Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra - Refractions
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
Los Angeles saxophonist Kim Richmond's album Refractions involves a full orchestra of players and that was done for the orchestral effect rather than the big band idiom you would usually expect. Richmond likes to blend concepts from the classical realm with those from the jazz realm, and full classical orchestration is one part of that. The main thrust of this idea is to provide for a deeper, more cinematic sound that is capable of conveying the... read more
Les DeMerle - Gypsy Rendezvous, Vol. 2
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Les DeMerle and his wife, vocalist Bonnie Eisele, released a previous album of Gypsy jazz-inspired pieces back in 2009 that showed some hints of greatness when DeMerle and Eisele were able to combine effectively with their Gypsy jazz counterparts, and a bit of musical confusion when they weren't able to meet in the middle. Here, the two factions work together much more cleanly. Where DeMerle and Eisele had a tendency toward power in the past,... read more
Xavier Lecouturier - Carrier
by Paul Rauch, Earshot Jazz
21-year-old drummer/composer Xavier Lecouturier has been making a definite impression on the jazz scene in Seattle. As a student at Cornish College of the Arts, he made his way to jam sessions, and acquainted himself with the best players in town, eventually landing in the quintet of trumpeter Thomas Marriott. His debut album as band-leader, Carrier is a collection of compositions forged during this period of rapid self-discovery.
Lecouturier... read more
Lucas Pino - No Net Nonet
by Jerome Wilson, Cadence
The album is by a sharp, sax-heavy nine piece group very much in the mainstream jazz line. The faster pieces are prickly and kinetic but the slower ones, like "Sunday Play" which features a gorgeous tenor solo by leader Pino and thoughtful bass by Desmond White, tend to have the most personality. Pino's deep-souled soloing is consistently smart and spirited while guitarist Rafal Sarnecki gets a nice turn on the placid "Homage A 'Mitch" and Mat... read more
Xose Miguélez - Contradictio
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
If modern Havana still has back streets like in "Godfather II", this sounds like what those sounds would probably sound like. As the label moves out of it's traditional comfort zones for a date recorded in Portugal, the world wise colorations make a nifty change of pace in the label's generally impeccable canon. With passages that could easily be "West Side Story" outtakes, is this our first taste of modern, progressive Hispanic jazz or have... read more
Michael Dease - City Life: Music of Gregg Hill
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The esteemed trombonist Michael Dease is joined by some first rate players for 2 discs of tunes that pay tribute to Gregg Hill's legacy.
The warm spirit of "Willow Walks In" opens, where Dease's strategic horn is met with Linda May Han Oh's frisky bass, and it isn't long until "Movie Theme" allows for Jeff 'Tain' Watts' unpredictable drums to complement Dease's soulful delivery.
Deeper into Disc 1, "Catalyst" is strong on atmosphere, as... read more
David Sills - Eastern View
by Scott Yanow, L.A. Jazz Scene
Jazz fans who go regularly to jazz clubs such as Spazio will recognize the names of the musicians on this CD: tenor-saxophonist David Sills, guitarist Larry Koonse, organist Joe Bagg and drummer Tim Pleasant. Each of the musicians are fixtures in the Los Angeles area yet surprisingly the ten originals written by Sills for this CD were composed during a two-year period when he earning his Masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music.... read more
Benjamin Boone - The Poets Are Gathering
by Brenda Nelson-Strauss, Black Grooves
Composer-saxophonist Benjamin Boone continues his fascination with poetry and jazz on his latest album, The Poets Are Gathering. The Cal State University Fresno professor, who has released two previous collections devoted to this pairing, notes that jazz and poetry have been inextricably linked since the Harlem Renaissance. Following the tradition of artists such as Langston Hughes and Charles Mingus, who collaborated on the album Weary Blues... read more
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