Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Darrell Grant - Truth And Reconciliation
by Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes
Darrell Grant has said, "I choose to believe in the power of humans to change the world ? I believe that we who create art possess an extraordinary power to communicate, inspire, provoke, inform and to move others to transform society."
Truth and Reconciliation is an ambitious double album that attempts nothing less than putting the above beliefs into practice. A piano trio with John Patitucci and Brian Blade is the foundation from which Grant... read more
Thomas Marriott - Constraints & Liberations
by Chris Robinson, Downbeat
The music on Constraints & Liberations operates and resides in that state between dreams and reality. The record slowly simmers with a restrained intensity and rarely comes to a boil.
The soloists are stellar and never fail to tell engaging stories. Thomas Marriott's trumpet sound is as lush and inviting as it comes. "Up From Under" and "Clues" give him plenty of room to slowly stretch out, like a tall man coming to from a deep sleep and... read more
Matt Jorgensen - Tattooed by Passion: Music inspired by the paintings of Dale Chisman
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
Music based on visual art is nothing new (many know of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition if nothing else), but can be a mixed bag in terms of quality. Though both art forms can show improvisation and structure, musicians have to walk a fine line: too literal in their transcription of color and strength and they risk making terrible music; too free with the aesthetics of their own musical ideas and they risk ignoring the visual... read more
Bobby Broom - My Shining Hour
by Brent Black, Critical Jazz
My Shining Hour is far more than one more artist taking the easy way out by banging out a selection of tunes from the Great American Songbook. Bobby Broom doesn't play covers, he reinvents and meticulously manipulates melodies to find a new way of looking at some time tested classics. To call some of these selections "eclectic" would be the equivalent of beating the proverbial harmonic dead horse. To call some of these selections... read more
Mark Colby - Reflections
by Michael Jackson, Downbeat, June '09
Any jazzman who sees fit to record "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is clearly of a romantic persuasion. But this track, though a nice trio feature, is less arresting than Chicago tenor saxophonist Mark Colby's own "Reflections." The title track alludes to David Raksin's "Laura," and elsewhere there are sprinklings culled from jazzlore of yore. "Myth Mary's Blues" suggests a conflation of Sonny Rollins' "Tenor Madness" and "Blue... read more
Thomas Marriott - Flexicon
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
Trumpeter Thomas Marriott spent time paying his dues in the New York scene, moving back to his native Northwest after a few years and becoming a darling of the local jazz scene. On Flexicon, he pulls out sounds and styles from both areas of influence. The album opens with Freddie Hubbard's "Take It to the Ozone," jumping directly into full-speed, full-power, high-energy, post-bop melodies and using the solos to explore every possible nuance of... read more
Joonsam - A Door
by Izzy Yellin, Downbeat Magazine
Perfect for a rainy day inside, bandleader and bassist Joonsam's debut album, A Door, is an eclectic offering that documents the musician's past experiences in New York City. A classically trained bassist from Seoul, South Korea, Joonsam has lived in the city for nine years, having played various settings there. On his latest effort, he absorbs and expands upon the intricacies of each.
There's a strong emphasis on orchestration - each of the... read more
Brent Jensen / Rob Walker Quintet - Art of the Groove
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
The Brent Jensen/Rob Walker Quintet opens in a mellow groove and stays there much of the way on this backward- glancing yet quite contemporary album that wouldn't have been out of place in the bop-based Blue Note / Prestige catalogs of the late '50s - early '60s. Alto saxophonist Jensen and trumpeter Walker offer an earnest tribute to their musical predecessors -- especially the legendary Miles Davis -- without imitating them, choosing instead... read more
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