Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Brad Wheeler - The Future Was Yesterday
by Nathan Holaway, Jazz Review
Brad Wheeler better have a huge appetite because the world is definitely his oyster. Not only is Wheeler an ace saxophonist, but a great contemporary and progressive composer. He is one of the shining voices for the future, who is insurmountably steeped in the traditions of the past. The listener can hear faint echoes of Coltrane and Shorter, as well as contemporary traces to Brecker, Liebman, and even Steve Lacy.
Wheeler's backing band is... read more
Chris Walden Big Band - Home Of My Heart
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
One doesn't often hear a big band album in which the arrangements literally steal the show. Here's one where they do. Make no mistake, German-born composer/arranger Chris Walden has mustered a world-class ensemble for his debut album, abundantly equipped with staunch team players and killer soloists; even so, it is his superlative charts that carry the day and earn the blue ribbon.
Simply put, Walden is a terrific arranger who readily... read more
Bobby Broom - The Way I Play: Live In Chicago
by Chris Spector, MidwestRecord.com
We're always jingoistic enough to champion one of our locals and Broom once again makes it all too easy. Coming live and direct from Pete Miller's Evanston location, the years of making that his home base makes for this to be a comfortable outing that cooks. The kind of stuff that makes upscale stake and scotch taste even better as it percolates in the background, Broom and company carry on the tradition of killer, first class club jazz that... read more
Benjamin Boone | Philip Levine - The Poetry of Jazz
by Michael Ullman, The Arts Fuse
In the early eighties, when we were both teaching in the English department of Tufts University, Detroit-born poet Philip Levine and I became friends. We shared some things: basic literacy, a Michigan background (I had lived in Ann Arbor for four years and he was raised in Detroit), and a love of jazz. I would make tapes for him. (He particularly appreciated the ninety minutes of Clifford Brown I assembled for him.) He would give me signed... read more
Phil Kelly - Convergence Zone
by Jae Sinnett, Jazz Programmers List
"Convergence Zone" adds a much needed upgrade to what the jazz orchestras are dealing with today in terms of predictability. The arrangements are
challenging, fun and work only because of the quality of these musicians playing them. The sections are cohesive and beautifully in tune. The dynamic range of this band is refreshing. Jay Thomas is one of many standouts. Considering the overhead involved with making something like this work, give... read more
Piet Verbist - Suite Réunion
by Alex W. Rodriguez, Downbeat
***
Jazz musicians know a thing or two about grueling travel schedules. Belgian bassist Piet Verbist, a veteran of two decades of jazz globetrotting, draws from the experience and gathers longtime friends for Suite Réunion, an album that exudes effervescence throughout as pieces oscillate between cool, lyrical openness and upbeat swing.
"Mygratum" opens the recording with a heartfelt and lyrical exposition for solo bass that... read more
Dan Dean - Songs Without Words
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS Bassist Dan Dean's original plan for this project was the hiring of sixteen string players to join him in the studio to record a set for solo bass with string orchestra: Vivaldi's Concerto For Lute and Orchestra in D Major, along with music from JS Bach, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff and Albononi. The cost for the project proved prohibitive, but the paucity of funds turned out to be the mother of innovation. Dean tackled the... read more
Jordan VanHemert - Survival of the Fittest
by C. Michael Bailey, Wild Mercury Rhythm
We needn't consider jazz as only a product of the Ease and West Coasts. The American interior also provides its share of splendid jazz music and musicians. An example is tenor saxophonist Jordan VanHemert. Born in Cheongju, South Korea and raised in Holland, Michigan, VanHemert took up alto saxophone at 11, eventually gravitating to the tenor saxophone in high school. Following a degree in music from Central Michigan University and graduate... read more
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