Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Corey Christiansen - La Proxima
by Elliot Marlow-Stevens, Jazz Journal (London)
In the album notes of La Proxima, guitarist Corey Christiansen writes that his primary influence for this album was a desire to further explore African- and Cuban-inspired rhythm and groove. Christiansen was helped in this project by percussionist Michael Spiro, a fellow teacher at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, and bassist David Belove and drummer Colin Douglas, and together the quartet blend contemporary jazz and Afro-Cuban... read more
Nanami Haruta - The Vibe
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The news of a trombonist fronting a small jazz ensemble brings the name J.J. Johnson (1924-2001) to mind. He pioneered that form of jazz expression. Before he stepped onto the scene the big brass horn stayed mainly in the background, eclipsed by trumpets and saxophones.
Many have followed in Johnson's footsteps: Curtis Fuller, Steve Turre, Michael Dease. The door opened, and a slew of talent stepped across the threshold.
This brings us to... read more
Jaiman Crunk - Encounters
by Ian Patterson, All About Jazz
Seattle-based guitarist Jaiman Crunk hasn't taken half measures on Encounters, his debut as leader. In addition to marshalling over 20 top jazz musicians?cherry picked for specific roles?Crunk employs fourteen brass, woodwind and string musicians from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra on half the compositions. These four numbers in particular underline Crunk's notable compositional and arranging skills and he succeeds, as few do, in marrying the... read more
Scott Reeves Quintet - The Alchemist
by Delarue, Lucid Culture, NYC
Scott Reeves got his start as a trombonist, has played a lot of big band gigs over the years and became a fearsomely good composer of jazz for large ensembles. He's put out two big band albums and both are excellent. He also has a thing for unorthodox instruments: these days, his two main axes are the alto flugelhorn and the even rarer alto valve trombone. Like so many artists during the lockdown, he found himself going through his archives and... read more
Benjamin Boone - Caught in the Rhythm
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS The connection between poetry and jazz music is a delicate one. It has been documented so infrequently, in performance and recordings, that one still conjures the flicker of an image of Jack Kerouac reading in some dark Greenwich Village cafe with Steve Allen or Zoot Sims, surrounded by beret-wearing, cappuccino-sipping beatniks. The work of Fresno-based saxophonist Benjamin Boone has assisted in widening that view through... read more
Lorin Cohen - Home
by Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
Until three years ago, when he moved to New York, bassist Lorin Cohen was ubiquitous in Chicago, playing in uncounted bands and far-flung musical styles.
He returned here briefly over the weekend in the best way possible, celebrating the release of his first album as bandleader, "Home," the Green Mill packed on Friday night with his family, friends and even a few people he didn't know.
There was a palpable sense of return and reunion in... read more
Clark Sommers - Ba(SH)
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
In his day job, he might be the bass playing sidekick of Kurt Elling, but after hours, he's now in his 15th year with this progressive jazz trio also featuring Dana Hall and Geof Bradfield. Playing with the simpatico that keeps you together for so long without getting sick of each other, this is a BYG trip to the church basement that knows no margins or bounds other than not playing music that sucks. It's wild ride that reminds you what free... read more
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Editor, Skope Magazine
European jazz icon Maja Jaku steps confidently onto the American jazz stage with her fifth studio album, "Blessed and Bewitched." Recorded in Brooklyn and released on Origin Records, this album is a carefully curated statement; balancing a range of emotional themes across originals and standards.
Intimate and assured in its delivery, Blessed and Bewitched It is not a radical reinvention of the jazz vocal tradition, but rather a deeply felt... read more
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