Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Scenes - Variable Clouds: Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The saxophonist Rick Mandyck, guitarist John Stowell, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop released their debut as Scenes in 2001, and this first live recording captures their unparalleled chemistry together, where mostly originals unfold with a strong sense of connection between the band and audience.
"Tilbury Hill" gets the listen off to a warm, soothing start, where the agile sax and spirited guitar is met with cozy drumming, and... read more
Brent Jensen / Rob Walker Quintet - Art of the Groove
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
It seems fitting that Art of the Groove came out in mid-May, about a week before the late Miles Davis's birthday. The set spends some time -- and spends it well -- saluting the late trumpeter, most notably on the opener, with "Straight From Miles." Flugelhornist Rob Walker wrote the tune with phrases from the '58 recording of Davis's take on Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser." If this one doesn't have you thinking of Davis's '58 Milestones... read more
Bridge Quartet - Day
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise
The Bridge Quartet is another of the many fine groups to have started in the Pacific Northwest.
Drummer Alan Jones, a Portland, Ore., native, has been involved with several other excellent combos over the years, and he was the catalyst for this organization. He's joined by Canadian saxophonist Phil Dwyer; bassist Tom Wakeling; and pianist Darrell Grant, another Portland mainstay.
These guys hooked up over a weekend, planning to play a club... read more
Alon Farber Hagiga - Reflecting On Freedom
by Editor, Distrito Jazz (Spain)
Alon Farber is an Israeli saxophonist who has just released, along with his Hagiga sextet, 'Reflecting on Freedom', making it the fourth in his career.
The Israeli jazz scene could not be more interesting, as can be seen with names like Avishai Cohen , Anat Cohen , Yaron Herman or Omer Avital, among others, or the presence of Alon Farber himself.
Whether for anthropological, sociological, or whatever reasons (and now is not the place or... read more
Brent Jensen - More Sounds of a Dry Martini
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
So it only took the sax man 20 years to do a follow up to his tribute to Paul Desmond. You want him to repeat himself too much or something? A delightfully classic after hours set of another heaping helping of Brubeck standards with the Desmond touch, this sitting down/thinking man's jazz outing hits all the right notes and then some. Because all the songs are familiar, it plays like comfort food from the right bistro. A swinging, tasty... read more
Shawn Purcell - Oblivity
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
4 1/2 STARS
For nearly two decades, guitarist and composer Shawn Purcell served in military music ensembles, an experience that almost certainly shaped his meticulous sense of orchestration and his instinct for placing instruments in the precise order and hierarchy needed to evoke a particular mood. In Purcell's hands, it is always about beauty and elegance: music that is at once intricate and painstakingly crafted, where the... read more
Bobby Broom - The Way I Play: Live In Chicago
by Thomas R. Erdmann, Jazz Review
It's a shame so few musicians work in actual bands anymore; the kind of unit where the musicians stay the same from not only gig to gig, but year to year. Only through such long standing musical associations can shared concepts become created, but also explored. That is the case with guitarist Bobby Broom's band. He, bassist Dennis Carroll, and drummer Kobie Watkins, have crafted a unique working environment where all musical possibilities... read more
Rodney Whitaker - Outrospection: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Scooting out of the classroom for a hot second with several of the professors under him, Whitaker gives a full album to the works of up and comer Gregg Hill who already feels like a jazz old soul. The music is rooted in civil rights jazz, which certainly has a place in these times, and is delivered in proper fashion by the pros on board. A real ear opener that's good for the... read more
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