Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jeff Johnson - Tall Stranger
by Doug Simpsom, Audiophile Audition
Seattle's jazz scene is not well known for music that strays from a melodically mainstream focus. Emerald city bassist Jeff Johnson, though, has been producing challenging music that courses from avant-garde to stripped-down European-tinted free jazz, and his fourth album, Tall Stranger, finds the composer/player once again presenting liberating, sparse forms that stress trio improvisation.
Johnson is expertly abetted by friend and... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Carol Banks Weber, Examiner.com
At L.A.'s Blue Whale as far back as 2012, jazz pianist and composer Josh Nelson previewed parts of his highly experimental Exploring Mars album project with sound and visual imagery, culminating in a two-night, multi-media CD release show last month. At times during the listening-only portion of the album, you want to frequently refer back to those visuals of a bleeding red sunset over a lonely isolated Mars horizon, the rovers, NASA engineers... read more
Benjamin Boone | Philip Levine - The Poetry of Jazz, Vol. 2
by William Minor, Bill's Blog
The third artist I would like to celebrate is Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award (twice!) winner and Poet Laureate of the United States (2011-1012) Philip Levine—and by "extension," saxophonist Benjamin Boone. I was fortunate to become friends with Phil, under unusual circumstance. We discovered we had attended the same Art Tatum/Erroll Garner concert in Detroit the mid-1950s, and we discovered we shared the same disease (vestibular:... read more
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Russ & Mike, Adult Music Podcast
It's obvious that these three musicians have an "affinity" for each other and the music they make together. The drumless trio format makes the presentation more intimate, and the extra space in the soundscape makes the performance of familiar material unique. There's no lack of rhythmic drive, though, due to Clay Schaub's propulsive bass and intuitive locking in with Pamela York's piano backing. The program is enjoyable with a distinctive... read more
Doug Lofstrom with Misha Rachlevsky & the Russian String Orchestra - Music for Strings
by Ron Schepper, Textura
The earliest material on this thoroughly appealing collection of classical material by Chicago composer Doug Lofstrom dates back to 1971, yet Music for Strings sounds as fresh as the day it was born. How the Russian String Orchestra and its conductor founder Misha Rachlevsky came to perform the four Lofstrom works on the release isn't clarified; regardless, both listeners and composer are fortunate they did. The committed renderings by the... read more
Hadley Caliman - Straight Ahead
by David Franklin, Cadence
Hadley Caliman recorded with the likes of Gerald Wilson, Don Ellis, and Mongo Santamaria in the 1960s and with such folks as Hampton Hawes, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, and a raft of other Jazz and Pop stars, as well as his own groups, in the ?70s. But the 78-year-old tenorist did not make another record until his return to the studio for a CD under his own name in late 2007. Gratitude was well-received with Straight Ahead... read more
John Stowell | Michael Zilber - Live Beauty
by Mike Joyce, JazzTimes
Anyone who has enjoyed previous collaborations by guitarist John Stowell and saxophonist Michael Zilber will be delighted to discover that nothing gets lost in the transition from studio to stage on this 2012 concert recording. It's an intimate quartet affair, marked by the kind of soulful, instinctual interplay that fans have come to expect.
In the album's liner notes, Stowell and Zilber briefly discuss their creative relationship, the yin... read more
John Stowell - Resonance
by John Henry, Audiophile Audition
Portland, Oregon-based guitarist Stowell has a super-cool approach to his instrument but with a minimum of fuss can tear up the strings with some complex improvising that seems to occur at almost the speed of light. He plays here acoustic-electric guitars made by Portland custom guitar-maker Mike Doolin, and using nylon strings. Doolin invited Stowell over to try out his latest creations and in the process taped him playing a tune on each... read more
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