Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Joachim Mencel - Brooklyn Eye
by Piotr SACHA, Gość Niedzielny (Poland)
Lyrically
How to make big dreams come true? Joachim Mencel found the answer. An outstanding jazz pianist, also known on the scene of Christians from the New Life formation, thought about recording his own material in a New York studio in the company of eminent American instrumentalists. Later he moved to words, and from words to deeds, that is, sounds that are beautiful and original in beauty. The originality of the "Brooklyn Eye"... read more
Ira Sullivan & Stu Katz - A Family Affair - Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
Multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan spent a good while working around Chicago before leaving for Florida in the early '60s, though he retained a significant fan base in his old hometown. This live recording made in 2010 over four nights at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase is a reunion, featuring vibraphonist Stu Katz, who while in his teens had regularly sat in with Sullivan over a half-century earlier before pursuing a law career. Joining them in the... read more
Bill Anschell - Improbable Solutions
by Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist
If you ask me, the "improbable solution" at which keyboardist/composer Bill Anschell arrived in creating this album had to do with creating a program that draws equally on the straight-ahead jazz verities and on forward-thinking experimentation without sacrificing one for the other. Very few are able to strike that balance, and his achievement here is significant. Compare, for example, the rockish and melodically angular "Is This Thing Even On?"... read more
Dan Dean - Fanfare for the Common Man
by Marty Friedman, WICN, Worcester
So after a forty year career as bassist, composer, producer and recording engineer, what do you do next? Why, you sing the parts to famous orchestral pieces, overdubbing to create alternative chorale-based works - of course!
We have two new CDs from Dan Dean, with a track from each during this show.
In the first hour you'll hear a track from Mr. Dean's Fanfare for the Common Man, taking its title from Aaron Copeland's popular work.... read more
Rodney Whitaker - Outrospection: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Scooting out of the classroom for a hot second with several of the professors under him, Whitaker gives a full album to the works of up and comer Gregg Hill who already feels like a jazz old soul. The music is rooted in civil rights jazz, which certainly has a place in these times, and is delivered in proper fashion by the pros on board. A real ear opener that's good for the... read more
George Colligan & Theoretical Planets - Risky Notion
by Dave Rogers, WTJU - Richmond
Multi-instrumentalist Colligan pulled this current group together by recruiting two of his students at Portland State (Nicole Glover, tenor & soprano sax and Jon Lakey, bass) and other locals Joe Manis (tenor & alto sax and Tony Glausi, trumpet). Though most widely known as a pianist, Colligan is the drummer on this release - his first as a leader as a drummer. The saxes, often playing in harmony, literally fill the sonic space on most of these... read more
Idit Shner - Minerva
by Nicholas May, The Saxophonist Magazine
When it comes to the saxophone, or any instrument, it is uncommon for an artist to be well versed in two very different generes. Dr. Idit Shner, Associate Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at the University of Oregon, has established herself as a multi-talented, bilingual saxophonist across her numerous classical and jazz albums. Although I have not yet listened to her full discography, I certainly will be!
The album's title comes... read more
Chris Walden Big Band - Full-On!
by Scott Yanow, Downbeat
A busy arranger-composer in Los Angeles for the studios, films and television, Chris Waldon has also been leading a worthy if part-time jazz big band. On Full On! six singers are featured on seven selections, but Walden's orchestra is never merely in the background. In fact, with a few exceptions, the singers can be thought of as guest soloists who take their turns in the spotlight along with the instrumental soloists and the... read more
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