Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John Stowell | Michael Zilber - Live Beauty
by Chris Lunn, Ancient Victorys
Stowell's inventive, warm approach to the guitar with a delicate touch meets Zilber, whit his big saxophone sound and edgy intensity. They have found a musical vocabulary across the past decade in duo, trio and quartet formats. This is their second quartet undertaking and was recorded live at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California. They are joined by the large warm sometimes rumbling bass work of John Shifflett and the... read more
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra - The Endless Search
by Michael Steinman, Cadence
[The Endless Search] might seem like a parallel production [to James Moody's Moody 4b]. Like Moody, Jimmy Heath is a Gillespie alumnus, one year Moody's junior and still in excellent playing shape. This CD pairs him with the beautiful-sounding Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, co-led by drummer Clarence Acox and reedman Michael Brockman. On it, they offer the title piece, a three-part Heath suite (named for what he feels... read more
Hal Galper Trio - Invitation to Openness
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Veteran pianist Hal Galper is teamed with like minded mates Billy Mintz/dr and Tony Marino/b for a 2008 "live in studio" session. Galper's touch is classy on his intro to a glowing "Embraceable You" that has the bassist pop the clutch and change gears to turn into a romp, while the leader keeps the current steady for is opening for the flavorful "Ambleside". Mintz rides the whip for the leader's blue ivories on "Winter Heart" and is playful and... read more
Human Spirit - Dialogue
by Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition
****4-Stars
Human Spirit continues to shine, this time in a live setting?
Human Spirit is a band headed by Thomas Marriott, Mark Taylor, and Matt Jorgensen. Jorgensen's previous CD, Tattooed by Passion, was reviewed here in Oct 2011, and was in my top 10 CDs of that year. It was a tribute to his father-in-law, noted painter Dale Chisman. We also reviewed Marriott's CD, Human Spirit, last April. It featured Taylor,... read more
Milan Verbist Trio - Time Change
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
This lovely album opens with a rubato piano introduction to the title tune. There is a tenderness to the touch of Milan Verbist on the piano keys. The title song is soothing to the ear and to the heart. It's an original composition by Verbist, reflecting a period of time around the transition from winter to summer. It also pinpoints when this album was recorded. After a while, Toon Rumen enters with an improvised double bass solo, while Jens... read more
Joachim Mencel - Brooklyn Eye
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS Growing up under the weight of communism in Poland in the late '60s and early '70s, Joachim Mencel dreamed of the freedoms and wonders of America. Stateside relatives sent food parcels, offering him his first tastes of Hershey's chocolate and the inviting aromas of Maxwell House coffee; and Polish public radio station Trójka filled his ears with jazz, gifting the sounds of Miles Davis, among other greats. By the time Mencel... read more
Greta Matassa | Clipper Anderson - And to All a Good Night
by Thomas R. Erdmann, Jazz Review.com
Probably the last thing anyone would ever expect to come from cutting edge jazz label Origin Records, would be a traditionally oriented jazz Christmas album, but that is exactly what we get in this release from vocalist Greta Matassa, and bassist and vocalist Clipper Anderson. If there is anything cutting edge about this release, it's in the fact so many of these Christmas songs are rarities. For example, "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" comes... read more
Anthony Branker and Ascent - Together
by John Barron, The Jazz Word
Composer Anthony Branker continues his pattern of assembling a first-rate group of musicians to interpret his works on Together, his fourth release for Origin Records. This rhythmically charged set features saxophonists Mark Gross and Ralph Bowen, along with the rhythm section of Jonny King on Fender Rhodes, Kenny Davis on upright and electric bass and drummer Donald Edwards.
The music gets off to a brisk start with "Unity," a pulsating... read more
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