Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
James Moody - 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS When it comes to having fun, few events can compete with a birthday party. Fun is clearly at the summit of the agenda on 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, recorded at the famed New York City nightspot on March 26, 2005, to celebrate saxophonist James Moody's eightieth birthday, and released on the same date in 2025 to honor the centenary of his birth. Moody, who, with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, comprised one of... read more
Paul Marinaro - Mood Ellington
by Tony Zambito, Jazz Buffalo (NY)
Every once in a while, a jazz recording arrives that reminds us what this music is really about — emotion, storytelling, and the simple, human joy of hearing a great song delivered with sincerity. Paul Marinaro's Mood Ellington is exactly that kind of project. Though widely celebrated as a Chicago vocalist, Marinaro is a native of Buffalo, NY, and you can hear that grounding in every phrase. His approach is warm, unpretentious, and deeply... read more
Richard Sussman - Live at Sweet Rhythm
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
Life has few certainties, but the constant and ever-moving nature of time is one of them. Events, both miniscule and monumental, pass by and usually leave nothing more than a memory or, in the case of music, a record. Such was the case with pianist Richard Sussman's Free Fall (Inner City Records, 1978). Joined by some burgeoning young talent in 1978, Sussman's album became an underground classic and that seemed to be the end of it. All the... read more
William Thomas - Notes From A Drummer
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
As with many of the artists on Seattle's Origin label, William Thomas is an excellent jazz drummer. Here on his debut as a leader, the Portland native spends an hour of quality time with his set, but more important to the album is the time he spent with his score sheets. The feature here is the quality of composition that he's been able to put together a number of times, culminating in a series of quite worthwhile numbers. As is not necessarily... read more
Michael Waldrop Big Band - Time Within Itself
by John Lane, Percussive Notes
Big band jazz in full swing - Mike Waldrop's debut as a big band leader is a soaring good listen. Waldrop has recently distinguished himself as an educator at Eastern Washington University, but he spent plenty of time paying his dues as a working musician/drummer in New York and Chicago before embarking on his academic career. While at the University of North Texas, Waldrop polished his big band durmming with the One O'Clock Lab Band. He also... read more
Benjamin Boone with the Ghana Jazz Collective - Joy
by Chris M. Slawecki, All About Jazz
Benjamin Boone's set with this band born and grown in Ghana is a genuine cross-cultural jazz Joy.
The seeds of Joy were planted when composer-saxophonist Boone spent a year as a US Fulbright Scholar in Ghana in sabbatical from his professorship at California State University (Fresno), to study the country's music and musical traditions. The music Boone found made him feel at home: "These guys know American jazz inside and out—but with a... read more
David Friesen Circle 3 Trio - Interaction
by Raul da Gama, JazzdaGama
Circle 3, bassist David Friesen's exploratory trio is no ordinary threesome. On Interaction this is principally a chordless trio - "principally", because Mr Friesen sometimes deems it fit to add piano to the proceedings - where considerable musical exploration takes place as the music progresses and melodies are tossed around, now feather-light and wispy as cirrus clouds; or melodies that turn dense with sonic narratives, like foreboding... read more
Storms/Nocturnes - VIA
by David Whiteis, JazzTimes
Storms/Nocturnes--reedman Tim Garland, pianist Geoffrey Keezer and vibraphonist Joe Locke--originally evolved out of the septet Garland led on his 'Made My Walking' project in 2000. This percussion-less trio format illuminates the interweaving voice's subtleties, strengths and dexterity. However, it also challenges them to be fully realized at all times; in other words, there's no sonic cushion, no rhythmic safety net, to fall back on. Many... read more
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