4-STARS To mark the hundredth anniversary of the great Wes Montgomery's birth in March 1923, guitarist Mimi Fox has recorded One for Wes, an earnest tribute that consists of eight Montgomery-inspired tunes adeptly performed by Fox's San Francisco Bay-area organ trio with Brian Ho on Hammond B3 and Lorca Hart on drums.
As one might expect, there is a lot of blues, emotion and reverence in play, none of which detracts from the trio's... read more
A very personal album from a cat that has had his share of enormous changes over the last few years, Perla takes a break from his opera world commissions and heads back to late 60s jazz rock for a mental and spiritual cleansing that finds him right in the pocket of pre-fusion where the seeds were being sown. This feels much like the kind of post civil rights jazz "Stan" Clarke was recording for Polydor prior to Return to Forever coming... read more
If you follow jazz news, you've surely heard of Cyrille Aimée, the French-born chanteuse who took top honors at last year's inaugural Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and got third place at the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. But have you actually heard Aimée? Since 2007, she's released seven albums, including two with Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo, two with her Surreal Band, a live... read more
John Moulder of Chicago spent five years composing the material for his album Trinity. It's an epic three-part program inspired by religious belief, but it can be appreciated on any number of levels. The sound of the recording is tremendous, as are the performances - from such players as pianist Laurence Hobgood, saxophonist Brad Wheeler, trumpeter Tito Carrillo, reedist Paul McCandless, drummer Paul Wertico and others. Moulder spends... read more
Guitarist Peter Lerner hasn't reached Broom's level of recognition, but he surely has outdone himself with his newest release, Continuation (Origin Records). Though he sounds strong in solo passages, it's the band he leads and the strength of his compositions that make the deepest impression here. With pianist Willie Pickens playing a leonine role throughout the recording and Robert Irving III serving as producer, "Continuation"... read more
She's a little bit late to release songs intended to kick off a new century, but Jessica Williams can be forgiven that as her music more than makes up for it. The album is actually titled as it is in celebration of Williams' emergence from a low time following the 9/11 attacks, and as such has a fairly upbeat tone throughout the proceedings. Aside from a stray Sonny Rollins composition (which Williams treats masterfully as a blues romp with some... read more
RINGER OF THE WEEK Glorious musical journeys to far a way lands both acoustic and electric are delivered by trombonist Doug Scarborough and his wide ranging team of violinist Akram Abdulfattah, pianist Jeremy Siskind, bassist Damian Erskine, drummer Reinhardt Melz and Mustafa Boztuy on the hand percussive darbuka. The themes range widely, going from a table dance between the leader and Siskind on "Imaginal Cells" to a get down funk fest... read more
From Seattle drummer Steve Korn comes Points in Time, his third release on Origin Records. Following in the theme of his previous albums, Korn makes heavy use of the musicality of the drums both in his playing and in arrangement and composition. The album opens with the rather ethereal (and short) "Hymn" before moving into "Helio," where the individual artists take some extra time for their solos, highlighted by pianist Marc Seales' long tour de... read more
This is just a small collection of the Origin Records reviews. Click here to view all reviews or try to Search for your favorite CD title.
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Budapest, Rudolf Radnai
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease Big Band - Return Trajectory
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect