Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Geof Bradfield - Our Roots
by Bob Weinberg, JAZZIZ
Jazzing up down-home blues is nothing new. Everyone from the Adderley Brothers to Charles Mingus made use of motifs lifted from field hollers, tent revivals and juke houses. While these artists may have sought to distance themselves from painful associations with the South, a younger generation of musicians embraces these roots with reverence.
On their latest recording, Our Roots (Origin), the Geof Bradfield Quintet reinterprets... read more
The H2 Big Band - It Could Happen
by George Fendel, Jazz Society of Oregon
Out of the gate it might be a good idea to explain the name of this outfit. It's simple. Co-led by Denver area trumpet ace Al Hood and pianist Dave Hanson, this is a no-punches pulled gathering of some of the premier studio cats in Los Angeles. Featured are such stars as Gary Foster, alto sax, clarinet and flute; Carl Saunders, trumpet; Andy Martin, trombone; Larry Koonse, guitar; and Joe LaBarbera, drums. Also on board are singer René Marie,... read more
Hal Galper Quartet featuring Jerry Bergonzi - Cubist
by Jim Motavalli, New York City Jazz Record
The Cubist movement, led by Pablo Picasso, came out of Paris in the 1910s-20s and rendered the human form as a series of jagged geometric forms. The rubato approach taken by pianist Hal Galper, who turns 80 this month, on his new album embraces similar liberties. Cubist was recorded live before a studio audience at the Gill and Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts in Cleveland, Galper enlarging his usual trio palette with tenor saxophonist... read more
Shawn Purcell - Oblivity
by Martin Johnson, DownBeat
Guitarist and composer Shawn Purcell has found an unusual avenue of ascent for jazz professionals. He honed his craft playing in military bands for 15 years, most notably serving as guitarist in the Air Force's premier ensemble, The Airmen of Note, which toured internationally. Amongst civilians, he's played or recorded with Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, Terell Stafford, Chip McNeill and many others. Oblivity is his third recording as... 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
Hal Galper / Jeff Johnson / John Bishop - Furious Rubato
by Marc Medwin, Cadence
Hal Galper's offering was the biggest surprise. It's the furthest out, his playing much more adventurous than I would have expected. Clearly in the tradition, his keyboard attack is nevertheless somehow brazen, bold and certain, as with Andrew Hill of the Strange Serenade period. Even the usually serene "Naima" emits raw energy, the melody twisted almost out of recognition. "Milestones" is subjected to similar treatment, becoming a no holds-... read more
Bobby Broom - My Shining Hour
by Dave Sumner, Wondering Sound
Following on the heels of his solid 2012 release Upper West Side Story, his first album of all original compositions, guitarist Broom returns to the Great American Songbook for his newest release. Joined by bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Makaya McCraven, this session's intimacy is matched by its warmth. There is an old-school feel to this recording, both in terms of the expression of the music and its sonic qualities, a sense of... read more
Michael Waldrop - Native Son
by Editor, Modern Drummer
Drummer-composer Michael Waldrop is a musical veteran with two big band projects (Time Within Itself and Origin Suite) behind him. This recording is an interesting instrumentation piano trio plus percussion. And these aren't just "any" percussionists, Brad Dutz is a percussionist who has made hundreds of recordings on the LA studio scene, and percussionist Jose Rossy is a onetime member of Weather Report. Waldrop's employment of the piano trio... read more
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