Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Kim Richmond Ensemble - Live At Cafe Metropol
by George Kanzler, JazzTimes
West Coast small bands seem to enjoy arrangements with structure and routines more than the rough-and-tumble favored by Big Apple groups. This sextet, led by saxophonist and composer/arranger Kim Richmond, even manages to make a head arrangement called at this gig sound as if it were organized and rehearsed. But this also isn't one of those annoyingly over-polished, polite combo offerings that have given a smirk to the term "West Coast jazz"... read more
Tom Collier - Plays Haydn, Mozart, Telemann and others
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Tom Collier is a bit of a character as, can be attested by the YouTube videos below. He has served as Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Washington since 1980. In 2011, he was appointed Chair of Jazz Studies at the school, and was awarded the Adelaide D. Currie Cole Endowed Professorship in the School of Music for the academic years 2011-2014. He is, indeed, having a good year. His last recording, Mallett Fantasique (Origin... read more
Joachim Mencel - Brooklyn Eye
by Georges Tonla Briquet, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
Polish pianist and composer Joachim Mencel finally realized his dream of life with 'Brooklyn Eye': a recording in the heart of New York with notables from the jazz scene from there, more specifically Scott Colley, Rudy Royston and Steve Cardenas.
Not that Mencel is a novice. He has been composing for film, orchestra and ballet for years and has also performed on stage or in the studio with Richard Galliano, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Terry... read more
Brent Jensen / Rob Walker Quintet - Art of the Groove
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
The Brent Jensen/Rob Walker Quintet opens in a mellow groove and stays there much of the way on this backward- glancing yet quite contemporary album that wouldn't have been out of place in the bop-based Blue Note / Prestige catalogs of the late '50s - early '60s. Alto saxophonist Jensen and trumpeter Walker offer an earnest tribute to their musical predecessors -- especially the legendary Miles Davis -- without imitating them, choosing instead... read more
Bruce Williamson - Standard Transmission
by Kyle O'Brien, Jazz Socitey Of Oregon
Saxophonist Williamson and pianist Lande played together nearly four decades ago, but the Bay Area musicians went separate ways. Their musical connection never faded. The opener finds both players taking upbeat solos on a tune that walks back and forth between waltz and swing, Rodgers & Hart's "I Didn't Know What Time It Was." Joe Henderson's "Mamacita" is a fun, Latin-influenced number that gives Williamson a chance to show off an angular alto... 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
Emi Meyer - Monochrome
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A Seattle native that has managed to tear it up in Asia comes home to hang out with the crème of the Seattle jazz scene to turn out a set that makes you wonder if she's an art chick that can do whatever she wants because Paul Allen gets the first special thanks in the liner notes or is she a millennial Chris Connor. Today's lounge lizards can only listen to so much Cole Porter and this is certainly a sterling alternative come cocktail... read more
Bill Anschell - More To The Ear Than Meets The Eye
by John Nyerges, www.jazzradio247.com
This Origin Records 2006 release starts with deconstructing the melody Night & Day and has wonderful rhythms (!!) floating over the bar lines. Monkisms, use of space, ? time feel, and the chordal voicings are all very musical. The accompaniment of Miller and Martinez is top shelf here (as is everyone on this CD).
Then comes an original tune more rhythmic in it's melody than say a more typical linear approach as in an older song-style standard �... read more
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