Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Carlos Vega - Art of the Messenger
by Larry Hollis, Cadence
Here's a belated present for all us hard bop lovers. This Carlos Vega has a pair of previously issued discs for the Origin label and is not to be confused with the drummer of the same name. Those two platters were salutes to Bird but this time around its a nod to powerhouse drum-master Art Blakey Vega's bandmates are the same on all three discs so one has little trouble understanding how super tight this quintet is on this third album. Each of... read more
Daniel Barry - Music Of The Spheres
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Barry takes the opposite tack of Tsatsanis and Lenti by composing for the future and his approach is novel. Barry recorded Music of the Spheres in a two-million gallon cistern found on the grounds of the Fort Warden State Park in Port Townsend, Washington. The empty cistern has a natural 45-minute reverberation time that surrounds and extends all sounds made not unlike depressing a piano's sustain pedal to the nth... read more
Nnenna Freelon - Time Traveler
by Matthias Kirsch, Gina Loves Jazz (Germany)
It's her eleventh album to date and her first since "Homefree" came out back in 2010. Nnenna Freelon sounds as fresh and graceful, jazzy and soulful as ever and in most cases on her beautiful new disc, even better than ever before. Harking back to her "Listen" (1994), "Shaking Free" (1996) or "Soulcall" (2000) days when she released collections of soul classics mixed in with standards and originals, usually with style and imagination and a... read more
Carlos Vega - Bird's Up
by Lance Liddle, Bebop Spoken Here
Two CDs recorded not quite 2 years apart by a modern-day hardbop quintet led by Florida born Vega who also composed all of the 20 tracks on both albums as well as blowing some paint stripping sax. It's a humdinger of a band, all strong soloists in their own right and, importantly, team players too. Although the albums were recorded in Chicago, there is often a Miami Latin feel to the music -listen to the Cajon box on "Taurus and Virgo" on... read more
Piet Verbist Zygomatik - Cattitude
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Bassist Piet Verbist sets the tone and the groove on this sleek and swinging set that is reminiscent of vintage Mingus on a collection of originals. He brings together Herman Pardon/dr, Bram Weijters/key and the brilliant double thick sax front line of Jeroen Van Herzeele/ts-ss and Vincent Brijs/bs. The two reeds feel like hot fudge poured over two scoops of vanilla on the sneaky beat of "Cattitude" and the languid "Double Trouble."... read more
Shawn Purcell - Oblivity
by Pete Prown, Vintage Guitar Magazine
With burnin' bop, ballad, and fusion, this album crackles with life - and superb musicianship. Purcell threads the needle well, staying traditional but also pushing jazz boundaries with guitar effects and synth sounds ("Quiet the Chaos"). "Verdigris" is straight-ahead bop with complex guitar phrases that are spellbinding, while "Gentle Giant" offers a slow ballad with Shawn's melodic and masterful... read more
Les DeMerle Sound 67 - Once in a Lifetime
by Editor, Dusty Grooves
Rare lost work from funky drummer Les DeMerle - a set of tracks that were recorded for Atlantic Records in 1967, two years before DeMerle's classic Spectrum album - yet which finally appear here for the first time ever! Les is rock-solid, right from the start - definitely one of those younger players really helping to shift the sound of the larger jazz group at the end of the 60s - with fresh arrangements that bring in plenty of currents... read more
Chenxi Pan - This Very Moment
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Chenxi Pan is a storyteller. She has a pleasing tone and has composed all thirteen songs on this album. Her vocals are tenor saxophone-smooth. In fact, on the first song "Hymn for the Spring" she and sax man, Nathan Nakadegawa-Lee blend sweetly, like chocolate and caramel. The bluesy guitar of George Rykova adds another texture to the arrangement.
Born and raised in China, Chenxi Pan changed her path of study from literature to music,... read more
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