Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Nancy Kelly - Be Cool
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Vocalist Nancy Kelly sings with clarity and street smarts on this mix of jazz treasures. She's teamed by a core of William Gorman/org, Jerry Weldomon/ts, Carmen Intorre Jr/dr and Dave Stryker/g while also bringing in some cameos by the venerable Houston Person/ts, Joe Carello/ss and Charlie Sigler/g. Kelly flexes her muscles with a smoking Houston on "Besame Mucho" and gets church with him and Gorman on "Let It Be Me". She's flexible on a nimble... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Carol Banks Weber, Examiner.com
At L.A.'s Blue Whale as far back as 2012, jazz pianist and composer Josh Nelson previewed parts of his highly experimental Exploring Mars album project with sound and visual imagery, culminating in a two-night, multi-media CD release show last month. At times during the listening-only portion of the album, you want to frequently refer back to those visuals of a bleeding red sunset over a lonely isolated Mars horizon, the rovers, NASA engineers... read more
Jaiman Crunk - Encounters
by Scott Yanow, scottyanow.com
Part of a musical family, guitarist Jaiman Crunk grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, spent years living in Europe, and is now based in Seattle. Encounters is his recording debut and it is a particularly impressive effort for Crunk, both as a guitarist and as a composer.
The personnel and instrumentation change from song-to-song on Encounters. But although many all-stars are scattered throughout the eight selections, the program has a... read more
Bongwool Lee - My Singing Fingers
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Bongwool Lee forms a trio with Kendrick Scott/dr and Luques Curtis/b for a collection of mostly originals. The sole cover is a pastel themed "Bye Bye Blackbird" which as the leader sashay with Scott's brushes, while Lee goes elegiac on a solo "Burning Incense." The team gets assertive on "Repeating Nightmares" and is fun and quirky as Scott gets everyone snappy on "After the Black Dog" Taylor Eigsti brings his Fender Rhodes in for a soulful... read more
Brad Goode - Polytonal Big Band: The Snake Charmer
by Editor, Modern Drummer
Don't let the "polytonal" name fool you, this is a nice and pretty traditional big band with some extra-expressive soloing (that's part of the "polytonal" ingredient,) playing very nice and well-conceived charts. Most of the compositions and arrangements are by trumpeter Brad Goode and they run the gamut from inside and swingin' to slightly funky. Goode's arranging approach is where more of the polytonal aspect of the band enters, but it isn't... read more
Dudley Owens | Aaron Immanuel Wright - People Calling
by Dave Sumner, emusic Review
Oh how I do love when a group manages to fuse a sense of danger into a set of pretty tunes. Recalling the talent of Clifford Jordan to bring together the roots of jazz and modern compositions, this quintet of tenor/soprano sax, trumpet, piano, double bass, and drums captures those same qualities for a very cool recording. It swings and it prowls, joyful but ready to fight. Modern straight-ahead, but imbued with the spiritual jazz of the sixties.... read more
Jaiman Crunk - Encounters
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Reminiscent of the kind of grand sitting down jazz date you'd get when someone would write someone like Michel LeGrand or Michel Columbier a check big enough to realize a grand vision, this new kid on the block has everyone in jazz turn out to lend a hand. Maybe not everyone but if you look at the credit list, it does go on forever and it's all made up of pros from the different sub phyla of jazz---all coming together and making it work. A... read more
Tom Rizzo - Imaginary Numbers
by Corey Hall, Jazzreview.com
Remember how bassist Oscar Pettiford would take huge breaths between notes while soloing? This bad brother seemingly envisioned his instrument, his-self, as a horn, so you could hear him inhale before his fingers would pluck out a low-end exhale-ation.
Pettiford came to mind while listening to guitarist Tom Rizzo's debut album, Imaginary Numbers (Origin). With active accompaniment from a five-piece horn section and full rhythm section, Rizzo's... read more
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