Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Sam Yahel - Truth And Beauty
by Ben Ratliff, New York Times
NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN OF 2007
Here's Joshua Redman again, on tenor saxophone, in a sporadic, long-running jazz trio led by the organist Sam Yahel, with Brian Blade on drums. This record overcomes old organ-and-tenor jazz clich�s so easily that you hardly think of them. The music is fluid, flexible, all parts running together, the groove... read more
The Spin Quartet - In Circles
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
**** 4-STARS - 2014 has been a stellar year for jazz quartets working without chording instruments - two horns, bass drums, no piano, no guitar. Trumpeter Tom Harrell released the marvelous a very groove-based Trip (High Note Records); a somewhat old-timey sounding Riverside (Greenleaf Music), featuring trumpeter Dave Douglas; the smoldering and hypnotic The Lathe of Heaven (ECM Records) by the Mark Turner quartet.
Add to the list The... read more
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Dee Dee McNeil, Musical Memoirs
"Blessed & Bewitched" is the new album by Vienna vocalist, Maja Jaku that reflects a very personal journey that began as a child, growing up immersed in the sounds of her father's jazz trumpet. Later, she pursued her love of music through studies with mentors at the Graz Conservatory. Her mentors were familiar iconic names like Mark Murphy, Sheila Jordan, Andy Bey and Jay Clayton.
The vocalist opens with an original by her drummer and... read more
Michael Waldrop Big Band - Time Within Itself
by Nigel Jarrett, Jazz Journal
British guitarist Allan Holdsworth may be surprised to learn that the description "Holdsworthian" is now current in American jazz journalism. It's invoked on this album to set a context for his Texan counterpart Jimi Tunnell, who swirls through some of Jack Cooper's arrangements on Waldrop's debut as a big-band leader. Liner-note writer Bill Milkowski suggests that Tunnell helps give the music "a visceral, post-Weather Report energy" and... read more
Greta Matassa - The Smiling Hour
by John Henry, Audiophile Audition
We get many female jazz vocal albums sent in for review. Most don't make the cut, so when I review one it has to be rather special. This one is special. Don't know how I missed Ms. Matassa all this time - she's appeared on five previous Origin CDs. I knew she was big in the Seattle area, but hadn't heard a CD. This is a voice with real personality, range, control, and good humor. It's a package that features a lot more than just singing in... read more
Bongwool Lee - My Singing Fingers
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The music of pianist Bongwool Lee has a hopeful feeling. The Korean-born and now New York-based artist drew her first jazz inspiration - after classical studies in her homeland - from the work of Oscar Peterson, who sent much musical time walking on the sunny side of the street. But where Peterson rolled mostly in the jazz standards/Great American Songbook realm, Lee presents, on her debut recording, My Singing Fingers, a set of compelling... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Ron Schepper, Textura
As the composer, arranger, and musical director for the ten-movement suite What Place Can Be for Us?, Anthony Branker is the visionary force behind the project and, as importantly, the one responsible with recruiting the top-tier musicians that perform it. The latest edition of his group Imagine draws on the considerable talents of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, trumpeter Philip Dizack, alto saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf, guitarist Pete McCann,... read more
Scenes - ...But Not Heard
by Martin Z. Kasdan Jr., Louisville Music News
Guitarist John Stowell, whose collaboration with Dave Liebman, Blue Rose, was reviewed here in December, has long worked collectively with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop (part of Hal Galper's trio, reviewed here last month) under the name Scenes. Guest saxophonist and flutist Hans Teuber adds an extra dimension to this new album, with both his playing and compositions (he wrote or co-wrote four of the seven songs here). Stowell is... read more
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