Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John Bishop - Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
A quartet album of a handful of Seattle's top jazz players stemming from a regular weekly session in a small ale house. Much of the ensemble is the same as on Now...Here...This, though Hans Teuber's sax replaces Mike Denny's guitar. More notable, however, is the departure in tone. Where Now...Here...This was warm and relaxed, Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit is aroused, challenging. The two lead saxes steal much of the show, running through chord... read more
Brad Goode - Polytonal Dance Party
by John Frederick Moore, Jazziz
Trumpeter Brad Goode pulls a neat trick with this disc. He's taken a deliberately difficult approach to composing and arranging, then makes it sound fun rather than academic or pretentious. These 11 tracks contain enough polytonal harmonies to make a modernist-classical composer proud, but as the title suggests, you can danced to the music, as well.
Goode's method is most noticeable in his covers, especially on the '70s soul classic "Betcha... read more
Cuong Vu - Leaps of Faith
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz.com
The order and presentation of music on a recording or in a recital are every bit as important in the music producer's skill set as is choosing what music to include. Had trumpeter Cuong Vu introduced his Vu-Tet's Leaps of Faith with the title piece, or "Child-Like (for Vina)," it would have been easy to dismiss the recording as a well-intentioned experiment, descending into noise and chaos before making its point. Instead, Vu and... read more
Brent Jensen with David Sills - Stay Cool
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
This is an exploration of the cool jazz movement from some 50 years later. Brent Jensen studied for a time under Lee Konitz, and is here accompanied by three quarters of the Acoustic Jazz Quartet (the missing member being guitarist Jamie Findlay). Tenor sax accompaniment is provided by David Sills (a student of Gary Foster) and the songs tend toward the realm of Lennie Tristano (although staying piano-less in full cool jazz mode). The roots of... read more
Carlos Vega - Art of the Messenger
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
4-STARS In case you didn't quite catch the "message" subtly embedded in the title of Chicago-based tenor saxophonist Carlos Vega's new recording, Art of the Messenger, here is a brief reminder that it was drummer Art Blakey who formed the Jazz Messengers in the mid-1950s and led the celebrated hard-bop ensemble until his death in 1990. The Messengers' roster of alumni reads like a Who's Who of Jazz Hall of Fame members.
With that in... read more
David Friesen and Glen Moore - Bactrian
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Both David Friesen and Glen Moore play bass and piano on this collection of duets and solos. Friesen plays a Hemage bass and Moore a regular acoustic one, and they emphasize the rumbling conversations of the strings on the babbling "Still Waters" and the agile "Caravan." Friesen's piano is pensive with Moore on"Soft as Silk" and when the roles are reversed, a bop feel is created on "Kontrast." Quiet and... read more
Lynn Bush with New Stories - Still Life
by Steve Sando, Mr. Lucky
Lynn Bush turns out to be "the girl with something extra" on her new Origin release, Still Life (Origin 82394). A smart trio, a smart repertoire and a smart singer all add up to a smart... read more
Florian Hoefner - Luminosity
by Doug Simpson, Audiophile Audition
Musical storytelling which mixes compositional originality with instrumental brilliance. Stepping outside one's comfort zone is a time-honored tradition in jazz. Pianist Florian Hoefner - born and raised in Germany and who finished his jazz education in Manhattan - took that journey a bit further than most. In 2014, he relocated from NYC to the isolated city of St. John's in Canada's farthest easterly province, Newfoundland. Not a... read more
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