Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Bill Anschell | Brent Jensen - We Couldn't Agree More
by Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
Piano-soprano sax duets have only been recorded sporadically, with Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy likely being the among the most prolific to work in such a setting. Bill Anschell and Brent Jensen should revive interest in this type of pairing, because they not only complement one another's playing very well but they have the imagination to carry off each number based on little more than the bare outline of an idea. Anschell's intricate... read more
Robby Ameen - Live at the Poster Museum
by George W Harris, Jazz Weekly
Drummer Robby Ameen leads a muscular team of Bob Franceschini/ts-ss, Conrad Herwig/tb, Troy Roberts/ts, Edsel Gomez/Rhodes and Lincoln Goines/b through a hard-hitting gig at NYC's Posters. The gents, all vets of post-bop and fusion flex their collective muscles like lifeguards at Muscle Beach. Ameen supplies the backbeat for a hard hitting "Oleo" and snaps the sticks like a w hip for some Trane-ish solos for the deep rivulet of "Fast Eye". The... read more
Dan Dean - Fanfare for the Common Man
by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
BEST OF 2021 Dan Dean is well known for his bass playing and producing for Origin Records. He is also an accomplished—a recent development— vocalist. With Fanfare For the Common Man he has convened a choir of heavenly voices—all his own, via a painstaking overdub process— and made one of the most beautiful sets of music this year. It is a visitation of classical music—Bach, Mozart, Aaron Copland—presented with a full, lush... read more
Mike Pope - The Parts You Keep
by Chris Jisi, Bass Magazine
Mike Pope was a flurry of activity at the Anthony Jackson tribute concert at Matt Garrison's Shapeshifter Lab in Brooklyn this past February. From rehearsing "Race With the Devil on Spanish Highway" with Al Di Meola on his signature Fodera 6-string, to discussing a new upright he bought with Stanley Clarke, to jumping in last-minute to take a straight-ahead piano solo on "Nica's Dream," to giving a heartfelt speech to Jackson about the profound... read more
Brad Wheeler - The Future Was Yesterday
by Robert Laxtague, Jazz Magazine France
One notices immediately after listening to this cd the influence of the disciples of Coltrane. Brad Wheeler, an unique tenor saxophonist, has a strong sound, with a soft vibrato. A Chicago musician, he has the blues in his playing, joined by an appropriate guitarist. Near to Von Freeman, often present next to Kurt Elling, arranger and teacher known in the city of great lakes, he constructs in his first cd under his own name, a Jazz which isn't... read more
Jeff Johnson - Tall Stranger
by Peter Monaghan, Earshot Jazz
Re-corded back in 2002, Tall Stranger opens with two group improvisations in which the players - Johnson, California drummer Billy Mintz, and treasured Seattle hornman Hans Teuber - feel each other out and enter an oblique, moody realm of light and shadow.
These are three superbly exploratory players. Mintz is a drummer like no other - he measures his attack as if determined to bruise no drumhead unless absolutely necessary; he caresses the... 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
Chris Walden Big Band - Full-On!
by Ric Bang, Jazz Scan
If Chris Walden is unfamiliar, you've some catching up to do. He mostly creates musical settings for major stars such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Buble, Diana Krall and Neil Young - as he puts it, "That's where the money is" - but his real joy is big band jazz. This is his newest release in that genre.
Walden was born in Hamburg, Germany, apparently emerging from the womb as a fully formed musician. He was playing the recorder at age 5, the... read more
Looking for a specific review?
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.
Search Reviews:
Recently Added Reviews:
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