While many players who came up in the '70s and '80s stylistically reflect the influence of Pass, Montgomery, Hall, Kessel, Burrell, Grant Green, and a few other players who helped forged the mainstream guitar style in the '50s and '60s, Oregon resident John Stowell plays with an airy, lithe approach the basis of which is advanced, close-voiced chords more akin to pianists like Bill Evans. On The Banff Sessions (Origin), his most recent... read more
Seattle free jazz quintet Speak hasn't been around a while ? the group just formed in 2008 ? but that hasn't kept them from attracting attention. They're the newest signers to local jazz label Origin Records and have lined up gigs from clubs in New York to jazz festivals in Europe. Their six track debut of original compositions is a 45 minute progressive jazz art piece. Cuong Vu ? whose smooth, improvisational trumpet work has appeared... read more
A quartet of alto saxophone, guitar, bass and drum. Simple yet more complex for this band plays big. Chris Fagan 's saxophone sings like a Paul Desmond in Toronto, a clear fall evening on lake Ontario. Then there's Dave White's acoustic guitar riffs like Charlie Christian in odd characters as the rhythmic double times a pace or two in contrapuntal harmony with a groove Messianic! There's proportional jamming as in the "The Lake," an R&B... read more
If they'd had music like this in the 'burbs I grew up in, I wouldn't have had to search far & wide for "cool".... Thomas's penetrating trumpet work on tunes like the fantastic opener, "Apophis", are definitely the stuff of jazz legend... his choice of Orrin Evans on piano, Eric Revis on bass & Donald Edwards on drums shows total talent (just in the picking of the players). If it's magic or a spell that needs to be cast,... read more
Yeah. They don't make many records like this anymore. The Hammond B3 organ is an instrument unto itself -- in the singular technique it takes to master the analog beast and the music that flows from its vacuum tubes. Even the genre -- the "organ trio" -- is a style that came into its own in the 1950s as the Hammond came into vogue. With Chicago veteran Chris Foreman behind the B3, this is "music of a time." It's laid back with a capital... read more
The movement of time and tide remain unhampered by artistic intentions, yet music has a way of marking or defining a moment and fixing itself to specific points on existence's steady line of progress. This seventh album from veteran vocalist Laurie Antonioli emphasizes that fact while also showcasing her way with words, wide-ranging interests, and deep interpretive insights.
Celebrating several milestones in 2018 - her 60th birthday, two... read more
Pianist and keyboardist Geoff Stradling puts together a big band for his crisp and warm arrangements of mostly originals, almost all with an alluring Latin feel. The rhythm section of drums, congas, bongos, shakers and you name it create a percolating undercurrent for the whole affair. Joe DeLeon's timbales sizzle on the festive "Habanero" and a read of "Poinciana" hums to Tom Luer's alto. The sax section wails with soprano saxist Kirsten Edkins... read more
Ben Thomas' Tango Project album has a particularly interesting and unusual sound, the title of which evokes the memory of a famous chef, and despite the bandoneon sound, the music has little to do with Argentine tango, but rather the imprints of Thomas's personality, layered polyrhythms, with inventive melodies and surprising... read more
This is just a small collection of the Origin Records reviews. Click here to view all reviews or try to Search for your favorite CD title.
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Budapest, Rudolf Radnai
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease Big Band - Return Trajectory
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect