Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
John McLean - Better Angels
by Brad Walseth, Chicagojazz.net
Guitarist John McLean opens up his sophomore effort as a leader sounding somewhat like Pat Metheny on the original title track. Grazyna Auguscik's lovely wordless vocals float through, accompanied by Jim Gailloreto's soprano sax, before Zach Brock enters with a choice violin solo. McLean answers with a burning solo of his own, while bassist Larry Kohut and drummer Eric Montzka tear up everything in their path underneath. Very cool stuff,... read more
Bill Anschell | Brent Jensen - We Couldn't Agree More
by Chris Robinson, Earshot Jazz
Don't even bother reading the next 500 words - just go buy pianist Bill Anschell and soprano saxophonist Brent Jensen's new album "We Couldn't Agree More" right now. But if you must read on, or need convincing, here you go: Anschell, a Seattle native, and Jensen, who teaches at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, recently met up on Jensen's 2007 quartet album "One More Mile." Their latest collaboration is a pared down and intimate duo... read more
Les DeMerle - Comin' Home Baby
by George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Drummer Les DeMerle leads a swinging band during a concert on a Celerity Eclipse Cruise Ship that toured from Copenhagen to Estonia. The crowd sure had a fun time between stops, as the team of DeMerle with Johannes Bjerregaard/p, Chris Luard/b and vocalist Bonnie Eisele keep the mood upbeat and swinging.
The recording itself is a bit tinny on the piano, but its hard to resist the bouncy instrumentals like "Shiny Stockings" and "Manteca" that... read more
Giacomo Gates - Centerpiece
by Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News
Let's face it: Scat singing is an art best left to Ella Fitzgerald and very few others. But if a guy who spent 12 years in Alaska working as a bouncer and manning bulldozers wants to try, who are we to argue? Actually, Gates is one of the most extraordinary singers working in jazz today, the owner of a joyful baritone who has synthesized a host of influences - Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks and Sinatra among them - and turned them into something... read more
Bobby Broom - Bobby Broom Plays for Monk
by Chris M. Slawecki, All About Jazz
"In many ways, Monk personifies all that attracted and continues to satisfy me in my love affair with jazz music," said Bobby Broom upon releasing Plays for Monk. "The way that he, the musician, fit into the jazz landscape while at the same time standing out and apart from it; the controlled but unpredictable creative freedom he spoke with as an improviser, and the variety of feelings he could conjure up; how, as a composer, his tunes were a... read more
Bobby Broom - Upper West Side Story
by Robbie Gerson, Audiophile Audition
****1/2 Stars
Unlike many jazz artists, Bobby Broom made a name for himself quickly. At the age of sixteen, he auditioned and was invited to tour with Sonny Rollins. His mother interceded and Broom attended Berklee School of Music in Boston instead. There he played with Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison. After returning to New York, he reunited with Rollins, and this time toured extensively (including... read more
John McLean - Better Angels
by Forrest Dylan Bryant, JazzTimes
Eclecticism is the name of the game on this flowing contemporary set, as guitarist McLean tackles swing standards, gloomy pop songs and three speedy, pulse-quickening original tunes. Alternating a precise, silvery acoustic sound with a biting electric tone, McLean matches nicely with Grazyna Auguscik's sweetly ethereal, delicately accented vocals. Saxophonist Jim Gailloreto adds buoyancy to several tunes, while organist Karl Montzka lurks in the... read more
Bob Sneider & Paul Hofmann - Serve and Volley
by Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
These intimate duos mark the third such encounter between guitarist Bob Sneider and pianist Paul Hofmann, both faculty members at the Eastman School of Music. They exhibit an easy rapport on the jaunty opener, "Warm Welcome," a riff on "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" that culminates in some sparkling exchanges and bristling unison lines. They settle into sublime conversations on Hofmann's gentle "Grace" and his waltzy-time "I Remember Bill... read more
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