Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Pharez Whitted - For the People
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A Chicago blower came back from a hiatus a few years back with a set that just crackled and let you know he was back. This set follows in those footsteps quite well. Showing he knows his Blue Note moves down cold, Whitted isn't afraid to expand the post bop vocabulary bringing to mind trumpet greats of the past while charting his own course. High octane blowing that's a natch to blow you away. Hip stuff that doesn't need the high sign from... read more
The Spin Quartet - In Circles
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A crew of hitters familiar to fans of the Origin label or contemporary jazz in general, they band together for their first as a band and their well wrought forward thinking tunes will have you on board in no time. Certainly sounding like it's the right time and place for them to step out on their owns, this free-ish jazz is a gasser. High octane, high energy throughout and a sure fire... read more
Clay Giberson - Minga Minga
by Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation
It's difficult to pull off solo piano when the genre/content is jazz/blues based, but Portland, Oregon pianist Clay is able to do that without a hitch. Songs like the opener, "Little Bird", will give your ears a clear image of just how intimate/bluesy his keyboards can be. It's all about the birth of his daughter, and will be a gift to her that will last forever. I particularly enjoyed pieces like "Burst", which isn't (at all) what the title... read more
Mike Denny Rick Mandyck Jeff Johnson John Bishop - Now...Here...This
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
Springing from a series of performances in Eugene, Oregon's art gallery walks, Now...Here...This is a studio recording attempting to mimic the dynamic of the live performances, minus the surrounding noise. The session was as a result unrehearsed and had no post-production. It's a very clean, very spontaneous sound. Mike Denny has a warm tone on the guitar throughout, which meshes well with Rick Mandyck's sax work (recorded not long before he... read more
Dave Slonaker Big Band - Shifty Paradigms
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS While Los Angeles-based composer and arranger Dave Slonaker's paradigms may be shifty, his all-star big band is about as forthright as one could wish. On Shifty Paradigms, his third recording fronting the band, Slonaker guides his peerless eighteen-member ensemble through its paces on a dynamic and always-swinging program that encompasses seven of his stellar original compositions and the venerable standard, "Bye Bye... read more
Chad McCullough & Bram Weijters - Imaginary Sketches
by Dave Sumner, Bird is the Worm
Trumpet. Piano. Bass. Drums. That's how I'm gonna start this Tiny Review. Four instruments; four simple words, and the short silent pause in between each unhurried word. In a world of modern jazz, where the sounds are as disparate as the instrumentation, here, on Imaginary Sketches, we have a simple straight-forward jazz album with modern jazz artists expressing the jazz tradition in their own voice.
This is a sublime affair, a beauty in... read more
Human Spirit - Dialogue
by Ric Bang, Jazz Scan
The members of Human Spirit ? a core unit of the many jazz musicians who have made Seattle and the Pacific Northwest their home ? are trumpeter/composer/producer Thomas Marriott, saxophonist Mark Taylor and drummer Matt Jorgensen. Their combined resumes includes 14 albums as leaders and dozens more as sidemen. For this release, they added guests Orrin Evans (piano) and Essiet Essiet (bass). The resulting quintet delivers an album dubbed the... read more
Xose Miguélez - Ontology
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
Ethnic, but not world jazz, inspired by his great aunt and some motifs that run through it all, this is solid sitting down, listening jazz that flows like the river in a Zen koan and never blows a false note. You don't have to be an egghead to love it, just someone that appreciates sax blown right starting with some blue prints on the artist's DNA. Tasty stuff made for grown up... read more
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