Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Anthony Branker and Word Play - Uppity
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
On Uppity, Dr. Anthony Branker, Director of Jazz Studies at Princeton University, has created a life-affirming, sometimes funky, and straight-through beautiful set of sounds?an ode to the resiliency and basic goodness of the human spirit.
Branker began his jazz journey as a trumpeter, but complications from a brain aneurysm in 1999 brought his trumpet playing days to an end. He is now the composer and musical director of his Ascent and Word... read more
Thomas Marriott - Constraints & Liberations
by Greg Simmons, All About Jazz
Listening to Thomas Marriott's Constraints & Liberations, two things are abundantly clear: Marriott spent some serious time studying Miles Davis' second great quintet; and, his own voice on trumpet is developed well enough to make it sound like a strong, easily recognizable influence, but not plagiarism. Naturally, favorable comparison to the one of the greatest standing outfits in the history of jazz is intended as a compliment.
The... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Deep in the Soil
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Energy and enthusiasm fairly leap from the speakers—or headphones—on Sharel Cassity's daring "Call to Order," the opening number on Korean-born saxophonist Jordan VanHemert's fifth album as leader, Deep in the Soil. Alas, that same ardor doesn't reappear until track seven (of eight), trombonist Michael Dease's boppish "ST in the House." In between, VanHemert and his companions (group sizes vary from sextet to duo) offer some agreeable music... read more
Les DeMerle Sound 67 - Once in a Lifetime
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Back in 1967, the careers of both drummer Les DeMerle and trumpeter Randy Brecker were just beginning, and this recently discovered album has the two together along with a rotating team of Lanny Morgan/asfl, Alan Gauvin/as, Terry Plumeri-Jack Greg/b and Genya Ravan/voc. DeMarle is snappy on the snares along with Brecker and Gauvin on Jazz Messenger inspired pieces like "Come Back To Me" and the horns dig in on "Sticks" with DeMerle cracking the... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Stuart Broomer, All About Jazz.com
There's something almost contradictory about Monk compositions: they're insistently individualistic, built on odd chord changes with often minimalist melodies. But as idiosyncratic as they are, they often succeed in bringing out what's best in the musicians playing them, as if those tunes are open to individuality as well as being the product of it. Through the years musicians of wildly divergent styles have approached Monk's music: the piquant... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - Songs My Mom Liked
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Time passes, and an impressive number of connections are made year after year with people we admire. This is the case with composer Anthony Branker, one of the most remarkable American composers, with whom I will share an interview soon. In Anthony Branker's work, humanity is as significant as his music. We remember his impressive album released in 2023, "What Place Can Be For Us?", which defended civil rights. It is no surprise, then, to see... read more
Oscar Hernández & Alma Libre - The Art of Latin Jazz
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
This guy is a major figure in modern Latin jazz. So, what does he do? He makes a Latin jazz album the average, two left footed gringo can relate to and love. Not too Ricky Ricardo, not too ethnic, not to street, this is a set that takes the best of Latin jazz and slides it right down the middle for a set that can even find klutzes tapping their toes along to it. A solid gateway date for the gringo too intimidated to enter the Latin jazz tent,... read more
New York Voices - Reminiscing in Tempo
by Dr. Debra Jan Bibel, Amazon
Jazz vocal ensembles have a long history [recall the Mills Brothers of the 1930's, the Hi-Lo's quartet of the 1950s, Lamberts, Hendricks & Ross of the 1960s, and the Swingle Singers of the 1970s) and several are still active. While Manhattan Transfer continues in its second edition, the New York Voices, founded 30 years ago, continues largely intact. Their initial popularity was in the 1990s, and over the ensuing decades they recorded with big... read more
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