Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John Stowell and Dave Liebman - Blue Rose
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
RINGER OF THE WEEK If you're not a sucker for duet albums, maybe THIS one will change your mind. Acoustic guitarist John Stowell sits down by the fireplace with Dave Liebman for a collection of duets that sounds like a conversation between masters of their craft, which is exactly what it is.
Liebman, who is better known for being a bit on the left of center side of music, reigns in like a stallion while delivering deft performances on... read more
Jessica Williams - The Art of the Piano
by John Sunier, Audiophile Audition
A fine environment - psychologically and acoustically - allows Williams to make one of her finest recordings yet. 5*****
Such a title might seem excessively self-promotional with most other jazz pianists on the scene today, but not so with Jessica Williams. She's one of the nation's musical treasures and one of the most distinctively original jazz pianists to be heard anywhere. This is her third CD for Origin, recorded live at... read more
John Stowell - Solitary Tales
by Matthew Warnock, Just Jazz Guitar Magazine
John Stowell has spent the last thirty years developing a reputation as one of the finest guitarists and educators in the country. John has a unique playing style, holding the guitar almost upright like a cellist. His incredible harmonic vocabulary has given him a personalized sound that has become instantly recognizable to fans of jazz guitar. Along with his performing career, John is also in high demand as a teacher and clinician. Over the... read more
Carlos Vega - Bird's Ticket
by Travis Rogers, Jr., The Jazz Owl
Carlos Vega, saxophonist and composer, was well-established in the Latin music scene of Miami and a student of Jazz when he made the move to Chicago in 2005. Having played with Arturo Sandoval and Tito Puente, he found a happy convergence of all his musical experiences and influences among the musicians of Chicago.
It was this that brought about Bird's Ticket (Origin 82708) and a collaboration with some of Chicago's first-call players. With... read more
Chad McCullough & Bram Weijters - Abstract Quantities
by Tom Greenland, New York Jazz Record
Antwerp-based pianist Bram Weijters and Chicagoan trumpeter Chad McCullough co-lead Abstract Quantities, with bassist Piet Verbist (another Antverpian) and Seattle drummer John Bishop, a quartet that has developed close musical and personal chemistry over its five-year history. The leaders share compositional chores, penning compelling themes like "Little Song (for Mirthe)" and the carnivalesque "Acceptance or Denial", but the strength of the... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Deep in the Soil
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Energy and enthusiasm fairly leap from the speakers—or headphones—on Sharel Cassity's daring "Call to Order," the opening number on Korean-born saxophonist Jordan VanHemert's fifth album as leader, Deep in the Soil. Alas, that same ardor doesn't reappear until track seven (of eight), trombonist Michael Dease's boppish "ST in the House." In between, VanHemert and his companions (group sizes vary from sextet to duo) offer some agreeable music... read more
Benjamin Boone - The Poets Are Gathering
by Christa V, WCBN - Ann Arbor
This is an innovative album combining poetry and jazz together, the third of its kind that Boone has created. The two art forms have always been linked, and this is a great way to bring them back together. Essentially each song consists of a poet reading their work while jazz music plays as a backing track, turning the poetry into lyrics. All of the works chosen are powerful poems responding to current issues, particularly racism. The music... read more
Bill Anschell | Brent Jensen - We Couldn't Agree More
by Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
The recent CD by pianist Bill Anschell and soprano saxophonist Brent Jensen is called We Couldn't Agree More. The title is inaccurate. In an intimate concert last weekend at The Seasons, they were in even greater agreement, with more daring and more complexity.
The duo's approach is to play well-known tunes without well-known routines; no arrangements, no obvious statement of melody, no predetermined tempos or key signatures. They call on... read more
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