Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jim Knapp Orchestra - It's Not Business, It's Personal
by Mark Stryker, JazzTimes
There are two kinds of jazz listeners. Those who recognize Jim Knapp as a profound large-ensemble composer and arranger of uncommon imagination, depth, and expression—and those who have yet to hear his music.
Knapp, who died November 13 at age 82, was a revered bandleader, composer, arranger, trumpeter, and teacher in the Pacific Northwest. He taught for decades at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and worked in myriad idioms: big... read more
Hadley Caliman - Gratitude
by Joseph Blake, Times Colonist, Vancouver, B.C.
Tenor saxophone veteran Hadley Caliman has been a fixture on the Seattle jazz scene since moving to the Emerald City from California where he played with everyone from his mentor, Dexter Gordon, to high school classmate, Art Farmer, to recordings with Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard and Santana. Now in his 70's, Caliman is a regular at Seattle's Second Avenue jazz club, Tula's and a long-standing member of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra,... read more
David Friesen and Glen Moore - Bactrian
by Chris Lunn, Ancient Victorys
This is the third recorded collaboration of these musical giants known for their compositions, bass playing, and associations with each other and other major players and groups. They have toured the United States as a duo and have graced Europe with concerts, clinics, and workshops. Both bass players in a 2006 jazz poll were voted in the top twenty bass players of all time. In this recording, they both play bass (Friesen a Hemage and Moore an... read more
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by George Harris, Jazz Weekly
I'm sure you've heard of "Afro-Cuban" music, but here we've got Abate Berihun singing and playing the saxes bringing in "Afro-Levant" sounds, mixing Middle East tones with earthy ideas with Roy Mor/p, David Michaeli/b and Nitzan Brinbarum/dr-perc. Rudi Barinesay adds extra vocals for the modal chant of '"Behatitu Kaedus Kadus" and more traditional, folk toned "Adam (Human)". Berhihun mixes a cantoral chant with passionate tenor work on "Batti"... read more
Matt Otto - Umbra
by Russell Perry, WTJU
Kansas City-rooted quintet formed around the tenor of Matt Otto performs a set of nine originals with heart. Four of the tunes are presented as a tenor - bass - drums trio (the leader plus Jeff Harshbarger and John Kizilarmut) begging positive comparison to Sonny Rollins landmark recordings from the 50s and 60s as Otto mines the spare format for maximum emotion. Not to take anything away from the other tunes and the other players, but... read more
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra - Sacred Music of Duke Ellington
by Reuben Jackson, Ellingtonia
Like another internationally celebrated Washingtonian, vocalist Marvin Gaye, Duke Ellington's overt declarations of faith were composed, recorded and performed toward the end of his career. By 1965, when Ellington's First Sacred Concert was performed, his always stunning gift for crafting a sensual and evocative orchestral palette had grown even more sublime - not unlike Gay's equally moving vocal arsenal.
Yet critical response to Ellington's... read more
Ray Vega & Thomas Marriott - East-West Trumpet Summit
by Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition
Trumpet blow-offs, like harmonica cutting sessions, many times are unsuccessful as they can be exercises in ego inflation. Dating back to the 1950s there has been an impression that when East coast players meet their Western counterparts, the East coast horn players blow hot and the Left coast brass players blow in a cooler vein. It's kind of like comparing Chet Baker to Roy Eldridge. As traveling between the coasts became much more common these... read more
Bobby Rozario - Healer
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
A jazz/blues guitar opens this production. It saturates my listening room with a blues 'riff.' Then voices enter, chanting the title of this album, "Healer." Bobby Rozario plays guitar, timbales and is the lead singer on this tune. He is of Indian and Brazilian-Portuguese descent, as well as a third-generation musician. This is his second album recorded on the Origin Label. The first was called "Spellbound."
Mentored by his parents in... read more
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