Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Purna Loka Ensemble - Metaraga
by Sumana Ramanan, FirstPost (India)
Geometry Sings the Blues in Indian-American Mathematician's Radical New Music System - CURVED PHRASES from Indian ragas melt into languorous blues microtones. The strains of music born on the American South's slave plantations mutate into the more angular notes and layered melodies of the Western classical genre. The different sounds weave in and out of one another, creating a shifting and arresting aural landscape that feels at once both... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - Songs My Mom Liked
by Richard Kamins, Step Tempest
There are many listeners of contemporary music no matter the genre are usually looking for spiritual uplift. Listeners say they love technical prowess or "new" sounds but what makes us return to music is how it moves us. Music is a "full-body experience" - for this listener, it usually starts with moving my feet, then enters into my brain, and finally into my heart. If it feels "real nice", play it twice. That's why I like the music of John... read more
Roberta Brenza - It's My Turn to Color Now
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
On the cover, vocalist Roberta Brenza doesn't wear her singing influence on her sleeve, but on her T-shirt, as a picture of bop pioneer Sheila Jordan peeks through with a smile. Her presence is felt and heard here, as Brenza mixes bop and modern jazz with a team of Stacy Dillard/ts-ss, Dawn Clement/p-key, Cameron Brown/b and Matthew Wilson/dr. Jordan jumps in for a couple tunes having a hoot of a time with Brenza and tenorist Dillard on a snappy... read more
Anthony Branker & Other Ways of Knowing - Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit
by Olivia Peevas, Jazz Blues European Union
There's a visceral moment in music when sound stops being just sound — when it dissolves the boundary between performer and listener, body and memory, history and pulse.
It is here, in that fertile space between rhythm and remembrance, that Anthony Branker's new album, Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit, stakes its claim.
More than a collection of compositions, it arrives as a tapestry of stories, a suite of sonic meditations... read more
Ben Black - Remembered Faces / Private Places
by Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
For his second album, Seattle-based Ben Black has chosen to offer a play list running from familiar songs from the musical theater through Irish medleys to obscure Armenian folk music. Present are all the trappings for a melancholy mood that seems to be the minor theme for this session. There's the floating flute of Brenda Kay Neth on "Chinar Es" and her penny whistle on the Irish medley of "My Wild Irish Rose" and "Danny Boy," with the gently... read more
Andrea Brachfeld - Brazilian Whispers
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A member of the sorority of women that know how to pour the flute juice with a free hand that ultimately wind up letting Brazil shine on them, Brachfeld goes right to the Jobim source while avoiding most of the Jobim clichés to really get inside the music she loves. Backed up by a crew you don't find waiting around the union hall for some pick up work, all the right moves are in all the right places as art and heart mix it up here in fine form.... read more
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Nick's Picks, Primetime A & E, May 2007
As an accomplished New York sideman for many years, pianist Grant bounced around the scene, and the country, releasing small group CDs along the way for Verve and the defunct 32 Jazz labels. After a self-imposed sabbatical, Grant returns with Truth and Reconciliation, a well-recorded CD of sturdy originals and covers that enlist top-flight players like drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci and guitarist Bill Frisell. Grant skillfully... read more
Anthony Branker and Ascent - Together
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
This is quite the achievement. This sounds like Branker's friendliest record yet. He pulls off the dandy feat of merging art and commerce making creative jazz that could leap to mass appeal. Straight ahead without an ounce of any kind of pandering, Branker leads his charges through a galloping date that really packs a wallop. With a pair of saxes leading the charge, this is everything you could want in a swinging, mainstream date that makes... read more
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