Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Geof Bradfield - African Flowers
by Jordan Richardson, Canadian Audiophile
In early 2008, saxophonist and composer Geof Bradfield took on a month-long tour of Rwanda, Congo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe as part of pianist Ryan Cohan's quartet. The tour was arranged as a part of The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad, a unique program co-sponsored by the U.S. State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Similar programs have taken place since the Cold War, with the U.S. government turning to the world of jazz to spread the... read more
Tim Jensen - A Mind For The Scenery
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Red flags flare up when a disc comes in with the tag "eclectic" lurking in the press material. The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word as "selecting or made up of what seems best of varied sources." But the word sometimes serves as a shorthand for�in the world of music assessment�unfocused or lacking continuity of vision. Fortunately, multiple reedman Tim Jensen's A Mind for the Scenery holds to the true definition.
The Portland,... read more
Chad McCullough | Michal Vanoucek - The Sky Cries
by Jerome Wilson, Cadence
The Sky Cries is lively mainstream modern Jazz out of the Pacific Northwest led by trumpeter Chad McCullough and pianist Michal Vanoucek. The two men split the writing chores here but all of their pieces are intricate and involving. McCullough's "Urban Grassland" and "Soliloquy" pits the lyrical shapes of his trumpet playing against the sharp, sour sound of Mark Taylor's alto while his "Time-lapse" juxtaposes flowing horn solos with... read more
Brad Goode - Polytonal Big Band: The Snake Charmer
by Christof Thurnherr, Jazz'N'More (Switzerland)
4-STARS Goode is an outstanding instrumentalist who enjoys performing as a soloist. He is also an exciting composer and arranger. His compositions cover a broad stylistic repertoire: There are traditional jazz pieces like "Goose Chase," "Ornithology" (which, however, doesn't develop in the announced direction), and "Cabin in the Sky," in which he works with the familiar compositional elements of the big band. There are also lyrical and... read more
Ben Thomas - Triskaidekaphobia
by George Fendel, Jazz Scene, November 2005
Right off the bad, let's get to this rather unwieldy title. According to the album notes, the group recorded an untitled tune in 13/4 time. Acknowledging the challenge of such a meter, one of the players stated "all the more reason to fear the number 13." And that, apparently, is what this 17 letter word means: fear of the number 13. Okay with me, although I couldn't find it in my dictionary. Anyway, it's nice to see a younger generation... read more
Hal Galper / Reggie Workman / Rashied Ali - Art-Work
by Geoffrey Himes, The Village Voice
THE VILLAGE VOICE
2009 Jazz Critics Poll
TOP TEN NEW RELEASES 2009
Geoffrey Himes (JazzTimes, Washington Post)
Bill Frisell: Disfarmer (Nonesuch)
Fly: Sky & Country (ECM)
Joe Lovano: Folk Art (Blue Note)
Dave Douglas: A Single Sky (Greenleaf Music)
Branford Marsalis: Metamorphosen (Marsalis Music)
Vijay Iyer: Historicity (ACT)
David Binney: Third Occasion (Mythology)
Matt Wilson: That's Gonna Leave a Mark... read more
Diego Barber & Hugo Cipres - 411
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Here's one the moldy figs won't be able to handle. A jazzbo guitarist gets together with an electronic dj and rounds out his sound with some first call downtown cats. You call almost hear listeners kvetching the way they did when Eric Dolphy first started being out there. Not really jazz, not really King Crimson or Kraftwerk, it's a trip into the next wave that has to be taken on its own terms. Feeling closer to Bernie Krause without the... read more
Harvie S - Bright Dawn
by Pierre Giroux, The New York City Jazz Record
Few bassists in modern jazz speak with the authority, warmth and emotional candor that Harvie S does. On Bright Dawn, he provides a beautifully-measured
reminder of why he remains one of the instrument's most eloquent modern voices. This isn't merely a leader date but a carefully-curated ensemble statement,
with the bassist and his drummer Matt Wilson as its only constants. Guitarist Peter Bernstein and pianist/Fender Rhodes player Miki Hayama... read more
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