Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Purna Loka Ensemble - Metaraga
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
A rich mix of Indian strings, percussion and western accessibility takes place on the two violin team of Purnaprajna Bangere and David Balakrishnan on the front line, bassist Jeff Harshbarger and tabla player Amit Kavhekar on this richly hued collection. The evocative tablas lead into a richly textured lilt on "Syzygy" and a more traditional Central Asian drone and harmonics takes place o n"Abhogi Varnam" and the meditative "Fibration." A three... read more
Mattias Svensson - Embrace
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris-Move
5 STARS
Embracing the Present: Mattias Svensson's Quiet Authority in Modern European Jazz
In an era when jazz often oscillates between nostalgic revival and restless experimentation, Embrace arrives as a quietly confident statement, an album that neither looks backward nor feels compelled to shout its modernity. It speaks instead with assurance, depth, and patience. When the name Mattias Svensson appears on the... read more
Phil Kelly & The SW Santa Ana Winds - My Museum
by Ric Bang, The Davis Enterprise
Phil Kelly is a bit of an anachronism: a drummer who's also a prolific jazz composer and arranger.
He has written literally hundreds of charts for dozens of groups. His first CD for Origin - "Convergence Zone" with a Seattle-based band he calls the NW Prevailing Winds - was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award. Having succeeded in the Pacific Northwest (Kelly lives in Bellingham, Washington), he decided to change locales for his next... read more
Rodney Whitaker - Mosaic: The Music of Gregg Hill
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
This is about the fourth album that has come across my ears focusing on the composing strengths of Gregg Hill. You know a guy has a lyrical style when almost half of the songs feature lyrics themselves, mostly brought on by vocalist Rockelle Whitaker. The remaining team of Tim Warfield/ts-ss, Rick Roe/p, Terell Stafford/tp-fh and Dana Hall/dr do wonders with these fresh formations. Warfield's soprano gives an earthy Yusef Lateef feel to the Afro... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Joe Bendel, J.B. Spins
Like an ambitious ice-skating jump, interpreting the music of Thelonious Monk carries a high degree of difficulty for jazz artists, but those who nail it, are guaranteed to make a lasting impression. Yet, Bobby Broom makes it sound easy as pie on Bobby Broom Plays for Monk, his refreshingly laidback new CD tribute to the legendary composer-pianist.
Though he was only twelve years old when Monk retired from music in 1973, Broom could claim an... read more
Dan Cray - Meridies
by Darryl Daniels, The Jazz Page
On his latest, Meridies, pianist Dan Cray provides a fantastic portrait of contemporary quartet of musicians at work. Cray is joined by a terrific group comprised of Noah Preminger on saxophone, Clark Sommers on bass and Mark Ferber on drums, all whom provide solid musicianship in their respective chairs. The four musicians swing quite nicely on the uptempo tunes, and have a great sound on ballads as well. The recording is also a tremendous... read more
Toby Koenigsberg - Sense
by Serena Markstrom, Eugene Register-Guard
Getting a song stuck in your head can be frustrating, but imagine if you believed your future
as a musician depended on getting it out.
As a graduate student, Toby Koenigsberg realized his challenge as a pianist was to stop
theorizing and intellectualizing and start playing from his heart instead of his mind.
That's what he was trying to do when his trio released his debut as a leader, "Push," last year
and that's what he believes he... read more
Chris Walden Big Band - No Bounds
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Chris Walden has been on a heck of a roll lately, with two Grammy nods for last year's Home of My Heart, one of the finest big band efforts of the year. He also in did the orchestrations for the acclaimed Michael Bolton set Bolton Swings Sinatra.
Home of My Heart deserved all the accolades that came its way; No Bounds is an even stronger disc. Walden is a genius at freshening up the big band genre with sparkling arrangements, whether in the... read more
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