Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Kobie Watkins - Involved
by Oscar Groomes, O's Place Jazz.com
Drummer Kobie Watkins leads a band with James Austin (p), Clark Sommers (b) and several talented musicians playing brass. Guitarist Bobby Broom is featured on "Expressions", the best of four Watkins originals. We also enjoyed "Congo" with Pharez Whitted (t) and Ryan Cohen on the keys. Geof Bradfield plays sax on five tracks notably the hot blues of "Third Pew". The pace and mode are varied but Kobie is always Involved with tight beats on drums... read more
Michael Waldrop - Native Son
by Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
About the album from the label's point of view: "Well known throughout Europe for decades, the virtuoso Serbian pianist Vasil Hadžimanov only became known to drummer Michael Waldrop while performing in a Belgrade club that Waldrop dropped into during one of his yearly visits with in-laws. Later, stuck in his Pacific Northwest home during the pandemic, Waldrop thought to include Vasil in a remote recording session of his tune "Belgrade," which... read more
Ben Patterson - Push the Limits
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
It took no more than a quick Google search to find that every member of trombonist Ben Patterson's quintet is (or was) also a member of the U.S. Air Force's flagship jazz ensemble, the Airmen of Note. On Push the Limits, Patterson challenges his fellow airmen to cruise through ten of his elaborate compositions and arrangements, a mission they carry out with what seems to be relative ease. In other words, the technical excellence of the group is... read more
Dana Hall - Into the Light
by Aaron Cohen, Downbeat, April 2010
When Dana Hall talks about global connections or musical nuances, his words convey a quiet authority. The drummer's background - which embraced equally intense levels of science and technology alongside music and scholarship - has provided him with a unique perspective on those large and small concepts. And Hall's recent CD debut as a quintet leader, Into The Light (Origin), shows how he blends those disparate ideas.
Today, Hall is... read more
New York Voices - Reminiscing in Tempo
by Allen Morrison, DownBeat
The title track of New York Voices' new album, Reminiscing In Tempo (Origin), was one of Duke Ellington's first long-form compositions in the 1930s. (Mel Tormé added the poignant lyrics in 1962.) It's an apt tune for a group now celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Founded at Ithaca College, New York Voices remains one of the world's foremost vocal jazz groups. The original quintet became a quartet with its current lineup in 1994: tenor... read more
Cuong Vu - Leaps of Faith
by Matthew Miller, New York City Jazz Record
For all of his sonic manipulations, kinetic energy and creative focus, trumpeter Cuong Vu never strays far from a strong melody. It is a unifying element in a professional career that has spanned nearly 20 years with his own idiosyncratic groups and associations with artists like Pat Metheny, David Bowie and Laurie Anderson, among many others. On two new releases, Leaps of Faith and Speak, Vu is joined by a coterie of like-minded musicians who... read more
Ark Ovrutski - Intersection
by John Ephland, Downbeat
***
There are some nifty passages that emerge on bassist Ark Ovrutski's new album, a collection of originals mixed with a few covers. The playing is top-notch, and the interaction between group members is at a consistently high level, making Intersection a fine acoustic jazz outing.
Starting with Bill Evans' "Waltz For Debby," the mood is framed within a straightahead paradigm, with trombonist Michael Dease and reed player... read more
Dan Dean - Fanfare for the Common Man
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
BEST OF 2021 Dan Dean is well known for his bass playing and producing for Origin Records. He is also an accomplished—a recent development— vocalist. With Fanfare For the Common Man he has convened a choir of heavenly voices—all his own, via a painstaking overdub process— and made one of the most beautiful sets of music this year. It is a visitation of classical music—Bach, Mozart, Aaron Copland—presented with a full, lush... read more
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