Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Joel Miller Sienna Dahlen - Dream Cassette
by Raul da Gama, JazzdaGama
The title of this recording is interesting in the whimsical images it conjures up, none more vivid than a journey back to musical traditions that are a molten mix of styles and cultures that can only come from a Canadian landscape. But more than anything else this is a product of the prodigiously talented musical polymath, Joel Miller. In each one of twelve originals Miller has tempered his arsenal of sophisticated compositional resources with... read more
David Friesen Circle 3 Trio - Where the Light Falls
by Brent Black, Bop-N-Jazz
Widely acknowledged as one of the finest bass players over the last forty years, David Friesen's Circle 3 Trio and Where the Light Falls may be his finest release yet.
Remember melody? Improvisational music was built around the strength of melody long before meter and technique moved to the head of the class. Friesen never forgot melody, he manipulates and manufactures all the possibilities that exist in a simple unadorned melody.... read more
Thomas Marriott - Romance Language
by Nigel Jarrett, Jazz Journal (London)
Jazz might be called the art of theme and variations, the art applying as much to the theme as the way a musician plays around with it. Everyone knows the themes, the tunes, whether written by a jazz composer/musician or someone working in a showbiz area considered not unadjacent. But rarely does anyone devote as much attention to the tune as unadorned entity as trumpeter Thomas Marriott does on this generally slow-tempo album.
If there is... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz.com
Jessica Williams, with her last four CDs on Origin Records, is like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon. Earlier in her career, Williams?who once held the piano chair in drummer Philly Joe Jones band?wrapped her artistry in the Great American Song on Some Ballads Some Blues (Red and Blue, 1999), along with stellar tributes to departed star pianists Art Tatum and Thelonious Monk.
Around the beginning of her teaming with Origin... read more
Nnenna Freelon - Beneath the Skin
by Paul Abella, WDCB, Chicago
Nnenna Freelon's latest album, Beneath the Skin, is a concept album about looking within. Of the ten songs here, Freelon co-wrote nine of them. She certainly pulled together an amazing squad to bring these compositions to life, featuring Alan Pasqua on keys, Keith Ganz on guitar, Evan Roberson on trombone, Shana Tucker on cello, Jonathan Richards on bass and Steve Hass on drums, this band can play whatever Nnenna's got on her mind, from the... read more
Jason Hainsworth - Third Ward Stories
by Brian Zimmerman, Downbeat
EDITOR'S PICK - NOV '16 With Third Ward Stories Houston native Jason Hainsworth continues the longstanding tradition of the Texas Tenors, an esteemed group of raw, hard-blowing saxophonists from the Lone Star State who pioneered a robust fusion of swing, bebop, r&b and blues. Among its figureheads are Illinois Jacquet, David "Fathead" Newman, King Curtis, Arnett Cobb and Buddy Tate, and on his latest album, Hainsworth makes himself... read more
Shawn Purcell - Oblivity
by Editor, Jazz2Love
As a composer, arranger, leader, and guitarist, Shawn Purcell original works layer instruments, forming a massive conglomerate that quakes, rattles, simmers, thrusts, roars, and reels on his 2025 project Oblivity. Performing alongside tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf, trombonist Ben Patterson, keyboardist Chris Ziemba, acoustic bass player Jeff Reed, drummer/percussionist Steve Fidyk, and vocalist Darden Purcell, his material jumps out at... read more
Hal Galper - E Pluribus Unum - Live in Seattle
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Pianist Hal Galper began his journey into "rubato" playing early on in the new millennium, after a quite vibrant career in the mainstream, playing and recording with the likes of all-star alto saxophonists Phil Woods and Cannonball Adderley, legendary trumpeter Chet Baker and guitarist John Scofield. It hasn't always been a smooth ride. At a show with guitarist John Stowell at Carlsbad, California's Museum of Making Music back in 2007, drawing a... read more
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