Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
David Weiss Sextet - Auteur
by Morgan Enos, UK Jazz News
By its very nature, jazz should leave no stone unturned. Therein, an artist can record an album in an afternoon, and whether as a sideperson or leader, some can effectively release multiple albums per year.
David Weiss' last sextet record, however, was a full decade ago. Weiss boasts an amazing background - coming up in the 1980s with jazz heavies from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard to trombonist Slide Hampton - and an artistically prodigious... read more
Matt Jorgensen +451 - Hope
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Do they still give out Grammy Awards for best cover art? If so, here's a nominee: a peaceful retriever in repose, chin on the floor, captured in a sanguine tone on Matt Jorgensen + 451's Hope.
A great cover, of course, does not a successful CD make. It's the music.
The music on Hope -- sax and rhythm section outing with additional sax on five of the eleven tunes, with the warm tones of a trombone on another -- falls into that familiar... read more
Metropolitan Jazz Octet - The Bowie Project
by Chris Baber, Jazz Views (UK)
Having recently pondered the ways in which Bowie's music related to jazz, it was a pleasure to receive this CD to review. Immediately, you are struck by the mixture of songs that the octet has chosen. There are, of course, well known tunes such as 'Changes' (track 3), 'Let's dance' (track 6), 'Life on Mars' (track 11), but also a host of tracks from albums across Bowie's career. This suggests to me that this is clearly a project developed... read more
Bryan Doherty - Rigamarole
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Bassist Bryan Doherty's debut album opens with a bass groove vaguely reminiscent of something Jaco Pastorius might have done in Weather Report. Over the top of this, what sounds like a couple of horns (though there's only one sax player) lay out a thick melodic line that eventually moves into a groove. This is the pattern for much of the album -- grooves that build to full compositions that devolve back into grooves. In "No Mode," the bass riffs... read more
Kelly Harland - Twelve Times Romance
by Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes, May 2003
Through no real fault of her own, fellow Seattleite Kelly Harland fares less well with her debut effort, Twelve Times Romance (Origin). Harland, who closely resembles actress Teri Garr, has a fresh, sunny sound garnished with a healthy dollop of Lena Horne's phrasing. The former backup singer and respected vocal coach handles a broad spectrum of standards, ranging from the plaintive regret of "Too Late Now" to the Broadway bravado of "I... read more
Jon Hamar - Música Callada
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
5-STARS Jon Hamar's Música Callada Redefines the Boundaries Between Classical Music and Jazz
It is rare to encounter a classical recording in which the double bass stands at the center of the artistic vision. Yet with Música Callada, released this June, Jon Hamar has created an album that feels quietly transformative, a work of uncommon depth that lingers long after the final notes fade. The first surprise arrives almost... read more
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Marc Medwin, Cadence
Darrell Grant's latest certainly shares a level of reflection, but it's largely a less somber affair, opening with the down-right joyful title track. "Ubuntu" is a bit stealthier, but it has an infectious drums-and-bass groove that positively exudes good will. So does "Fils du Soleil," a dedication to Tony Williams whose funk whispers, due mainly to Patitucci, through an eerie haze of chords and shards of melody. The veteran bassist even brings... read more
Ryan Cohan - Originations
by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
The best jazz recordings of 2020 to date: Savvy listeners already know that Chicago pianist-composer Cohan has a well-honed gift for writing long-form jazz compositions. It reaches a high point in "Originations," a suite Cohan performed to vivid effect at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2018. The new recording deepens earlier favorable impressions of the piece, which amounts to a series of tone poems in which Cohan explores his Middle... read more
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