Origin Records Reviews

Dawn Clement - Dear Ms. Dearie
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dear Ms. Dearie, from Dawn Clement, and its really quite good. Opening with The Gentleman Is A Dope, Dawn Clement on piano and vocal leads the way, supported by John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums. Steve Kovalcheck on guitar really gives the track a workout with bright guitar soloing. Super opener. With it's waltz feel, Dance Only With Me is one of my favorite tracks on... read more

Dan McCarthy - City Abstract
by Ron Schepper, Textura

Even before listening to City Abstract, it's possible to form some idea of where Dan McCarthy's coming from: on the Canadian vibraphonist's second release for the Seattle-based Origin Records, two tunes are affectionate tributes to Carla Bley and Gary Burton, and covers of classic material by Bley, Keith Jarrett, and Pat Metheny also appear. If a bit of an ECM vibe informs the album, it's in part attributable to McCarthy's avowed love for the... read more

Chad McCullough Bram Weijters - Urban Nightingale
by Dave Sumner, eMusic

Follow-up album to last year?s excellent Imaginary Sketches. McCullough?s trumpet and Weijters? piano have a symbiosis that should be the envy of others. This is jazz for a rainy day, no matter if it?s the cabin-fever variety or the kick back and relax sort of thing. McCullough gets to soaring, but has weight on those wings, and Weijters has a nice way of balancing the piano?s melodic and rhythmic traits. For this album, Piet Verbist is... read more

Corey Christiansen - Lone Prairie
by Robert Ratajczak, LongPlay: RadioJAZZ - Poland

[translated from Polish] Lone Prairie is the fifth album by Corey Christiansen in recent years (third released by the American label Origin Records), successfully strengthening his position among the greatest jazz guitarists in the world. After a stunning debut in 2004 (The Awakening), an album he recorded with trio MB3 (Hits Jazz Vol.1), and two albums highly accepted in the United States: Roll With It and Outlaw... read more

Jessica Williams - The Art of the Piano
by -Chris Robinson, Earshot Jazz

College sports reporters, analysts and commentators (especially those on the West Coast) describe what they believe to be an East Coast bias when it comes to team rankings. The same can be said for the lack of national recognition of some of Seattle's ? and arguably the nation's ? best jazz artists. I dare you: just try and find any Seattle artists (save for Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz and recent NYC transplant Tom Varner) listed in JazzTimes'... read more

Phil Kelly - Convergence Zone
by Stephen Fratallone, Jazz Connection

Composer and arranger Phil Kelly has written volumes of stuff during the past 40 years for recording artists, bands, symphony pops, film, television, and commercials and now at age 65, he has finally gotten around to write some music for himself. The fruit of his labors are on his debut CD for Origin Records, Convergence Zone: Phil Kelly And The NW Prevailing Winds.

Convergence Zone is an apt title for this project. A "convergence zone" is... read more

Keigo Hirakawa - Pixel
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect

The pianist Keigo Hirakawa has a lot of experience in the area of playing jazz music, and these lively 8 tracks welcome Rafael Statin, Brandon Scott Coleman, Robert Hurst, and Alex White.

The title track opens the listen with Hirakawa's meticulous key progressions alongside Statin's soulful sax and White's stunning drum acrobatics, and "Far Above" follows with a breezy demeanor of soft guitar from Coleman that suits the melodic piano.

The... read more

Aaron Immanuel Wright - Eleven Daughters
by Jason Bivins, Cadence

Eleven Daughters is a nice modern mainstream set, with just the right touch of funk and dissonance to recall some mid-1960s Jackie McLean to my ears. The leader plays with the kind of agile muscularity of, say, Michael Formanek and he pairs really well with Menendez, who crackles throughout. Grant and Willcox are both fairly brooding presences, though that's not at all meant as a negative. Together, the group contains a winning assemblage of... read more

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