Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Eric Jacobson - Heading Home
by Kevin Lynch, Milwaukee Shepherd Express
The album title suggests the cumulative memory of a journey that, once you hear this album, may have been epic. There's nothing grandiose about the Milwaukee trumpeter Jacobson's new album but his journey has inspired a whole album of original material and its strong stuff, one through eight. It opens with a burner that asserts not just the ability to play at a ridiculous speed, but as if they need to, given the title, "Survival."
By... read more
Scott Reeves Quintet - The Alchemist
by Euan Dixon, Jazz Views (UK)
Readers in the UK may not be familiar with the work of Scott Reeves. Indeed, until I received a copy of this intriguing recording he was an unknown quantity as far as I was concerned. Let me tell you that it turns out he is an esteemed scholar/performer recently retired from full time academic work and active on the New York scene where he performs with many better known luminaries as well as playing trombone in the big bands of Dave Liebman and... read more
Jeff Johnson - Free
by John Barrett, Jr., All About Jazz
It's hard to be more spontaneous than this. A live show for radio broadcast, played without benefit of rehearsal. The numbers were called from the stage, many played for the first time. (Some had never been heard by their composers!) And one piece is totally improvised, existing only that moment, then captured on tape. Apt is the drowning man on the cover; music like this is swim or fail. Most of it swims; the textures weave as soft voices react... read more
Jack Mouse - Range of Motion
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Jack Mouse, a sure-handed, high-energy drummer who is best known as a dependable timekeeper for groups large and small on the Chicago scene and elsewhere, moves to the head of the class on Range of Motion, leading a quintet whose members share his expansive, something-for-everyone point of view. Apart from his role as rhythmic helmsman, Mouse also writes, and writes quite well, having composed all of the album's ten selections, themes whose... read more
Laurie Antonioli and Richie Beirach - Varuna
by Grego Applegate Edwards, Gapplegate Music Review
Jazz vocalist Laurie Antonioli seems perfectly matched with the piano subtleties of Richie Beirach in their album Varuna (Origin 82698). Laurie has a superbly vibrant vocal instrument that she puts to beautiful use on this set. Phrasing, tone, pitch control and artistry are out front in the best ways here. Richie Beirach has not been in my ears much in later days (and I have no idea if he has made himself relatively scarce or I have simply... read more
Keigo Hirakawa - Pixel
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Pixel, Tokyo-born, Ohio-bred pianist Keigo Hirakawa's third album as leader or co-leader of his own ensemble, has the sleek, laid-back feel of a well-engineered jam session as Hirakawa leads the way through seven of his generally engaging compositions (and one by guitarist Brandon Scott Coleman) with reliable backing from his supporting cast.
Besides Coleman, the trustworthy team includes woodwind specialist Rafael Statin, bassist Robert... read more
Marc Seales - American Songs, Volume 2: Blues...and Jazz
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Pianist/keyboardist Marc Seales mixes jazz with its blues root on this cookin' session with Fred Hamilton/g, Jeff Johnson/b, Dave Captein/eb and Gary Hobbs/dr. The band cruises like a Ford V8 on the waltzing "Highway Blues" and the gentle "The Open Road" which both spotlight some clean and fresh work by Hamilton's fretwork. Seales' piano is sleek on the grooving "Blue" and his keyboard serves as a bed of feathers for Hobb's brush work... read more
Marc Seales - American Songs, Volume 3: Time & Place
by Tree Palmedo, Jazz Society of Oregon
Pianist Marc Seales has been a Northwest mainstay for years, and his American Songs series has been a consistently entertaining look at jazz and blues history. On the third volume in the series, Seales digs into the funkier side of things, both with his song choice and his band's electrified sound. The album kicks off with Curtis Mayfield's "Pusher Man," a bold choice and one that initially feels off. But once guitarist Fred Hamilton... read more
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