Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Ben Black - Remembered Faces / Private Places
by Dave Nathan, All About Jazz
Seattle-based cabaret singer Ben Black's second album deals with a set of tunes, most unfamiliar, that deliver a set of messages about being kinder to each other both as individuals and to society as a whole. The play list has an international flavor with songs from Armenia, Ireland, Japan and Latin America as well as the U. S. Black has a high pitched, but never shrill, tenor which on such songs as the medley of "Old Friend"/"Old Friends" comes... read more
Alison Ruble - This Is A Bird
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
Alison Ruble is a sublime vocalist with an adventurous spirit on her debut CD. Gifted with a rich alto and precise articulation, she blends elements of pop and folk into her infectious arrangement of Cole Porter's "So in Love," while her sublime, deliberate and funky setting of "If I Had You" casts another chestnut in very new light. Guitarist John McLean and Jim Gailloreto's playful alto flute provide sublime accompaniment for her warm vocals... read more
Michael Zilber - Originals for the Originals
by Robbie Gerson, Audiophile Audition
5-STARS Saxophonist Michael Zilber has an unusual geographic history. He was born in Vancouver, Canada before moving to Boston as a teenager. He moved to New York and worked with Sonny Sitt, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Liebman, Dave Douglas, Rachel Z and Narada Michael Walden among many. While In New York, he recorded two critically acclaimed albums, The Heretic and Stranger In Brooklyn as a sole band leader. But his career has been anchored... read more
Jim Knapp Orchestra - Secular Breathing
by , Mainly Big Bands
Mark this web-site well as it not only includes some outstanding big bands now, but future releases look promising too. It seems that the Seattle area is rich in talent, a fact that has encouraged ORIGIN RECORDS to allow their label to be the shop window for the local area talent.
I must admit that I was not too familiar with the work of Jim Knapp. Recently I have become aware of the awe and respect he commands among the higher echelons of... read more
Geof Bradfield - melba!
by Ric Bang, Jazz Scan
Unless you're a senior jazz fan, or you "cheated" and checked Geof Bradfield's website, you probably don't have any idea who "Melba" is, or was ... which is a shame.
Melba Liston was born in 1926, loved jazz, became enamored with the trombone ("chose it because it's such a pretty horn") and became a professional musician at age 16. She didn't merely play; she became one of the finest copyists and arrangers during the Big Band years, and... read more
Hal Galper - E Pluribus Unum - Live in Seattle
by Ethan Krow, Audiophile Audition
Hal Galper has often worked best with small bands. He flourishes when working with a simple trio of piano, with drum and bass, especially in the last few decades. On his latest release with Origin E Pluribus Unum: Live In Seattle he reunites with bassist Jeff Johnson from 2006's Furious Rubato and brings in drummer John Bishop for a wonderful night including several compositions by Galper and a few delightful covers.
Irving Berlin's... read more
Peter Erskine & The JAM Music Lab All-Stars - Vienna to Hollywood: Impressions of E.W. Korngold & Max Steiner
by Mark Griffith, Modern Drummer
Hopefully you have already read Peter Eskine's column this month on the making of his new record, so I'll skip the backstory, and just say that this is the best recording that Erskine has done as a leader since 3 Nights in LA. But it this a very different type of record, 3 Nights in LA was a freewheeling blowing date, Vienna to Hollywood is a carefully planned and arranged recording project with Erskine and Danny... read more
Cathy Segal-Garcia - SOCIAL ANTHEMS, VOLUME 1
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Bob Lefsetz keeps saying things are messy these days because music doesn't drive the culture anymore. Part of the problem is that no one is driving the music. SoCal jazz vocalist Sega Garcia reaches back to the 60s to refashion some anthems the kids aren't punching up on You Tube anyway for a new airing with a new audience. Rounding up some real A teamers for her label debut, her renditions take you someplace different that's a place you need to... read more
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