Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Lynn Darroch, The Oregonian - May 27, 2007
Darrell Grant strides into a ragtag band room where students have assembled for a beginning jazz combo class. Chairs and music stands are scattered around a piano and drum set, where Grant keeps the beat as they struggle with a tricky Herbie Hancock tune. Through frequent breakdowns, he guides them patiently.
The floor is covered with green linoleum in this windowless basement far from the New York stages where Grant made his mark as a... read more
Mimi Fox - Standards, Old & New
by John Barron, The Jazz Word
For her third solo guitar release, San Francisco-based Mimi Fox blends folk, pop and jazz standards into a collection of accessible, high spirited jazz. Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" opens up the disc with bluesy inflections and impressive double time soloing with bass lines, chords and riffs spread out in even proportion. "Cry Me a River" by nature lends itself to soulful inflection and Fox turns the tune inside-out. A grand... read more
Eric Jacobson - Heading Home
by Paul Abella, WDCB, Chicago
Trumpeter Eric Jacobson has a new album out, Heading Home, and I'm digging this one a whole lot. The Milwaukee native put together an outstanding band to play eight of his compositions on the disc, with the excellent pianist Bruce Barth, as well as familiar faces in saxophonist Geof Bradfield, bassist Dennis Carroll, and drummer George Fludas. Jacobson gets right down to business with the opening cut, "Survival" which burns pretty hot. Barth... read more
New Stories - Speakin Out
by Harold Hollingsworth, Earshot Jazz
I've often thought of music in terms of color and pattern. This goes the other direction as well, when asked about the complexity of abstraction in art, I've often used music as a pathway to assist in visualizing. There can be shortcomings, of course, in reviewing or assessing with this technique, but in general, I find it's valuable for opening a door that can seem hard to open. I offer this lens in reference to the 20th anniversary re-issue of... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Kirk Silsbee, Downbeat
Josh Nelson is the most accomplished of the younger L.A. jazz pianist-arrangers, and he has assembled a fine group of originals, along with Holst's foreboding "Mars, Bringer of War," on Exploring Mars. An opening reading from Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles sets the tone, with Nelson handling the relaxed recitation over Larry Koonse's discreet guitar chords. The small ensemble music in this collection is often lyrical, harmonically rich and... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Tenor saxist Jordan VanHemert mixes and matches his rhythm team of Helen Sung/p, Rodney Whitaker/b and Lewis Nash/dr with a brass secion of Terell Stafford/tp-fh and Michael Dease/tb in various musical portraits. VanHemert's tone is a complete joy, rich and full of texture while relaxed and bel canto. Unsurprisingly the most endearing tunes are the collection of duets, as he goes mano a mano with Nash on the feisty "Softly As In A Morning... read more
Deep Blue Organ Trio - Folk Music
by D. Oscar Groomes, O's Place
he Trio is guitarist Bobby Broom, drummer Greg Rockingham and Chris Forman on the Hammond. Don't let the title fool you. These are cool jazzy blues packed with soul. Broom steps up on "The Chant" and "She's Leaving Home" with fine solos. Chris is at the center of the action in most cases and he doesn't disappoint with well-developed solos that build intensity. These guys are not showboating, they just get it done, paying attention to the details... read more
Matt Jorgensen +451 - The Sonarchy Session
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Recorded in a live session for a local radio station, 451: The Sonarchy Session covers much of the same ground as the very nice The Road Begins Here album, but with a change in players on the sax and the Fender Rhodes, a slightly different set list, and an additional level of the live dynamic. The action centers around Jorgensen on the drums and a heavy dose of the Rhodes courtesy of Ryan Burns. Some of the better selections from previous... read more
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