Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project - Addis Ken
by Mike Gates, UK Vibe
5 STARS
Occasionally, an album comes along that sings to me in such a way that it just leaves me mesmerised, spellbound by its spiritual beauty. Addis Ken (New Day) by Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project belongs firmly in this category. It feels like it's somehow channelling the history of an ancient civilisation through its creativity, energy, and musical storytelling.
Berihun, an Ethiopian-born, Israel-based... read more
Zem Audu - Spirits
by Dave Rogers, WTJU, Richmond
Nigerian-born, London-raised, tenor sax player Zem Audu presents his own take on funky soul or fusion jazz. Having first explored piano and guitar, Audu eventually settled on sax and studied with Courtney Pine as well as with Jean Toussaint at Trinity College of Music. This is his second release as a leader. He composed all of the songs on the disc, which also features Mike Stern (guitar), Benito Gonzales (piano), Ben Williams (bass) and John... read more
Jack Mouse - Range of Motion
by Carol Banks Weber, Examiner.com
When the pushy melodic canyon of "LaPorta" comes on, it's hard to believe this isn't a cover of some famous post-bop groove artist many decades before. Then, you read on the back of Jack Mouse's debut album, Range Of Motion on Origin Records, that he composed and arranged all 10 tracks. Even more astounding.
The drummer's probably picked up a lot of tricks in his illustrious career backing names like Clark Terry, Bill Evans, Stan... read more
Tom Collier - Across the Bridge
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
Ruminations on the past, musical or otherwise, are often weighed down by the sediment of sentiment. But it certainly doesn't have to be that way. Looking back can provide an outlet for the imagination to take control, and vibraphonist Tom Collier seems well aware of that. On Across The Bridge, Collier revisits his youth, delivering nine original numbers that touch on a childhood spent on the opposite side of the West Seattle Bridge from where... read more
Ryan Cohan - Originations
by Nelson Brill, Boston Concert Reviews
Turning to a global canvas of shape-shifting beauty, we find the creation of dynamic pianist, composer and arranger, Ryan Cohan, who leads a stellar big band joined by the Kaia String Quartet in performance of his original compositions on the CD, Originations [Origin Records]. This is music of open-eared exploration with a wide-open musical terrain where Arab melodies and rhythms meld with jazz and classical roots to inspire and beguile. The... read more
Matt Jorgensen +451 - The Road Begins Here
by Dan Aquilante, New York Post, February 27, 2001
Matt Jorgensen is an unusual jazzman. He is young, he runs his band from the drum kit, he knows when to give and when to take within a song and he hasa rock aesthetic that lends intensity to his improvisations for 'The Road Begins Here.'
Sure, Jorgensen and company cover the expected numbers such as Miles Davis' 'Teo' and John Coltrane's 'Central Park West,' but where he and his bandmates are truly terrific is on their cover of Led... read more
James Moody - 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note, March 26, 2005
by Jeroen de Valk, Jazzflits (The Netherlands)
James Moody's old bandleader Dizzy Gillespie couldn't be there that night at the Blue Note, but he was there anyway. The traces he left in the life and music of Moody (1925-2010) were omnipresent. Think of the repertoire - pieces like 'Bebop', 'Birks' Works' and 'Cherokee' - and a preference for real Jesus tempos, such as later generations played and still play less and less. And then there was the shared past that went back far into... read more
Anthony Branker & Imagine - What Place Can Be for Us?
by Thierry Docmac, Paris Move
Anthony Branker is an American composer and conductor who is releasing his eighth album on the Origin Records label. He is certainly one of the most important current American composers, and this work makes us question the fundamental issues of inclusion and belonging, as well as the circumstances of exploitation and the zones of refuge experienced by people of African origin.
There is a real intellectual commitment in which the music is the... read more
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