This album by trumpeter Jared Hall is a fun one in that you get to guess by the tone and styles (not to mention the titles) of each song which fellow horn man he's giving tribute to. Along with Tal Cohen/p, Michael Glynn/b and John Bishop/p, he composes pieces with a tip of the cap to artists like Brian Lynch ("Professor B.L.) and Wallace Roney ("One For Wallace") with ideas of blue and lyricism respectively. The clever stop start of "Song For... read more
TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Jazz pianist Dan Cray comes from the Chicago suburbs and lives in New York. But much of the music on his new album stems from a year he spent teaching at the University of Nevada in Reno. Our jazz critic, Kevin Whitehead, explains.
(SOUNDBITE OF DAN CRAY SONG, "OUTSIDE IN")
KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Dan Cray's tune "Outside In," the title track from his new quartet album. When the pianist spent a... read more
A WORKING GROUP since 2001, the "power trio" of Clay Jenkins on trumpet, Jeff Campbell on bass and Rich Thompson on drums keeps a regular Thursday gig a few blocks from the Eastman School of Music where all are on the faculty. The absence of piano on this understated CD of mostly originals and a few uniquely arranged standards provides plenty of space for Jenkins' smouldering but clear trumpet, Campbell's driving bottom end and Thompson's... read more
Josh Nelson's Exploring Mars was one of the very best things to come out in 2015. The pianist's ode to the science and stories of the Red Planet was an imaginative network of wild magic and scientific precision. The music was light on its feet and given the space to wander freely, but each note was a concise step in a clear direction. That lyrical focus is missing from his 2017 release The Sky Remains, but Nelson still summons up plenty of... read more
Pianist/singer Dawn Clement adapts to any musical situation in which she finds herself. On her latest effort she carves out attentive improvisational spaces for a range of high-profile colleagues, content in leading and
following in equal measure across an eclectic terrain of 10 tunes. Clement's welcoming spirit is more alive than ever, as demonstrated by two dialogues with Julian Priester. "Blues for Wayne" (a Clement original) finds
its... read more
Chad McCullough, with one CD under his own name - the outstanding Dark Wood, Dark Water (Origin Records, 2009) - has also contributed his distinctive voice to recordings by the Kora Band and Tunnel Six, all under the Origin Records banners. But the Seattle-based trumpeter must have a European sensibility; his finest work to date has been in teaming, as co-leader, with artists from the other side of the Atlantic - Slovakian pianist Michal... read more
For jazz fans with some historical listening under their belts, the word "Bridge" will bring to mind Sonny Rollins' album, The Bridge (Bluebird/RCA, 1962), a set that Rollins released after a three-year hiatus, and changed the saxophonist's musical trajectory from Ornette Coleman-influenced freedom to a more traditional mainstream, but still adventurous, sound.
The Bridge Quartet works very much in that Rollins-esque, post-Bridge mode. It's... read more
5-STARS We are on November 4, 1977, the building of the Berlin Philharmonic, which hosted the most important German jazz festival - Berliner Jazztage.
There are six long tracks on two discs, the shortest of which is 9:31, the longest 24:36. With one exception ("I'll Never Stop Loving You"), they're all by the leader. On stage, the quintet of the American pianist Hal Galpera, well-known in Germany (he has performed many times in... read more
This is just a small collection of the Origin Records reviews. Click here to view all reviews or try to Search for your favorite CD title.
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Hanna Kay, Cult News (Paris)
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Budapest, Rudolf Radnai
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
Jared Hall - Hometown
by Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene
Affinity Trio - New Outlook
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
Michael Dease Big Band - Return Trajectory
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Brad Goode Quintet Feat. Ernie Watts - Live Your Dream: Live at North Street Cabaret
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect