In live performance the radiant Dee Daniels swings, grooves and dips into gospel edges from a core of warmth. Daniels delivers songs with uniquely relaxed humor, enveloping each audience member in a powerful sonic embrace. Her new album, Intimate Conversations (Origin) is a series of tight duos executed with eight jazz veterans, three of whom - Wycliffe Gordon (trombone), Martin Wind (bass) and Ted Brancato (piano) - will be appearing... read more
While bass-oriented CDs are not always the most musical affairs, this vibraphone-and-bass-guitar duet disc is a refreshing surprise. Collier & Dean cover an eclectic selection of jazzy material, delivering it with sophisticated skill and musicality. Dan Dean, who is well known in the audio production world for his sample CD collections, is a phenomenal player. He demonstrates a highly evolved pick technique and a fluency in harmonically advanced... read more
Live at the Berlin Philharmonic is the double CD, recently released by the magical American pianist Hal Galper with his quintet.
It's fantastic that a label like Origin Records re-releases old recordings. Recordings that are timeless and sound unparalleled and contemporary even after more than 40 years. This is also the case with the 1977 concert Live at the Berlin Philharmonic by the Hal Galper Quintet . Galper started... read more
The Latin jazzbo makes a case for music being the international language by springing from his salsa roots into a tribute to Art Blakey and his hard bopping Jazz Messenger days. Showing his chops by doing a tribute through all original material, these messengers here are real crusaders that play the whole jazz and nothing but the jazz. Right on throughout, this set is a first class... read more
A hard-blowing tenor player from the Pacific Northwest, Richard Cole joins trumpeter Randy Brecker, pianist Bill Anschell and various rhythm tandems on his fourth album as a leader for the Origin label. Cole and Brecker demonstrate a tight chemistry on the urgent opener "J&J," the hard-boppish "Blame It on My Reed" and a swinging "Secret Love." Cole settles into Anschell's subling ballad "Lana" with smoky Ben Webster-ish tones, and delivers a... read more
Don't let the title fool you. This is mellow-soul, Hammond B3-guitar-drums jazz of the highest order. (I suspect the title is a reference to a famous Louis Armstrong quote: "All music is folk music. I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.") Organist Chris Foreman, guitarist Bobby Broom and drummer Greg Rockingham establish a groove that won't quit. Mostly, the music swings. I haven't heard such feeling-good organ-guitar jazz since the... read more
Although German pianist - now Canada-based - Florian Hoefner has played at festivals throughout Europe, appeared on 10 previous recordings and toured extensively in the US and Canada, he's not as well known in Australia. This new album by his quartet, recorded in New York, features Australian bassist Sam Anning, with drummer Peter Kronreif and saxophonist Seamus Blake. These eight tracks display Hoefner's composing ability and his stunning... read more
Reflections, the eighth CD as leader or co-leader by one of the Chicago area's most undervalued treasures, tenor saxophonist Mark Colby, is a tribute, he writes, to "the things that shaped and moved me when I was just a kid," as well as to friends, family and artists who nourished his growth and served as a catalyst for his becoming a musician. The studio date is dedicated to Colby's father, "who started me on my journey at age eight," and to... 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