Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Hal Galper - Live at the Berlin Philharmonic, 1977
by Jim Gilchrist, The Scotsman
4-STARS This intense moment in time captures US pianist Hal Galper leading a volatile quintet with the fabled Brecker brothers - trumpeter Randy and the late Mike on tenor saxophone, bassist Wayne Dockery and drummer Bob Moses. The double CD opens by establishing the band's take-no-prisoners ethos with Now Hear This, Galper's creative fire churning and spinning over the relentless pace of bass and drums while both Breckers are in... read more
Thomas Marriott - Individuation
by John Kelman, All About Jazz
All too often you hear that jazz is dead, that there is little of significance being created today. Maybe the playing field is just so large that it can be more difficult to identify major leaps forward than in past decades. Still, for a marginalized genre that is responsible for something like 3% of total CD sales in the United States, one need only look at the sheer volume of new releases by young artists each and every month to realize that... read more
Nnenna Freelon - Time Traveler
by Brenda Nelson-Strauss, Black Grooves
Like many over the past couple of years, jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon has been confronting grief. The singer's beloved husband and partner of 40 years, Philip Freelon, passed after a long battle with ALS, shortly before the pandemic caused millions of untimely deaths and left bereaved families across the globe in mourning. Freelon's new album, Time Traveler, was created through this lens of suffering, grief and loss. Recorded both before and... read more
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by John Frederick Moore, Jazziz
There's long been a spiritual component to Jessica Williams' work, but rarely has it been as explicit as it is on this set of solo piano pieces. Taken from live performances in Seattle over a three-year period,the seven selections are largely spontaneous improvisations, and that raw creativity is what makes this disc so satisfying, both musically and emotionally.
At first blush, these pieces seem to fall into the category of brooding,... read more
David Friesen and Glen Moore - Bactrian
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
Time and space can take nothing away from certain musical relationships. There are those on-and-off partnerships that flourish regardless of the frequency of encounters and years gone by, and this is clearly one of them.
The connection between bass masters David Friesen and Glen Moore goes back some five decades. It yielded two previous duo recordings - In Concert (Vanguard, 1977) and Returning (Burnside, 1993) - and it continues to bear... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by Fred Bouchard, The New York City Jazz Record
The laconic Japanese adage "Fall seven times, stand up eight" underpins a subtext behind the title of Jordan VanHemert's fifth leader date, Survival of the Fittest. A hearty, adept, good-humored tenor saxophonist, the 30ish Korean-born Michigander here re-assembles, with trombonist-producer Michael Dease, the sextet of their slightly elder peers that, in last year's Deep In The Soil (Topic), first examined the resilience, self-reliance and... read more
Darren Johnston - Life in Time
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Brooklyn-based trumpeter Darren Johnston traveled to Chicago in May 2021 to record Life in Time with three of his favorite musicians: saxophonist Geof Bradfield, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall who form their own working trio in the Windy City. The generally charming studio date encompasses ten original compositions, six by Johnston, four by Bradfield.
Technically and musically, the foursome is splendid. What is missing—and it... read more
Toby Koenigsberg - Sense
by Jim Santella, Cadence, December 2006
Sense features the Toby Koenigsberg Trio in a modern mainstream program that includes original works as well as those of pioneers such as Bud Powell and Bill Evans. Based in Oregon, and working cohesively as old friends will do, the trio offers creative forays into Jazz's core. Two brief interpretations of "Stella By Starlight" serve to demonstrate the unique approach that the pianist and his trio apply to their work. Nothing is straightforward.... read more
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