Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Corey Christiansen - La Proxima
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Leaving behind the west that has inspired him on past releases, Christiansen digs into his Afro Cuban inspirations for a painting from a different palette. Not a traditional Afro Cuban outing, but for a cat that spends a bunch of the year in Indiana, we'll grant him his askance and enjoy the ride as well. A fun guitar jazz tour de force that takes you on a great... read more
Todd Bishop Pop Art 4 - 69 Annee Erotique: Music of Serge Gainsbourg
by Paul Abella, Chicago Jazz Magazine
Origin Records strikes again with another outstanding disc, this time from drummer Todd Bishop and an outstanding group playing the music of Serge Gainsbourg. I have to admit, I hadn't a clue who Serge Gainsbourg was, prior to seeing this disc make its way across my desk. Of course, curiosity got the best of me and I had to check out Gainsbourg's music to hear these songs straight from the source. What I heard was charming and familiar on a... read more
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
Keigo Hirakawa - Pixel
by Suzuck, My Secret Room (Japan)
Keigo Hirakawa is an Ohio-based pianist, composer, and doctor of engineering. This album is science and jazz, I was told by an acquaintance who has connections in the United States.
Instead of traveling from Japan to the US for recording and playing with local players, this album was made possible by his career as a jazz pianist in the US for more than 20 years. Although he lives in Ohio, the new album is centered around players from... read more
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Gabriel Rivera, Indie Boulevard
Chamber Jazz at Its Most Honest: MAJA JAKU's Blessed & Bewitched Earns Every Minute of Your Patience
Jazz criticism has long developed a convenient way of talking about vocal albums — and that way, for all its refinement, has become a trap. We know how to describe technique, school, influences. We know how to construct a genealogy — who studied under whom, who inherited whose intonations, in which city and in which year it all... read more
Les DeMerle Sound 67 - Once in a Lifetime
by Barney Whittaker, Presto Music (UK)
Something of a rarity, this unearthed compilation was laid down in 1967 before seemingly disappearing from the hands of the record executives for good. Lucky for us, the veteran New York drummer kept hold of the original acetates his whole life before blessing us with their presence on this disc over half a century later. This vintage recording of the short-lived Sound 67 band is not without its charm, a bit like seeing sepia-blotched pictures... read more
Nnenna Freelon - Beneath the Skin
by Jim Motavalli, THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
Singer Nnenna Freelon has long shown she knows her way around the Great American Songbook (she's recorded tributes to Billie holiday and Stevie Wonder), but on her newly released 12th album, Beneath the Skin, the tunes, many of them poignant ballads, are all hers, with several celebrating women in many colors. On this straight-ahead acoustic affair—with an unusual instrumentation of cello, trombone and guitar plus piano trio—Freelon proves... read more
Mike Pope - The Parts You Keep
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Bassist Mike Pope brings in a muscular and tasteful team of Geoffrey Keezer/p-k, Nate Smith/dr, Roxy Coss/ts-ss, Randy Brecker/tp-fh, Amaury Cabral/g, Ann Almond Pope/p and a guest string quartet for a swinging yet lyrical mix of standards, originals and even some classical. Of the latter, Pope lights the candles for the glistening title tune while going Old World rich on "Spharenmusik". Keezer taps into his inner Herbie Hancock as he gets... read more
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