Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Chris Walden Big Band - Home Of My Heart
by Pat Nason, Washington Times (UPI)
Los Angeles, CA, Mar. 22 (UPI) -- Chris Walden had steady work as a film and TV composer in his native Germany, but his profile there really started to rise after he left his home several years ago to work in Hollywood.
The 38-year-old native of Hamburg grew up in a musical family, as the son of a Swiss soprano. He began his music career in the late 1980s, while still in his teens, composing for the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra and for... read more
Thomas Marriott - Constraints & Liberations
by Chris Robinson, Downbeat
The music on Constraints & Liberations operates and resides in that state between dreams and reality. The record slowly simmers with a restrained intensity and rarely comes to a boil.
The soloists are stellar and never fail to tell engaging stories. Thomas Marriott's trumpet sound is as lush and inviting as it comes. "Up From Under" and "Clues" give him plenty of room to slowly stretch out, like a tall man coming to from a deep sleep and... read more
Thomas Marriott - Flexicon
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz.com
If Seattle, Washington-based Origin Records can be said to have a signature sound, trumpeter Thomas Marriott's Flexicon could be picked as an example. The music is mainstream, with two horns and a rhythm section, polished up and modernized with a nice edge, some luminous Fender Rhodes, a solid-yet-adventurous bassist, and a top notch, push-the-tradition-forward drummer. And everything small and large that the drummer does can be heard.... read more
John McLean - Better Angels
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise
Thursday, July 3, 2008
A lot of good guitarists are recording these days, and John McLean is one of the better ones.
McLean, who works the Chicago area these days, has been performing for more than 25 years and has been involved in more than two dozen releases by other artists during that time. This is just his second album as a leader/composer/arranger.
Like so many of today's musicians, McLean is a multi-degreed artist; he earned his bachelor of music... read more
Bill Anschell - Figments
by Larry Hollis, Cadence
Another name that shows up quite regularly on the Origin/OA2 rosters is Bil Anschell, a pianist surely worthy of wider exposure. As both leader and sideman he has racked up an impressive cache of credentials, playing in varied configurations from duets to larger settings, but 'Figments' is his debut in a solo piano setting. Captured on the most basic studio equipment at is home somewhere in the greater Seattle area, these unpretentious and... read more
Joachim Mencel - Brooklyn Eye
by Marcin PuĊawski, Laboratorium Muzycznych Fuzja (Poland)
"Brooklyn Eye" is a dream come true to record an American-inspired album and to do it in New York, together with American musicians." - its author Joachim Mencel. Listening to the recording, it is easy to come to the conclusion that the pianist has more than fulfilled his dream, because in addition to being inspired by America, he smuggled content boldly referring to illustrative music, which could be the basis of the film, not... read more
Benjamin Boone - Caught in the Rhythm
by Dr. Debra Jan Bibel, Amazon
Benjamin Boone continues his lauded project of uniting poetry with jazz. After the two volumes of The Poetry of Jazz, featuring the poems and narration of Laureate Philip Levine, followed by A Gathering of Poets, 11 narrating their own often dark and angry social commentary, he presents his most interesting, expansive, and musical combinations that Boone himself regards as his best. Again, no text of the poems are provided, forcing the listener... read more
Collier & Dean - Duets
by Jonathan Herrera, Bass Player
While bass-oriented CDs are not always the most musical affairs, this vibraphone-and-bass-guitar duet disc is a refreshing surprise. Collier & Dean cover an eclectic selection of jazzy material, delivering it with sophisticated skill and musicality. Dan Dean, who is well known in the audio production world for his sample CD collections, is a phenomenal player. He demonstrates a highly evolved pick technique and a fluency in harmonically advanced... read more
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