Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Anthony Branker and Ascent - Together
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
This is quite the achievement. This sounds like Branker's friendliest record yet. He pulls off the dandy feat of merging art and commerce making creative jazz that could leap to mass appeal. Straight ahead without an ounce of any kind of pandering, Branker leads his charges through a galloping date that really packs a wallop. With a pair of saxes leading the charge, this is everything you could want in a swinging, mainstream date that makes... read more
Harvie S - Bright Dawn
by Editor, Bman's Blues Report
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Bright Dawn, from Harvie S and it's light and flowing. Opening with Ghosts of Havana, Miki Hayama on Fender Rhodes creates the fabric on which Peter Bernstein builds the guitar rich melody. Matt Wilson holds a tight rein on the rhythm and Harvie S lays out a really nice solo on bass for a solid opener. Waltz For Vartan showcases Harvie leading the way on bass. Flowing guitar lead by... read more
Joe Locke - Force of Four
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
Certain sounds are so easy to love: the blurry whine of a muted trumpet, the beefy growl of a robust tenor saxophone, the rich, frictional cry of the cello, and the buoyant, sustained ring of a mallet hitting a key on a vibraphone.
Vibraphonist Joe Locke's profile seems to have risen on a sharp angle since Live in Seattle (Origin Records, 2006), a CD that found its way onto several critic's top ten of the year lists. Since then he has... read more
Hal Galper / Jeff Johnson / John Bishop - Furious Rubato
by Andrew Johnston, Jazz Review
Rubato is a difficult to define term, but it can be described as taking liberty in the tempo to obtain a certain feeling or mood. It is more common in classical solo pieces, but pianist Hal Galper, along with Jeff Johnson and John Bishop explore this abstract musical concept in a jazz trio setting on Furious Rubato.
As the title suggests, the trio uses rubato throughout the album. While playing, each member of the band can change the tempo... read more
David Weiss Sextet - Auteur
by Morgan Enos, UK Jazz News
By its very nature, jazz should leave no stone unturned. Therein, an artist can record an album in an afternoon, and whether as a sideperson or leader, some can effectively release multiple albums per year.
David Weiss' last sextet record, however, was a full decade ago. Weiss boasts an amazing background - coming up in the 1980s with jazz heavies from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard to trombonist Slide Hampton - and an artistically prodigious... read more
Josh Nelson - Exploring Mars
by Dave Sumner, Bird is the Worm
Pianist Nelson's ode to the Red Planet, inspired by science, stories and space travel. A deft mix of solo, small & large ensemble, instrumental and vocal pieces. For an album with a (relatively) small sound, it's awfully damn... read more
Tito Carrillo - Urbanessence
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
The other jazz tradition has been around as long as the music itself, as Jelly Roll Morton introduced "The Latin Tinge" to his earliest recordings. Here, street level Latin pulses are delivered by trumpeter and leader Tito Carrillo and his percolating band of Troy Roberts/sax, Ben Lewis/p, Clark Sommers/b, Jay Sawyer/dr and Victor Gonzalez/cong. There's fire in Carrillo's belly as he sears with Lewis on "Fly By Night" and smoothly glides over... read more
Jeff Johnson - Tall Stranger
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
For his fourth album as a leader, bassist Jeff Johnson sets an exploratory course. On Tall Stranger, Johnson works with sax player Hans Teuber (with a bit of a free jazz bent of his own) and drummer Billy Mintz. The trio spends a lot of its time, however, seemingly working less as a trio and more as a collection of three independent players who happen to be in the same room. This isn't accidental, or an effect of the group not working well... read more
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