Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Dick Reynolds - Music & Friends
by Lloyd Sachs, Jazzespress
Back in the '60s, Dick Reynolds was the house pianist at Mr. Kelly's, Chicago's famous Rush Street club where stars like Sarah Vaughan and held forth. He also was a king of the commercial jingles jungle. Reynolds has been in retirement since 1996, but he doesn't sound retiring on Music and Friends, a lively, impeccably arranged big band effort whose original compositions range effortlessly from swing to Latin to funk.
With its... read more
Bongwool Lee - My Singing Fingers
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Bongwool Lee forms a trio with Kendrick Scott/dr and Luques Curtis/b for a collection of mostly originals. The sole cover is a pastel themed "Bye Bye Blackbird" which as the leader sashay with Scott's brushes, while Lee goes elegiac on a solo "Burning Incense." The team gets assertive on "Repeating Nightmares" and is fun and quirky as Scott gets everyone snappy on "After the Black Dog" Taylor Eigsti brings his Fender Rhodes in for a soulful... read more
Anthony Branker and Word Play - The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite
by Joe Tangari, Downbeat
In 1999, Anthony Branker was forced to stop playing trumpet due to a medical condition. Where many musicians would have felt silenced losing their ability to play, Branker shifted his energy to composing and assembled two collectives, Word play and Ascent, to bring his music to life.
Word Play is the band on his most recent release, The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite (Origin), a wide-ranging and powerful rumination on America's... read more
Corey Christiansen - Lone Prairie
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Guitarist Corey Christiansen has released two previous recordings on the Origin label in Roll With It (2008) and Outlaw Tractor (2010). Both were well received and featured Christiansen's ethereal playing, characterized by a deep reverb beneath a slightly overdriven tone. These recordings are uniformly fine, but generally lacked a thematic center (not that one was required).
Having said that, Christiansen provides here a disc with a central... read more
Doug Miller - Regeneration
by John Barron, All About Jazz.com
An active bassist/composer/educator from the Seattle, Washington area, Doug Miller has toured with top big band names like the Count Basie Orchestra, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra (under the direction of Mercer Ellington). Having provided a strong side-man presence on numerous releases for Origin Records, Miller gets the opportunity to step into the spotlight as leader with Regeneration, a unique representation of straight-ahead mainstream... read more
Hans Teuber - Lucky
by Butch Berman, Berman Music Review
Highly recommended...
I first heard Hans Teuber with his sly, sweet, and swell sax work backing Kendra Shank, and his new release Lucky - is a rare gem. If there is a "third-stream" - Hans is the leader of the pack, and with a Brazilian twist that gets under your skin, ever so nicely. Best use of guitar (Paul Meyers) and sax together since the jazz samba Getz/Gilberto. You really can't get enough of it. Nouveau bass wonder Santi DeBriano... read more
Roberta Brenza - It's My Turn to Color Now
by Paul Abella, WDCB, Chicago
A vocalist who grew up near Chicago, and now finds herself back here again, Roberta Brenza recently released her debut album on Origin Records, It's My Turn to Color Now. She's joined by Sheila Jordan (obviously a big influence) and a band assembled by Matt Wilson for a batch of originals like the charming title track and standards (she does a wonderful job on "Bye Bye Blackbird"). If this first album is an indication of what we can expect in... read more
Bongwool Lee - My Singing Fingers
by Dan Ouellette, DOWNBEAT
Bongwool Lee's Jazz Epiphany
Call it a revelatory jazz moment. As a classical music prodigy in Seoul, South Korea, pianist Bongwool Lee was listening to the radio one day when she heard the graceful but sturdy sound of Oscar Peterson.
"I'd listened to the radio every day since I was very young," said Lee, who today is based in New York. "When I heard Oscar Peterson on the radio, it changed my life immediately. I was 16 and I decided... read more
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