Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble - The Atwood Suites
by Raul da Gama, JazzdaGama
There have been a few recordings of poetry and music over the years. However, there are none featuring the poetry of Margaret Atwood and certainly none that capture its angst-ridden power also encapsulating its imagery in the overarching passion of a musical argument. Andrew Rathbun has a clear and unified vision of key poems and has set them in a musical trajectory on these Atwood Suites that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and compels you... read more
Phil Kelly - Convergence Zone
by Bill Barton, Earshot
Composer/arranger Phil Kelly's new big band CD is truly a convergence zone between "tight" and "loose." Combining a stellar array of first-call studio players and smokin' jazz soloists from the Pacific Northwest with a few of his old friends from the Los Angeles, New York and Nashville scenes, Kelly has come up with a recording that combines consummate craftsmanship with flat-out fun in a most engaging fashion.
Kelly retired to the... read more
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tim Larsen, JazzViews (UK)
For many American listeners, Blessed & Bewitched will be an introduction to Maja Jaku, a Kosovo-born singer who has already built a strong reputation in Europe. She brings a voice that can be powerful and direct, yet she's just as comfortable pulling it back to a hushed intensity, shaping phrases carefully and letting the meaning of the lyrics come through. That sense of control traces back to a musical household — her father was a trumpet... 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
Christopher Icasiano - Provinces
by Dave Segal, The Stranger
Chris Icasiano has established himself as one of the boldest musicians in Seattle's jazz and experimental-music scenes as a drummer in the Bad Luck duo with saxophonist Neil Welch. Together they've delved into free-jazz maelstroms and more nuanced and somber pieces with masterly skill.
Icasiano's debut solo album, Provinces (out today), consists of field recordings he took during a trip to the Philippines, where his ancestors lived; he's... read more
Naama Liany - Daydream
by Arts Editor, City Magazine (Luxembourg)
Young mezzo-soprano Naama Liany is one of the most promising voices of her generation. Her story crosses continents. Backed by the Luxembourg Philharmonie and with a grant from the Ministry of Culture, Kultur | lx and the BIL Fondation Independance, the artist has just released her first album entitled Daydream, featuring a selection of works by Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Frederico Mompou, and prolific Bulgarian-born Luxembourg composer... read more
Marcos Varela - San Ygnacio
by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation
Wow! What an extreme change of pace... from Klezmer/tuba-led, to a bass-led group in full jazz mode on a debut album that will simply stun your aural appendages... you'll think you're in one of those smokey back-room clubs at 3:00 am as you listen to the beautiful synchronicity of Marcos's bass on tunes like the 6:11 high-energy opener, "I Should Care"... your ears (& your whole body, in fact) will thrill to Marcos's original "Colinas de Santa... read more
Clarence Penn - Monk: The Lost Files
by Tim Wilkins, WBGO - New York
No, Monk: The Lost Files isn't a master tape drummer Clarence Penn found stuck behind the stacks at the Library of Congress. But the story is just as good.
The way Clarence tells it, a glass of wine at his son's second birthday party led to a computer dysfunction that ate some tape he desperately wanted to keep. Penn had recorded a rhythmic reimagining of Monk tunes, as an experiment with his Penn Station colleagues Chad... read more
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