Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Dave Slonaker Big Band - Shifty Paradigms
by John Ephland, DownBeat
This is big-band jazz, L.A.-style. Orchestrator, arranger and composer Dave Slonaker has now held this Grammy-nominated aggregate together for over 15 years. And it shows. Shifty Paradigms is his third for the label and a fun listen.
"Dash Can" and "Bye Bye Blues" kick things off with forward-charging charts and solos and include standard big band section work, some swing and not a little backbeat. "Blue Windows" cools things off with a... read more
Sam Yahel - Truth And Beauty
by Bill Wood, Amazon.com
This is wonderful, confident music, full of thought and surprise and understated humor, a modern music that has the self-assuredness not to announce itself as such. These three musicians are possibly the very best we have on their respective instruments, but there is no question but that Yahel's is the sensibility in charge. His writing is cliche-free, yet unashamedly connected to a full spectrum of musical traditions, from bop to pop, from... read more
Jerry Heldman - Revelation(s)
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
If you want to feel like a real Seattle jazz scene insider hipster, this twofer is the right place to start. Recorded 40 years ago after an already budding 10 year simpatico with David Friesen, this cat who wore many hats before passing last year created a cross roads in Seattle for jazz to flourish. With Friesen on board as producer and bass/piano fellow traveler, you can get a real feel for how things felt and sounded when the first bunch of... read more
Yumiko Endo Schlaffer - Rhapsodie
by Alison Young, Harp Column
Like the luscious glamour of her CD cover, Japanese harpist Yumiko Endo Schlaffer plays with a luxurious richness as soft as the velvet she lightly places herself on. Rhapsodie is sheer grace and elegance.
I am convinced a great deal of planning went into this CD. It?s not just one beautiful number after another with several French pieces that leaves us breathless and relaxed?Yumiko takes us far afield. One of my favorites is from her native... read more
John Wojciechowski - Focus
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
Every now and then you encounter a musician who has it together in so many ways, yet has largely managed to avoid national recognition. Saxophonist John Wojciechowski is one such player.
While those with strong enough memories might recall that the Michigan-bred Wojciechowski took third place - behind Jon Gordon and Jimmy Greene - at the 1996 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, those same people may come up empty on... read more
Marcos Varela - San Ygnacio
by Christian Wissmuller, Jazzed
Bassist Marcos Varela is one of the young bright lights on the NYC jazz scene. A native of Houston, he attended that city's renowned High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, where his fellow alumni include Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, Eric Harland, Chris Dave, and Beyonce.
Varela arrived in NYC to continue his studies at the New School, leading to performance opportunities with a wide range of artists including George Cables, Billy... read more
Dmitri Matheny - Cascadia
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4-STARS Flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny and his quintet play perfectly on Cascadia. There is no surprise there—with a rhythm section of pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Phil Sparks and drummer Mark Ivester backing the front line of Matheny and saxophonist Charles McNeil— perfection is the expectation.
Matheny grew up in Georgia and Arizona, spent a formative and near-obligatory stint in New York City, and played for a time in the band... read more
Michael Bisio & Timothy Hill - Inside Voice / Outside Voice
by S. Victor Aaron, Something Else!
Bassist Michael Bisio and acoustic guitarist/vocalist Timothy Hill recently got together to make a delightful, instinctive record that neither could have made with anyone else.
Recorded as a single continuous take without any edits, Inside Voice / Outside Voice (Origin Records) is a communion between two seasoned souls who have each led long, varied musical careers marked by being open-minded and making no compromises. Otherwise, these aren't... read more
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