Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Kim Richmond Ensemble - Live At Cafe Metropol
by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
The first live CD by Kim Richmond's sextet is full of extended performances (five of the seven numbers clock in between 9:46 and 16:08) and dynamic solos. When the song is a standard, such as a lengthy exploration of "You Don't Know What Love Is" or "Invitation," the renditions are episodic, benefiting from Richmond's arranging skills. The originals (of which the explosive "Fuzzy Wuzzy" is a highpoint) are inside/outside, allowing the soloists... read more
Benjamin Boone - The Poets Are Gathering
by Editor, The Jazz Page
NOTEABLES: Saxophonist Benjamin Boone fuses jazz with spoken words in a collection of pieces speaking to the challenges of our times. The project features the musical talents joined with some truly outstanding poets and words delivered to impacting effect. Incredible... read more
Scenes - Destinations
by Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
Drummer John Bishop, guitarist John Stowell and bassist Jeff Johnson will soon be celebrating two decades together as the trio they call Scenes. Bishop founded the Origin label in Seattle in 1997, and by the fall of 2000 the three veteran Pacific Northwest musicians had combined in a group that has released six records on Origin.
For all the subtlety and intricacy of the group's interaction, their music commands attention because of... read more
Lucas Pino - No Net Nonet
by Jerome Wilson, Cadence
The album is by a sharp, sax-heavy nine piece group very much in the mainstream jazz line. The faster pieces are prickly and kinetic but the slower ones, like "Sunday Play" which features a gorgeous tenor solo by leader Pino and thoughtful bass by Desmond White, tend to have the most personality. Pino's deep-souled soloing is consistently smart and spirited while guitarist Rafal Sarnecki gets a nice turn on the placid "Homage A 'Mitch" and Mat... read more
Alain Mallet - Mutt Slang II: A Wake of Sorrows Engulfed in Rage
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
The art of jazz would seem to be a mystery to most, and at the same time, a language understood by many. In the entirety of its history, it has served as a central location for idiomatic change, a virtual jumping off point for explorative ventures into both new and traditional world forms. The wide lens of the music of pianist/composer Alain Mallet mirrors in a way, the large embrace of all humankind necessary globally to build a meaningful... read more
Harvie S - Bright Dawn
by Francesco Spezia, UK Jazz News
Harvie S has long been one of the most sought-after double bassists on the New York jazz scene, ever since he moved there in the early 1970's. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with a veritable who's who of straight-ahead jazz - Sheila Jordan, Kenny Barron and Alan Broadbent among them - building a rich and distinguished artistic path.
With "Bright Dawn", he confidently reasserts his identity as a bandleader, composer and... read more
The Spin Quartet - In Circles
by Paul Abella, Music Lounge - WDCB, Chicago
First up, Chicago's own Spin Quartet. They've got a new album out called In Circles (Origin Records). Led by Seattle transplant Chad McCullough, this is an all-star group, featuring Geof Bradfield on tenor sax, Clark Sommers on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums. This piano-less quartet can kick up a storm when it wants to (as on "You Will Look for Yours On Earth") but it can also be nice and mellow (as on "Simple Song"). Considering the lack... read more
Jerry Heldman - Revelation(s)
by Paul de Barros, Seattle Times
This double CD fills in a long lost missing link in Northwest jazz history. Recorded live in 1973 and 1974 at various small venues in Portland and Seattle, the music is played by a quartet led by the late, legendary - but seldom-recorded - Seattle pianist (and bassist) Jerry Heldman, who from 1965-68 presided over the Llanghaelhyn, a coffee house on Eastlake located in the turreted, fairy-tale building by the University bridge.
Heldman, who... read more
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