Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
New Stories - Hope is in the Air
by Larry Nai, Cadence
The New Stories trio - pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller, and drummer John Bishop - flies both alone and special-guest-augmented on this bracingly fine tribute to pianist Elmo Hope. One of the most tragically fascinating figures of the Bop family, Hope's highly percussive, nervous keyboard style is less imitated than intimated here by Seales, who shows an obvious kinship with the 14 compelling Hope compositions performed. His exciting... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Philip Booth, Jazzlands
Anthony Branker's 10-movement suite, initially written in response to the forced migration of Syrians during their country's civil war, also points to the open racism, bigotry and cultural erasure on the rise in America, circa 2023. The ambitious, sprawling song cycle opens with the fusion-edged "The Door of No Return," its title a reference to the Senegalese site where Africans were captured and forced onto slave ships bound to the New World;... read more
Brad Wheeler - The Future Was Yesterday
by Robert Laxtague, Jazz Magazine France
One notices immediately after listening to this cd the influence of the disciples of Coltrane. Brad Wheeler, an unique tenor saxophonist, has a strong sound, with a soft vibrato. A Chicago musician, he has the blues in his playing, joined by an appropriate guitarist. Near to Von Freeman, often present next to Kurt Elling, arranger and teacher known in the city of great lakes, he constructs in his first cd under his own name, a Jazz which isn't... read more
Pharez Whitted - For the People
by Robert Ratajczak, LongPlay: RadioJAZZ - Poland
Known for his work with musicians such as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, George Duke, Kirk Whalum, Elvin Jones, Ari Brown, John Mellencamp, Ramsey Lewis or The Temptations - American trumpeter, composer and producer Pharez Whitted's new release is the fourth album branded under his own name.
Following the huge success of his previous album (''Transient Journey'', in 2010) - nominated for the prestigious Independent Music Awards in the... read more
Michael Waldrop - Time Frames
by Michael Ferber, Michael's Jazz Blog (Switzerland)
Drummer, percussionist and composer Michael Waldrop has released a fantastic album featuring the marimba called 'Time Frames'. The 15 songs, most of them originals by Michael Waldrop, present a wide spectrum of styles and sounds, from the origin of the marimba as an African instrument to eclectic contemporary compositions. Waldrop surrounds himself on the album with other renowned and musically diverse percussionists like Gordon Stout, Brad... read more
Harvie S - Bright Dawn
by Editor, Modern Drummer
After a long career in modern jazz, then playing (and studying) Afro-Cuban music for the last 30 years, bassist Harvie S is combining everything on his
new recording Bright Dawn, although the record does lean more towards modern jazz. Drummer Matt Wilson, pianist Miki Hayama, and Harvie create an elastic trio that is augmented by Peter Bernstein's lyrical guitar. Wilson and Harvie break up the time with panache', while Bernstein floats atop... read more
Chris Walden Big Band - Home Of My Heart
by EJ Iannelli, All About Jazz
Recorded several years ago, in late 2002, Home of My Heart sounds as if it could have been -- were it not for its handful of latter-day charts by eighties pop supernova Christopher Cross and film composer John Williams -- recorded several decades earlier. The prevailing sound is classic big band, delighting in the force of its multitudes while consistently spotlighting its individual soloists.
Walden, who first made a name for himself in... read more
Metropolitan Jazz Octet - The Bowie Project
by Cedric Hendrix, Cirdec Songs
If you're gonna take on a legend, tread lightly. Particularly when you put forth genre-changing arrangements to classic songs. While David Bowie did use a jazz band led by Donny McCaslin to record Blackstar, the Metropolitan Jazz Octet take on 11 Bowie classics in full jazz form, and do so successfully. Vocalist Paul Marinaro soars passionately over each song, without coming even close to trying to imitate Bowie. That freedom of expression is a... read more
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