Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Les DeMerle - Gypsy Rendezvous, Vol. 1
by David Franklin, Cadence
Drummer Les DeMerle's long career has included playingwith Harry James for a dozen years, fronting his own Fusiongroup for a time, and more recently leading various straight-ahead VOL. 1 ensembles. Gypsy Pacific, comprising violin, two guitars, and bass, is a unique Jazz band based in Maui, Hawaii. DeMerle happened tohear the quartet in a club there and one thing led to another. Many of the tracks do suggest the famous duo of violinist Stephane... read more
Brent Jensen w/ Bill Anschell, Jeff Johnson, John Bishop - One More Mile
by Scott Albin, JazzTimes
For his fifth Origin CD, Idaho-based Brent Jensen parts ways with his alto sax to perform exclusively on the soprano, and proves to be just as proficient and engaging on the straight horn. With the inspired support of his fellow Origin recording artists from Seattle?the trio of pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer (and label founder) John Bishop?the gifted Jensen impresses throughout a wide-ranging set of tunes.
The loping... read more
RadioAction - Hi-Fi
by Staff, Cadance Magazine
RadioAction is a skillful and apparently young quartet that's located solidly in the hard bop stream. Strong identity and emotional depth aren't qualties that come to mind in assessing this group, but they do play with conviction, a certain sense of the stylistic niceties, and an attentiveness to one another's nuances. The thoughfulness shows in the choice of repertoire like Berlin's "Russian Lullaby," with its almost fugal treatment, and Gil... read more
Benjamin Boone - Confluence: The Ireland Sessions
by Paul Rauch, All About Jazz
Saxophonist/composer/educator Benjamin Boone is known as a project artist in the first degree. His collaboration with major modern poets has produced a foursome of albums on the Origin Records label, including two with US Poet Laureate, Philip Levine. His saxophone approach could be described as colorful melodicism, a quality accentuated by Boone's open ended compositions that lack the confinement of dense chordal harmony. His playing can then... read more
Kim Richmond / Clay Jenkins Ensemble - CrossWeave
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
CrossWeave's opener, Troubleshooter," drives in on a tight rhythm groove that leads into some clean three horn harmony by trumpeter Clay Jenkins, alto saxophonist Kim Richmond, and tenor sax man Rich Perry, with a sound that harkens back to the classic Blue Note Records days, some of those classic sets by Lee Morgan and Art Blakey. A tight, shining ensemble mode with sharp soloing all around.
CrossWeave is the third disc by the... read more
Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble - The Atwood Suites
by Felipe Freitas, The Jazz Trail
The new album from Canadian saxophonist Andrew Rathbun comprises three suites. The 2-CD set Atwood Suites, co-produced by Rathbun and drummer George Schuller, features a contagious 18-piece jazz orchestra of respectful instrumentalists and renowned soloists, including saxophonists Quintin Nachoff and John O'Gallagher, trumpeters Tim Hagans (as a featured soloist on CD1) and Russ Johnson, trombonist Alan Ferber, guitarist Nate Radley, and... read more
Sean Michael Giddings - Red Willow
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Keyboardist Sean Michael Giddings cites pianist Vince Guaraldi, the composer of the Charles Schultz Peanuts cartoon soundtracks (among other things), as one of his influences. Guaraldi is joined in that "sphere of influence" club by the usual suspects—Brad Mehldau, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett—who all play a part in Giddings' sound. But Guaraldi's spirit—the accessible lyricism, the bright, memorable melodies, the sense of fun—seems to loom... read more
speak - Speak
by Thomas R. Erdmann, JazzReview.com
That there is still, in this jazz label-less era we currently live in, a place where experimental jazz can find a home and a means to release music that is not self-produced and released is to be celebrated. Origin Records has almost singlehandedly taken on the mantel of being such a location. Their release of Speak, the eponymously self-titled first recording by the five member amalgam of musicians that was originally billed as trumpeter... read more
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