary, to find an original approach to melding jazz... read more
Anthony Branker - Beauty Within
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The "Rising Star" status isn't confined to fresh music school graduates. Dr. Anthony Branker, Educator - who, for twenty-seven years, was engaged in a big way with Princeton University's jazz program - has achieved a recent "rising star" tag as a composer. This after releasing seven top notch CDs for Origin Records, including the masterful Uppity (2013).
"Composer/Musical Director" is Branker's title on his recordings. He doesn't... read more
Scott Reeves - Portraits and Places
by Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest
Scott Reeves, composer, arranger, flugelhorn and trombone player, is a Professor of Music on the faculty of the City College of New York. He's also worked with the big bands of Dave Liebman, Chico O'Farrill, Oliver Lake, and Bill Mobley. He has released four albums as a leader, all with ensembles of seven or less. "Portraits and Places" (Origin Records) is how fifth recording and serves as an introduction to the Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra,... read more
Clark Sommers - Ba(SH)
by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
Bassist Sommers has been an increasingly busy figure in Chicago and beyond for more than a decade, and here he makes his belated recording debut as bandleader. Throughout, Sommers puts the emphasis on the music, rather than himself, creating a welcoming environment for colleagues Geof Bradfield on reeds and Dana Hall on drums (hence the title of the album, a kind of acronym for these musicians' names). These players speak the same musical... read more
Ray LeVier - Ray's Way
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
If drumming is the subatomic glue that holds a jazz performance together, then Ray Levier is the Einstein of jazz drumming. On his debut recording, Ray's Way, Levier provides a veritable masters class on the seamless and relative incorporation of drums into the melody of a song. Add to this that Idit Shner joins Levier in redefining the blues in jazz and Ray's Way becomes that much more provocative.
Levier bills himself as a freelance... read more
Arthur Kell Speculation Quartet - Live at LunÀtico
by Michael van Gee, Jazz'N'More (Switzerland)
5/5 - "UNMISTAKABLY GREAT" The bassist Arthur Kell is one of the excellent bassists, composers and bandleaders of the New York jazz scene, who has played with almost everyone of rank and name over the last 20 years, including such prominent musicians as Thomas Chapin, Bobby Previte, Marc Ribot, Billy Bang, Bruce Barth and Matt Wilson. His debut album Victoria / Live in Germany, recorded for the Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Hobart Taylor, KUCI, Irvine, CA
A concept album that begins with a jazz bed under a reading from Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" and continues with a variety of styles to evoke mental images and imaginings of the "red planet". I like the offbeat ballad "How I Loved You on Mars", the Metheny like "Sojourner","Memnonia Quadrangle", a guitar meditation, and "Spirit" A reprise of the first cut without the Bradbury narration and with a fine trumpet... read more
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