Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Todd Bishop - Little Played Little Bird
by Rebecca Ruth, WYCE Music Journal
Accomplished photographer, landscape oils painter and drummer, Todd Bishop, may be familiar to you because of his group, Pop Art 4, which is dedicated to exploring commercial music of the 60s and 70s. (Such as Todd Bishop Pop Art 4: 69 Annee Erotique: Music of Serge Gainsbourg.) Except for the classic "Lonely Woman", you've likely not heard most of the songs on Little Played Little Bird. That's because band leader,... read more
Jerry Heldman - Revelation(s)
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
If you want to feel like a real Seattle jazz scene insider hipster, this twofer is the right place to start. Recorded 40 years ago after an already budding 10 year simpatico with David Friesen, this cat who wore many hats before passing last year created a cross roads in Seattle for jazz to flourish. With Friesen on board as producer and bass/piano fellow traveler, you can get a real feel for how things felt and sounded when the first bunch of... read more
Scott Reeves Quintet - The Alchemist
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Devastating as it has been, the global Covid-19 pandemic has produced a few upsides as well, one of which is the rediscovery by versatile Scott Reeves of a concert that his quintet performed sixteen years ago, in May 2005, at the City College of New York. With time on his hands as a result of the scarcity of gigs during the pandemic, Reeves visited his archives and found the recording, which he never intended to release owing to audio issues. A... read more
Bill Anschell | Brent Jensen - We Couldn't Agree More
by Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
The recent CD by pianist Bill Anschell and soprano saxophonist Brent Jensen is called We Couldn't Agree More. The title is inaccurate. In an intimate concert last weekend at The Seasons, they were in even greater agreement, with more daring and more complexity.
The duo's approach is to play well-known tunes without well-known routines; no arrangements, no obvious statement of melody, no predetermined tempos or key signatures. They call on... read more
Marcos Varela - San Ygnacio
by Domi, Republic of Jazz
Drawing on collaborators from throughout his time in New York, Varela assembles a stand-out cast of veterans and peers. The album's core rhythm section is composed of two jazz giants: pianist George Cables, a key mentor, and drummer Billy Hart, one of Varela's earliest employers. They're joined by another longtime employer, trombonist Clifton Anderson, as well as two of Varela's most gifted contemporaries, saxophonists Dayna Stephens and Logan... read more
Rich Thompson - Less Is More
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Rich Thompson is, or course, a drummer and educator best known as a recent drummer with the Count Basie orchestra. He assembles quite the spanking band on Less is More, filling his trumpet chair with Terell Stafford, who helps turn this collection of originals and carefully chosen standards into something special. An acoustic jazz outing, Thompson and, by extension, Stafford fold ten carefully crafted pieces into a finely integrated recital.... read more
John Stowell & Dan Dean - Rain Painting
by Chris Lunn, Ancient Victorys
Both artists were in duos at our jazz sessions during the late 70s at The Other Side of the Tracks in Auburn. Stowell came up from Portland with David Friesen; Dean did his duo work with vibes player Tom Collier. They were both amazing musicians then and have continued to explore music with a keen inventive sense. This collection is all original tunes by Stowell that he left with Dean to develop some layered vocal. The project developed over the... read more
David Sills - Eastern View
by Scott Yanow, L.A. Jazz Scene
Jazz fans who go regularly to jazz clubs such as Spazio will recognize the names of the musicians on this CD: tenor-saxophonist David Sills, guitarist Larry Koonse, organist Joe Bagg and drummer Tim Pleasant. Each of the musicians are fixtures in the Los Angeles area yet surprisingly the ten originals written by Sills for this CD were composed during a two-year period when he earning his Masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music.... read more
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