Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Florian Hoefner - Luminosity
by Michael J. West, Jazztimes
"Typical" and "generic" aren't synonyms. Pianist Florian Hoefner works to create music that " doesn't sound like generic jazz." To be sure, Luminosity, Hoefner's third album with his quartet, is not generic, with its oblong structures and meters that require listeners to search for the 1. But its use of those elements to distinguish it does make it fairly typical mid-2010s postbop.
But never mind: The point is it's very... read more
Michael Waldrop - Origin Suite
by Ilya Stemkovsky, Modern Drummer
Origin Suite is a swinging, grooving big band disc with drummer, vibraphonist, and composer Michael Waldrop adding thoughtful support under some fine frontline solos. Waldrop works out over the Latin flavors of "Origin Suite: 3) Al Final de la Noche" with sensitivity and wonderfully controlled snare and tom interplay.... read more
Metropolitan Jazz Octet - The Bowie Project
by C. Michael Bailey, Wild Mercury Rhythm
Like a melodic fragment, a foretelling leitmotif teasing with more to come, Chicago vocalist Paul Marinaro's recent Not Quite Yet (Myrtle Records, 2022) included two David Bowie compositions: "5:15 The Angels Have Gone" and "No Plan." Inclusion here pushed Marinaro's second studio recording over the top of a creative peak for the singer in preparation for an even greater one. Released a little too close for comfort to the release of... read more
Dana Hall - Into the Light
by Kevin Whitehead, NPR Music Reviews
Dana Hall doesn't often hog the spotlight on his debut album, Into the Light. He doesn't need to; he plays more stuff behind other musicians than some drummers do in a solo. Hall stays busy back there, exhorting and swinging the band, playing contrary rhythms, shifting his patterns and punctuating everybody else's solos.
Here, Herbie Hancock's "I Have a Dream" is played more or less in the style of the Miles Davis quintet with Tony Williams... read more
Phil Kelly & The SW Santa Ana Winds - My Museum
by Rick Culver, www.jazzradio247.com
Having been fortunate enough to be a member of so many of the greatest jazz bands, let me begin this review by stating that I sure wish I'd been a member of this one. This band list is definitely a who's who of the best musicians in Los Angeles, jazz or studio: jazz for the inventiveness of the solos and swing of the music, and studio for the technical ability of the musicians, or as Phil put it: "There wasn't time for a rehearsal�we�put the ink... read more
Brent Jensen w/ Bill Anschell, Jeff Johnson, John Bishop - One More Mile
by John Barron, All About Jazz
Idaho-based saxophonist Brent Jensen seems to have found his musical soul-mates in the Pacific Northwest. For One More Mile, the College of Southern Idaho professor teams up with three of Seattle, Washington's finest?pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop?for an intriguing straight-ahead set of standards and originals.
Jensen is a well-rounded improviser who can get things cooking in a variety of styles and... read more
Hal Galper Trio - Airegin Revisited
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A veteran of the neo classic Blue Note era via his long affiliation with Sam Rivers, Galper rounds up some free jazz pals to round out his trio that takes us back to the good old days. Following up what might have been his career record, Galper and his pals keep it well away from the church basement with a set that has such a solid clarity of purpose that your ears won?t let you hit the pause button. Focusing on a piano trio, post bop mandate... read more
Jeff Johnson - Free
by Dave McElfresh, JazzNow
In spite of the printed lineup info, this certainly doesn't feel like an effort by only three players. Check out the thick interactions between Johnson's bass and Teuber's saxophone on some of the cuts and see if your head doesn't register the heady dialogues as being the work of more than four arms.
Johnson's a shadow boxer who doesn't support a soloist as much as he challenges him. No wonder he's played with the likes of Chet Baker, Julian... read more
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