Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Maja Jaku - Blessed & Bewitched
by Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
"Blessed & Bewitched": Maja Jaku finds her voice between tradition and self-discovery.
In many ways, Blessed & Bewitched feels like the kind of album that might have arrived in the late 1980s or early '90s, a period when jazz singers often sought a delicate balance between reverence for tradition and a hunger for personal reinvention. To be clear, this is not a revolutionary record, nor does it pretend to be. Instead, it is a... read more
Giacomo Gates - Centerpiece
by Ray Hogan, Stamford Advocate
Given the strength of his husky voice, it seems appropriate that Gates spent more than a dozen years working on the Alaska Pipeline. It was a local arts festival and a chance encounter with Sarah Vaughn that encouraged him to pursue a music career in the late 1980's.
"In this kind of music, it's about intention, honesty and what comes through in your voice. The experience of life," he says. "Chet Baker didn't have a great range, but wow, when... read more
Hal Galper Quartet featuring Jerry Bergonzi - Cubist
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
4 1/2-STARS Count pianist Hal Galper as another veteran rising like the brightest of stars into a compelling late career zenith. An alumni of saxophone great Phil Woods' 1980s group, Galper found his inspiration of late with an exploration of the Rubato Style of playing, with its flexible approach to tempo and the disassembling of melodies and putting them, slightly askew, back together again, somewhat in the mode of the Cubist painters.... read more
Ben Thomas - The Mystagogue
by Adam Greenburg, All Music Guide
On his sophomore album as a group leader, Ben Thomas uses a solid quartet format with an additional rotating sax or clarinet. On The Mystagogue, the vibist makes good on the promise of the title � he introduces new listeners into the religious rites of jazz, showing the relics and holding the ceremonies. In a less metaphorical sense, Thomas and his band power their way through a fine mix of post-bop, hard-bop, and modern jazz, all Thomas... read more
Rich Thompson - Who Do You Have to Know?
by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Veteran drummer Rich Thompson ushers a lithe and swinging quartet through its paces on his latest album, Who Do You Have to Know? (the answer to which, alas, is not forthcoming). This is basically late-night jazz, the kind often reserved for after-hours jam sessions whose participants are fully engaged in the task at hand and hold nothing back.
On this studio session, Thompson's able co-partners are guitarist Corey Christiansen,... read more
Rich Thompson - Less Is More
by Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition
A cast of heavyweight talent?
****1/2 Stars
Origin Records has pulled in first string talent for drummer Rich Thompson's second release for the label. Thompson, who has been a jazz educator for the Eastman School of Music, as well as having a tenure with a Count Basie tribute band, has a quintet with all-star pedigree, including the virtuosic trumpeter Terrell Stafford, and multi-instrumentalist Gary Versace, both who... read more
Affinity Trio - Hindsight
by Dick Metcalf, Contemporary Fusion Reviews
Harmonic trio jazz Eric Jacobson Pamela York Clay Schaub - HINDSIGHT: This recent release (it hit the street officially on 20 October, 2023) is some of the most harmonic trio jazz I've ever listened to... I have little doubt you will fall in love with Eric's trumpet, Pamela's piano and Clay's bass as quickly as I did. Though this performance is from over a year ago, it will give you an intimate look at the trio's total talent style...
The... read more
Michael Waldrop - Native Son
by Editor, Modern Drummer
Drummer-composer Michael Waldrop is a musical veteran with two big band projects (Time Within Itself and Origin Suite) behind him. This recording is an interesting instrumentation piano trio plus percussion. And these aren't just "any" percussionists, Brad Dutz is a percussionist who has made hundreds of recordings on the LA studio scene, and percussionist Jose Rossy is a onetime member of Weather Report. Waldrop's employment of the piano trio... read more
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