Vancouver jazz vocalist Dee Daniels reworks pop songs from the past half-century on Jazzinit, a title designed to make the listener ask: "Does she mean Jazz in it, or Jazzin' it?"
The answer is both. She and her backing trio (Tony Foster on piano, Russ Botten on bass, Greg Williamson on drums) kick things off with a hard-swin rendition of the Earth Wind & Fire R&B number Can't Hide Love, making it sound like it was written for jazz quartet.... read more
This is quite the achievement. This sounds like Branker's friendliest record yet. He pulls off the dandy feat of merging art and commerce making creative jazz that could leap to mass appeal. Straight ahead without an ounce of any kind of pandering, Branker leads his charges through a galloping date that really packs a wallop. With a pair of saxes leading the charge, this is everything you could want in a swinging, mainstream date that makes... read more
An Internet search for the Fu Kun Wu Lounge in Seattle, Washington's Ballard neighborhood, reveals one patron's assessment of it as "one of the best kept secrets of the Seattle Jazz Scene." Many of the city's dynamic Origin Records stars perform in the converted Chinese herbalist's shop; players like pianists Bill Anschell and Marc Seales, saxophonist Hans Teuber and bassist Jeff "Free" Johnson. So how the lounge remains a secret is a... read more
Dr. Anthony Branker holds an endowed jazz chair, and is currently director of the Program in Jazz Studies at Princeton University. A composer and musical director, Branker established the jazz collective, Anthony Branker & Ascent in 2004, featuring an A-list of players?among them, saxophonists Tia Fuller and Ralph Bowen fronting a light ensemble, with vocalist Kadri Voorand. Dance Music is the group's third album of all-original music, inspired... read more
From the first notes you hear, you know it's Don. Those soft, lush compelling tones envelope you like stepping into a luxurious hot bath. Seductive, you almost have to sigh�
Yeah, we're talkin' about Don Lanphere, one of my all-time most beloved jazz figures and one of the best friends that I've ever had in the jazz business that I've never met face to face (still keeping up our tradition, huh Don?) Anyway, this new CD is entitled "Where... read more
Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Why do you know the opening track on this set by the long time mainstay of Seattle jazz? Because it's a music file in Windows XP making it one of the most listened to pieces of jazz this side of Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown themes. With more meat on it's bones than Eno's ta da wave, he knowingly rolls out a set of mostly originals with a little reliance on Miles and Trane for a piano... read more
If jazz is America's soundtrack, periodically updated by tonal seismic shifts, then Corey Christiansen's third release, Roll With It, is one such shift. Imagine a Grant Green-Jimmy Smith-Stanley Turrentine 1960s triumvirate (had one existed) buffed to an early 21st Century digital sheen, greasy easy on the pork fat, hard on the omega-3s and what you get is guitarist Corey Christiansen's soul-jazz world view.
Debuting on Origin Records with... read more
TOP JAZZ RELEASES - JUNE 2025
Trombonist Michael Dease scales back to trio on the first half of City Life, his third Origin release devoted to music by composer Gregg Hill (after The Other Shoe and Found in Space, both of which had fuller instrumentation). Disc one finds the leader stretching out in a chordless context with bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. The format gives Dease endless room to deal on a high level... read more
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.
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