Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
David Friesen Circle 3 Trio - Where the Light Falls
by Lynn Darroch, Jazz Society of Oregon
Ever since the late 1960s, Portland bassist and composer David Friesen has been an important part of jazz in the Pacific Northwest. He cut his teeth in Seattle's avant-garde coffee house scene, a period he documented recently in another two disc set titled "..." In the 1970s, often in company with guitarist John Stowell, Friesen pioneered an approach that came to be called New Age music, as did another Friesen associate in those years,... read more
Scott Burns - Passages
by Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
It's hardly news that Chicago has a deep jazz community, and though a variety of specific scenes exist (free jazz, neo-trad, etc), players here tend to be distinguished by their versatility. But that often means that if a musician doesn't wear a particular hat, he or she can get overlooked. Case in point: tenor saxophonist Scott Burns. One of the most reliable horn players in town, Burns has been mentioned in these pages as a member of the... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Josef Woodard, The Santa Barbara Independent
Bobby Broom: Bobby Broom Plays for Monk (Origin). An engaging and clich�-dodging "mainstream" jazz guitarist, Broom lately has been bursting forth more under his own name, after years in Sonny's sidelight. On Plays for Monk, Broom expertly addresses the dearth of thinking guitarists bringing lively voices to the classic, quirky Monk... read more
Anthony Branker & Other Ways of Knowing - Manifestations of a Diasporic Groove & Spirit
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4-STARS At the time of this writing (early 2026), the United States is beset by an odious president, a racist sociopath who seems hellbent on erasing all references to achievement or success of anyone of African descent—leaving aside that we are all of African descent; but some made the relocation to North America involuntarily.
Stubborn resistance and unvarnished artistic statement—shoulders pulled back, chins jutting... read more
Jay Thomas with the Oliver Groenewald Newnet - I Always Knew
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS Jay Thomas has lived the jazz life. He has endured, overcome, and continued to artistically thrive through all the ruminations of a path chosen by few. While much of his life may form a parallel story to those of many, Thomas' version, his personal adjunct to its litany, is a story of artistic triumph that opened doors seldom walked through. It is a musical legacy in Seattle, unmatched in the colorful history of jazz in his... read more
Robby Ameen - Live at the Poster Museum
by Editor, Modern Drummer
This is one of the best drummer led records that I have heard in a long while. We can tell that many of these musicians have been working together for a while in Conrad Herwig's Latin Side... band. However, under Ameen's leadership the Latin flavors get further twisted into a mélange of fusion, jazz, Latin, groove, and everything else; "Ameenmusic" if you will. And with Ameen's first live recording of his band, the music really jumps out of the... read more
Hal Galper - E Pluribus Unum - Live in Seattle
by Bret Saunders, The Denver Post
I hadn't thought of Hal Galper in a long time.
There were a couple of records showcasing his flawless piano technique that I had discovered at my college radio station in the '80s. I remembered that he was touring with saxophonist Phil Woods for a while. But for whatever reasons, I hadn't heard his music, other than an occasional cut on the radio, for a couple of decades.
It turns out that Galper, a Bostonian and respected educator,... read more
Jeff Johnson - The Art of Falling
by Jason West, All About Jazz
I like living with CDs. I like to leave them in the player for a week or two and see how they grow. I'm not worried if, at first, I don't hear everything that's going on. Just as long as there's something - a few magnetic bars, a particularly firey exchange, a pregnant moment in the music - that demands another listen. So it is with The Art of Falling.
The phrase that hooked me comes at the hands of pianist Randy Porter, and it occurs in the... read more
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