Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
David Friesen - Day of Rest
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
The bass man makes a solo piano set on a Ravenscroft piano where all the tracks are solo miniatures that seem improvised but probably have a ton of composition behind them. It's just that he makes it all look and sound so easy. You try and duplicate it! Call it a throw back to new age piano solo if you need to but it really is instrumental music that exists on a plane all of it's own. Well done by a real... read more
The Spin Quartet - In Circles
by Paul Abella, Chicago Jazz Magazine
There's not a lot to know about The Spin Quartet, or their album, In Circles. There's no liner notes, and to tell the truth, I don't know much about leader and trumpeter Chad McCullough. I know that Clark Sommers has appeared on a few of my favorite local discs from the last few years. I know that Kobie Watkins is a beast behind the drums, and everything I've ever heard from saxophonist Geof Bradfield has been excellent. So, we can be... read more
Chris Walden Big Band & The St. John's Choir - Kurt Marti Suite
by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Chris Walden's Kurt Marti Suite utilizes the sacred poems of Kurt Marti, a priest whose religious poetry was highly rated. Walden utilizes his big band and the 67 voices of the St. John's Choir for the 12-part suite. While there are occasional solos, including from tenor saxophonist Brandon Fields, altoist Jeff Driskill, and trombonist Bob McChesney, the music mostly features ensembles and the voices. The CD concludes with a Michael Brecker... read more
Hugo Fernandez - Cosmogram
by Editor, La Habitación del Jazz (Madrid)
Hugo Fernandez presents his second album as a leader. If the first we liked (See CD review "ORIGINS") This brings us to like a lot. All topics are his compositions and production as well. As he did in his previous album, Ariel Bringuez accompanies him that Antonio Sanchez and Antonio Miguel add.
Hugo Fernandez continues to demonstrate its great compositional maturity, imbuing the eight tracks on the album with a particular, recognizable and... read more
Carlos Vega - Art of the Messenger
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Tenor saxophonist Carlos Vega is a steeped-in-the-tradition fan of early bebop, displaying his passion for the genre with his nods to alto saxophonist Charlie Parker on Bird's Ticket (2016) and Bird's Up (2017), both on Origin Records. With Art Of The Messenger he shifts his focus to Art Blakey, the drummer who led the Jazz Messengers from 1955 onward for thirty-five years, helping define—in the early years—the hard bop Blue Note Records... read more
Phil Kelly & The SW Santa Ana Winds - My Museum
by Rick Culver, www.jazzradio247.com
Having been fortunate enough to be a member of so many of the greatest jazz bands, let me begin this review by stating that I sure wish I'd been a member of this one. This band list is definitely a who's who of the best musicians in Los Angeles, jazz or studio: jazz for the inventiveness of the solos and swing of the music, and studio for the technical ability of the musicians, or as Phil put it: "There wasn't time for a rehearsal�we�put the ink... read more
Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble - The Atwood Suites
by Paul Weideman, Pasatiempo (The New Mexican, Santa Fe)
Soprano and baritone saxophones open "Two Islands I" in a sprightly mien, like an awakening. Luciana Souza sings lines from a Margaret Atwood poem: "I could say it without looking, the animals; the blackened trees, the arrivals; the bodies, words, it goes and goes; I could recite it backwards." Tim Hagans begins a lovely solo on flügelhorn, kinetically abetted by drummer Bill Stewart, who is a constant but varicolored presence on Andrew... read more
Mimi Fox - This Bird Still Flies
by Bruce Lindsay, Jazz Journal (London)
Mimi Fox has been playing guitar for over four decades and released her first album in the 1980s, but This Bird Still Flies is her first all-acoustic recording - mostly on a Taylor acoustic, with Day Tripper featuring a baritone guitar. Mixing self-penned tunes with jazz standards and a couple of Lennon/McCartney numbers, the album gives Fox a chance to show off her versatility on the acoustic instruments.
Fox holds the attention... read more
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