Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Anthony Branker and Ascent - Together
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
This is quite the achievement. This sounds like Branker's friendliest record yet. He pulls off the dandy feat of merging art and commerce making creative jazz that could leap to mass appeal. Straight ahead without an ounce of any kind of pandering, Branker leads his charges through a galloping date that really packs a wallop. With a pair of saxes leading the charge, this is everything you could want in a swinging, mainstream date that makes... read more
Bobby Rozario - Spellbound
by Dick Metcalf, Contemporary Fusion Reviews
Absolutely scorching guitar originality Bobby Rozario - SPELLBOUND: I seldom get "that" excited by a new album these days (I'll be 77 next month, if the chemo don't get me first, lol), but the absolutely scorching guitar originality that guitarist Rozario brings to this new album will have you RAWKin' from the opening notes to the end of the 11 superb tunes offered up (think Santana at Woodstock - yeah, THAT KIND of... read more
Shawn Purcell - 180
by Bob Weinberg, Jazziz
Like so many jazz guitarists, Shawn Purcell was awed by the playing of Pat Martino, whose classic album El Hombre truly opened his ears to the possibilities of the guitar-organ trio. And certainly, Martino's influence echoes throughout 180 (Origin), the Washington, D.C.-based Purcell's most recent release. Teaming up with organ virtuoso Pat Bianchi and drum phenom Jason Tiemann, Purcell explores and updates the dynamics of the classic organ... read more
Gary Hobbs - Of My Times
by Dr. Thomas Erdmann, JazzReview
Drummer/percussionist Gary Hobbs first made his mark in jazz on one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking big band albums of all time, Kenton '76 (Creative World). This little known yet highly influential and critically praised recording features the Kenton band near the end of its life. Of the three Hank Levy charts, two of them, Time for a Change and Decoupage, are brilliant masterpieces exhibiting a wealth of subtle surprise and tonal... read more
Jeff Johnson - The Art of Falling
by Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
This is the second album by Jeff Johnson for the Origin label, even though the first Free was recorded at a later date than this session. Using a quartet instead of a trio format, Johnson continues to explore facets of creative, modern jazz but in such a way as not to force listeners to dissociate themselves from the proceedings. While highly exploratory, there is sufficient symmetry and melody to make the music meaningful. Johnson is joined by... read more
Greta Matassa | Clipper Anderson - And to All a Good Night
by Thomas R. Erdmann, Jazz Review.com
Probably the last thing anyone would ever expect to come from cutting edge jazz label Origin Records, would be a traditionally oriented jazz Christmas album, but that is exactly what we get in this release from vocalist Greta Matassa, and bassist and vocalist Clipper Anderson. If there is anything cutting edge about this release, it's in the fact so many of these Christmas songs are rarities. For example, "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" comes... read more
Alon Farber Hagiga - Dreams I Dream
by Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
From the Origin website: "Hagiga in Hebrew means "celebration" and in saxophonist Alon Farber's music for his 25-year-old ensemble, he celebrates the cultural divergence of his Israeli heritage through a heady melding of Swing, Moroccan, Funk and Brazilian backgrounds. For his third Origin release, Farber focused on the dream state where the process of writing new music begins for him - imagining the development of an idea, the recording of it... read more
Mamutrio - Primal Existence
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
The team of Lieven Cambre'/as, Piet Verbist/b and Jesse Dockx/dr team up for some fun bop and beyond. Cambre' has a sweet as honey tone, gloriously sighing to Verbist's resonant bass on "In Peace with Gravity" and relaxing on the lovely "Ballast". His vibrato gets lonely while Dockx gets frisky on "For Less Than Nothing" and the team snaps joyfully on "My Love You." Dockx brushes up on the soft shoe "To Remember" and delivers a hip grove with... read more
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