Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jeff Johnson - My Heart
by Tom Haugen, Take Effect
The one time Minneapolis and east coast resident Jeff Johnson brings his exceptional bass playing to these 6 in depth and very collaborative tracks that welcome John Gross, Art Resnick and Billy Mintz.
"Linden Station" opens the listen with Gross' flowing and bright sax alongside the acrobatic bass plucking and frisky drums, and "Leviathan" follows with 11+ minutes of mature piano and moody bass playing that flows in and out of dreamy... read more
Hal Galper Quartet featuring Jerry Bergonzi - Cubist
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
How do you make this trio better? Add Jerry Bergonzi and record them live and in the moment. You think it's going to be sitting down jazz but once the percolator starts perking, you just can't turn it off. A tease and a surprise, this is jazz that engages you and keeps you on board to hear what's coming next. Pros that deliver the goods, this is the hot stuff you are seeking that doesn't play fair and doesn't play by the... read more
Kelly Brand Nextet - The Door
by Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide
An album of originals (plus one stray Wayne Shorter number), pianist Kelly Brand's The Door is a nice set of contemporary Chicago jazz. This is nightclub jazz at its best, with attention paid to the compositions and the details, a fine set of backing musicians, and an able leader directing the activities. The compositions are never too complex, but never so simplistic as to be predictable. Brand's playing is careful, never quite reaching for the... read more
Laurie Antonioli - Songs of Shadow, Songs of Light
by Andrew Gilbert, KQED Arts
The Golden State of Jazz: Top California Jazz Releases of 2014
Several of Joni Mitchell's songs are firmly established in the jazz repertoire, but no singer before Bay Area veteran Laurie Antonioli has wrought as fine a balance between the original sources and her own vivid emotional and improvisational palette. It's a journey that wouldn't be possible without her supple American Dreams Band, with saxophonist Sheldon Brown, pianist... read more
Chris Walden Big Band - No Bounds
by Jack Bowers, Cadence, December 2006
No Bounds is composer/arranger Chris Walden's follow-up to last year's Grammy Award-nominated Home of My Heart[Origin 82439], and could be another strong contender for that honor, as it comprises eleven of his admirable charts performed by a blue-chip ensemble of Los Angeles-area studio/big band musicians. Walden, who employs a large string section on "No Bounds" and "Clax's Theme," welcomes three guests from his native Germany- Trumpeter... read more
Hadley Caliman - Straight Ahead
by Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
Veteran tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman?he was on the Central Avenue scene in Los Angeles during the '50s?teams with golden-toned trumpeter Thomas Marriott on the frontline for this inspired outing. Flaunting a beautiful, burnished tone and remarkable fluidity on his horn, Caliman sails through his "Cigar Eddie," Harold Land's "Rapture" and Lee Morgan's Latin-flavored "Totem Pole" with confidence and old-school swagger. And he acquits himself... read more
Alon Farber Hagiga with Dave Douglas - The Magician: Live in Jerusalem
by Stephen Graham, Marlbank (UK)
There's the familiar and the less familiar here - the familiar certainly for Dave Douglas fans the presence of the trumpeter's 'Spring Ahead,' which was on the Stargazer album back in the 1990s, and 'Persistence of Memory' recorded in such settings as 2009 big band album A Single Sky. The other tunes, less familiar but in keeping with what Douglas provides are the progressively edgy hard bop tunes that Israeli saxophonist Alon Farber... read more
Phil Kelly & The SW Santa Ana Winds - My Museum
by Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition
Another Phil Kelly Masterpiece
Phil Kelly's new Origin CD, My Museum, is a nice follow-up to last year's Grammy nominated Convergence Zone. It has the same crisp arrangements, crystalline acoustics, and hard driving brass. Phil brings swinging arragements to standards such as Jeanine, Body & Soul, and Duke Ellington's Daydream. Kelly's own compositions, Bluelonious, Pleading Dim Cap, Juan Beatov Stomp, Zip Code 2005, and the haunting title... read more
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