Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
James Moody - 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by Will Friedwald, New York Sun
All-Star Celebration of James Moody's 100th Kicks Off the 2025 Blue Note Jazz Festival
The jazz great was born in Savannah and raised by a single mother in Newark, which is why that city's performing arts center names its annual fall jazz festival in his honor.
Somehow, my favorite bebopper, James Moody, was also my favorite rapper. In 1946, the 21-year-old veteran of the Army Air Corps joined Dizzy Gillespie's pioneering... read more
Thomas Marriott - Both Sides Of The Fence
by Joseph Blake, Times Colonist, Saturday April 28 2007
A fixture at the annual Port Townsend Jazz Festival the last weekend in July, Seattle-based Thomas Marriott leads an outstanding band of Emerald City contemporaries on this collection of standards, seldom-played gems by Freddie Hubbard and Chick Corea, a stunning reading of Ellington's New World A Comin', Marriott original, and a seductive reinvention of The Breeze and I.
Marriott is a brilliant player with chops to spare on... read more
Keigo Hirakawa - Pixel
by D.W. Long, Notes on the Beat
A pixel. The smallest addressable unit that can be manipulated by software. It's apt - and slightly ironic - that a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who is also a vastly talented pianist, would choose the word for the title of his latest quintet release. The irony is two-fold: First, for most part, this is an acoustic project. Outside of guitarist Brandon Scott Campbell, all the musicians play acoustic instruments. So... read more
Ben Thomas Tango Project - The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle
by Geoffrey Himes, Hard Rain & Pink Cadillacs
When the musician of one country tackles the music of another country, it's always not quite right. Often that results in the embarrassingly ersatz, but sometimes—as when the Beatles adapted Chuck Berry or Emmylou Harris adapted the Beatles—that "not quite right" results in something wonderfully new. That's the case when American Ben Thomas revises Argentinian tango music on this and previous albums. Playing the traditional, accordion-like... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Deep in the Soil
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The alto-sax extraordinaire Jordan VanHemert is in some fine company here, where 8 swingin' tunes that take influence from the almighty Charlie Parker don't disappoint.
The bright sax and frisky drums from Lewis Nash guide the opener, "Call To Order", and "Sounds For Sore Ears" follows with Terrell Stafford's glowing trumpet and Helen Sung's intricate keys helping cultivate plenty of melodic, rich song craft.
Halfway through, the intimacy... read more
Paul Tynan - quARTet
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Informed by punk, inspired by art, the trumpet ace has melded it all into a nifty whole in which he serves up post bop reflections on art pieces that are meaningful to him, and they are included in the album notes. Aside from the art aspect, Tynan remains a lyrical player that adds the grace to grace notes. With his hand picked crew properly in step with his lead, the result is some smokingly wonderful listening jazz that's hard to ignore. A... read more
Greta Matassa - The Smiling Hour
by Paul Freeman, San Jose Mercury News (Interview)
Seattle-based jazz vocalist Greta Matassa's father was a visual artist, a painter. And a serious jazz buff.
"My dad and I used to stay up until three in the morning, talking about the parallels between jazz music and abstract art," Matassa tells The Daily News. "They are very similar in the spontaneity of the way they're put together. You start with a structure in a piece of music. Or a subject matter in art. And then the act itself of... read more
Piet Verbist - Secret Exit to Another Dimension
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The Antwerp bassist Piet Verbist has played a pivotal role in the Belgian jazz scene, and this 5th album on the Origin label has him aligning with Hendrik Braeckman on guitar and Lionel Beuvens behind the drum kit for a listen full of intimate and moody originals.
"The Other Side" opens the listen with a very stylish and upbeat display of bouncy bass, intricate guitar and frisky drums populating the lively jazz climate, and "A Noble Trice"... read more
Looking for a specific review?
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.
Search Reviews:
Recently Added Reviews:
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