Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Michael Ambrosino, All About Jazz
Ma Rainey channeled music as her ritual of "singing to understand life." Congressman John Lewis leveraged music towards the "good trouble" he created fighting for civil rights in an uncivil land. Anthony Branker understands music as the calculus of his life's workâthe art of weaving words and sound into transcendent tapestries that explore the rich, complex, and nuanced aspects of intolerance, beauty, prejudice, spirituality, gender, equality... read more
Florian Hoefner - Coldwater Stories
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A solo piano set of cerebral, impressionistic jazz recorded in Germany by a native. Does it get anymore ECM than that? Miss those old days when Manny was making magic out of thin air? If this set isn't a return to those times that left leaners had a sonic aerie they could let their ears hide out in, then nothing is. Right on that money... read more
Sam Yahel - From Sun to Sun
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
5-STARS Sam Yahel made his name in jazz as an organist, notably on the excellent Truth and Beauty (Origin Records, 2009). In addition to a handful of well-received CDs under his own name, Yahel has worked his B3 Hammond magic on recordings by vocalist Norah Jones and saxophonist Joshua Redman. So it was something of a risk to return to his "original instrument," the piano, for Hometown (Posi-Tone Records, 2009), a piano trio set that... read more
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
The Affinity Trio has spent four years in weekly residency at Milwaukee's historic Mason Street Grill. The trio is made up of three dynamic Midwest jazz players including Eric Jacobson on trumpet, Pamela York on piano, and Clay Schaub on bass. They fit together deliciously, smooth as fresh baked bread and butter. One thing that impressed me right away, I didn't even miss a drummer. They set the time and tempo without any percussion at all.... read more
Zem Audu - Spirits
by Abe Beeson, KNKX - Seattle
Nigerian-born, London-raised, and now Brooklyn-based saxophonist Zem Audu is quickly becoming one of the most talked about sax players in New York. Self-taught on piano and guitar, he settled on saxophone before heading to the prestigious Trinity College of Music in London.
Early work found him playing with ska bands, so popular in the Caribbean-influenced music of England for decades. There's more than a little reggae and afro-beat flavor on... read more
Dan Cray - Meridies
by Bob Doerschuk, Downbeat, October 2012
****
Listening to Dan Cray and his group, one is reminded that underplaying can cast more light than a sky full of fireworks. That's not to say that there aren't busy moments on Meridies; there are plenty, especially in ostinati that the piano and bass play in unison to build momentum and sometimes to thread intricate rhythms together. But these occur only where they makes sense. Even with such elements, an impression of spaciousness... read more
Trio Linguae - Kevin Woods / John Stowell / Miles Black - Signals
by Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist
Lots of jazz combos engage in group improvisation; very few, in my experience, do so in a way that's worth spending much time listening to-outside the confines of trad jazz, anyway. Trio Linguae (trumpeter/flugelhornist Kevin Woods, guitarist John Stowell, pianist Miles Black) is one of those very few combos. Their musical communication is such that you'll often hear them improvising in counterpoint, which is a pretty amazing feat when you... read more
Bobby Broom - Song And Dance
by Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Sun-Times
Covering post-'60s pop hits has tripped up more than a few jazz artists, including "New Standards" man Herbie Hancock. There just isn't enough harmonic interest in most of these songs to lend themselves to open improvising. But Bobby Broom has figured out how to make this stuff hum.
On "Song and Dance," the veteran Chicago guitarist, known for his work with Sonny Rollins and Green Mill regulars the Deep Blue Organ Trio, strips down to a... read more
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