Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Dan Dean - 251
by Richard Leiter, Keyboard Magazine
Seattle-based bassist Dan Dean is no stranger to Keyboard magazine: His sample libraries have won 3 Key Buy awards and he's played with piano heroes like Dave Grusin, Bill Mays, Joey deFrancesco and scores more. On "251" (think jazz changes) Dan invited four stellar piano buddies into the studio for a fantastic romp through ten standards and a George Duke original that will teach you how to play ballads, swing and funk duets with a bassist.... read more
Dave Hanson - Blues Sky
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
If you are drawn to albums that immediately immerse you in a refined, poetic atmosphere, this one is for you. It stems from a particularly captivating artistic approach, during his week-long residency at the Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver in 2024, Dave Hanson took the opportunity to highlight both his piano playing and his arrangements for a small ensemble. The result is this quartet recording, his first in such a format. Joined by saxophonist Wil... read more
Jessica Williams - With Love
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Pianist Jessica Williams produces for the piano in With Love that Rebecca Parris and Beat Kaestli do in jazz vocals...a perfect jazz ballads recording. Williams does so in a solo piano setting not unlike what she has used in the past most recently on Song of the Earth (Origin, 2012), Touch (Origin, 2010) and The Art of the Piano (Origin, 2009). This is a recording the eclipses the majority of what passes for... read more
Bobby Rozario - Spellbound
by Robert Silverstein, Roots Music Report
Seattle-based Origin Records is one of the most prolific jazz-centric recording labels in the world today and they keep the hits coming with the 2023 CD release of Spellbound, the second album to date by NYC-based guitarist Bobby Rozario. Drawing on the melting pot of incandescent sounds that is New York City, the 11-track album makes for an enthusiastic fusion romp that often sounds very influenced by guitar giants like Al DiMeola and... read more
Michael Zilber - Originals for the Originals
by George Harris, Jazz Weekly
Michael Zilber uses his compositional skills as well as his soprano and tenor saxes to give tribute to some of his musical inspirations. The core team of David Kikoski/p, James Genus/b and Clarence Penn/dr is used for all of the songs except one, the darkly swinging "Hen House" dedicated to Joe Henderson. Other Selmer stars include a Wayne Shorter, who is shown by the leader's soprano in the Weather Report fashion on the exciting and propulsive... read more
Chenxi Pan - This Very Moment
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Vocalist and composer Chenxi Pan creates a fresh path of material, melding her Chinese heritage with 21st Century jazz sensibilities on this collection of original musical water colors. She's joined by Nathan Nakadegawa-Lee/ts-cl, Shaonan Su/p, George Grydkovets/g, Nicolas Bond/b, Anders J ulsgaard/dr, Pete Cook/vi and Julie Kim/cel in mix and match fashion.
The string team is used gorgeously, creating elliptical tones for Pan's soft and... read more
Hal Galper - O's Time
by Marek Zając, Multikulti Project (Poland)
It is very difficult to innovate when playing in a classic jazz trio. The last big change was the democratization of the band's roles, but it happened around the turn of the 1950s and 1960s when Bill Evans invited Paul Motian and Scatt LaFaro to play together. Of course, there was then a free jazz revolution and Cecil Taylor's achievements that actually brought the trio music out of the jazz tradition, but it was rather a broadening of the... read more
Ray Vega & Thomas Marriott - East West Trumpet Summit: Coast to Coast
by Russell Perry, WTJU
Trumpet players Ray Vega and Thomas Marriott bring back their East West Trumpet Summit (New York - Seattle) for a third edition (2010, 2016). Unlike dual (often dueling) tenors, two trumpets sharing the frontline in a quintet is an unusual format, but in the hands of these pros, a productive one. Long-time friends, these players make more music than sparks as they move through a diverse playlist that ranges from Neil Hefti (Girl Talk) to Don... read more
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