Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Editor, Women in Jazz Media
A deeply personal, fully original album exploring the emotional and spiritual dimensions of jazz — raw, poetic, and transcendent.
Blessed & Bewitched blends five original compositions with two reimagined jazz classics, recorded between New York City and Vienna with an international ensemble. The music bridges the intimacy and elegance of golden-era jazz with a modern, deeply personal sensibility.
The album is not just music—it... read more
Chad McCullough & Bram Weijters - Imaginary Sketches
by Tom D'Antoni, Oregon Music News
Seattle-based trumpeter Chad McCullough has quickly come into his own. His addition to The Kora Band put it over the top. Last year's album The Sky Cries with Slovakian pianist Michal Vanoucek along with Portland bassist Dave Captein, and Seattle's Matt Jorgensen (drums) and Mark Taylor (sax) was well received.
On the heels of that comes a collaboration with Antwerp-based pianist Bram Weijters which shows off McCullough's warm lyricism in a... read more
Don Lanphere - Where Do You Start?
by John Doll, Jazz Review
Don Lanphere's career started as an impressive saxophonist in 1949 by playing with legends Fats Navarro, Woody Shaw and Woody Herman. Except for a Woody Herman stint at the end of the Eisenhower era, drug use and incarceration blemished his musical path for a thirty year period. It was only when he kicked the habit in 1982 that he started to make music again. Lanphere still retains his musicality and vision as evidenced in his latest CD, "Where... read more
Benjamin Boone with the Ghana Jazz Collective - Joy
by WOLFGANG GRATZER, Jazz Podium (Germany)
Fulbright scholarships are an attractive option, as they promote the international exchange of researchers from and in the USA. The target group also includes musicians. The one from Statesville/North Carolina-born saxophonist Benjamin Boone (*1963) knows how to seize this opportunity. Stays in different countries were and are the result. His traces can be found on several continents, even the German university cities of Tübingen and Erlangen... read more
Hal Galper - Live at the Berlin Philharmonic, 1977
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
One of the great you wish you were there moments is finally getting it's long over due release, this live date finds Galper fresh off the road from three years with Cannonball Adderley now fronting a band with the Brecker Brothers blowing away. With echoes of Miles in the air, along with a finger pounding that could only have led to early arthritis, this is a killer reminder why the late 70s was a golden and classic period for music no matter... read more
Jason Hainsworth - Third Ward Stories
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
The fifth ward is for gangsta rap, the third ward is for hard blowing sax men. In the tradition of Houston's hard blowing boppers, Hainsworth takes his ax around the horn and lets influences from the various locales he stopped at along the way add special sauce to the mix. A smart writer as well, he lets all comers know he's a leader to be dealt with that can blow up a storm all night. Hot stuff.... read more
Carlos Vega - Art of the Messenger
by Paul Abella, WDCB, Chicago
Carlos Vega's Art of the Messenger might very well end up being a contender for one of my favorite albums of the year. And when you dissect the pieces, it's easy to understand why. First, start off with a who's who of young(ish) Jazz players in Chicago - Vega plays tenor sax and writes the songs. Victor Garcia is the trumpet player, Stu Mindeman is on piano, Josh Ramos is on bass and Xavier Breaker is playing the drums. Second, write some... read more
Rodney Whitaker - Mosaic: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
4-STARS In their fourth collaboration on Origin Records, bassist and bandleader Rodney Whitaker and Central Michigan composer Gregg Hill strike gold once again, backed by a formidable gathering of musicians. Hill's music has experienced a surge in interest due to his prolific releases on Origin, which have featured musicians in and around the impressive jazz faculty roster at Michigan State University, a program with Whitaker at the... read more
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