Browse some recent Origin Reviews.
Jessica Williams - Songs of Earth
by Rob Young, Urban Flux
It wasn?t until recently had the honor to listen to pianist Jessica Williams play for the first time. With that said, her latest recording ?SONG OF EARTH? is simply stunning accomplishment for her. In fact, I have a tendency of shying away from solo recordings but I?m reminded with this lovely offering by Williams of the importance of artists recording solo projects. Moreover, I?m still in awe by the fluidity of her compositions, ambient tone... read more
Joachim Mencel - Brooklyn Eye
by Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
4 1/2 STARS Growing up under the weight of communism in Poland in the late '60s and early '70s, Joachim Mencel dreamed of the freedoms and wonders of America. Stateside relatives sent food parcels, offering him his first tastes of Hershey's chocolate and the inviting aromas of Maxwell House coffee; and Polish public radio station Trójka filled his ears with jazz, gifting the sounds of Miles Davis, among other greats. By the time Mencel... read more
Jonas Tauber - Storm Walking Singing
by C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
Storm Walking Singing is the type of recording I would have expected Winter & Winter or ECM to release. Very specialized and focused and defying genre (jazz or classical), Jonas Tauber's latest release is an interesting exploration, and as such a bit of an acquired taste. That it why it is so wonderful that Seattle-based Origin Records is emerging as an American foil to the two great German labels.
Tauber, a virtuoso cellist and bassist,... read more
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra - The Endless Search
by George Fendel, Oregon Jazz Scene
Please don't refer to them as a big band. About five minutes with this recording, and you'll agree that this is a jazz orchestra. Boasting many of Seattle's top-flight jazz cats, the SRJO presents here the recorded debut of Jimmy Heath's remarkable new suite in three movements, "The Endless Search." Commissioned and first performed by the SRJO in 2006, sax legend Heath is on hand to personally provide vigorous solo work. These charts are... read more
Dawn Clement - Tandem
by Chris Spector, Midwest Record
A real piano left fielder, Clement teams up for duets in various formats with real hitter pals of hers she admires. Even the chestnuts on parade take on a new life for the left leaning ears. Not for the feint of heart, this is one of those excursions where so little can say so... read more
Benjamin Boone | Philip Levine - The Poetry of Jazz
by Jeffery Gleaves, The Paris Review
Before his death in 2015, the former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Levine partnered with the saxophonist Benjamin Boone to record live jazz and poetry reading sessions. The Poetry of Jazz, fourteen original jazz compositions paired with fourteen poems by the late poet laureate, has finally been released and is available in nearly every format (CD, Google Play Music, Spotify, YouTube). The LP opens with one of my favorite... read more
Joe Locke - Force of Four
by John Kelman, All About Jazz
Joe Locke couldn't have picked a better name for Force of Four. While not as overtly plugged in as the potent, near fusion-esque Live in Seattle (Origin, 2006) with his Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, it's an equally electrifying date that revisits the same format?vibes, piano, bass and drums?but with an all-new line-up.
It's taken time for critics and fans to catch up, but with Down Beat's Talent Deserving Wider Recognition nod, the Jazz... read more
Lorin Cohen - Home
by Yoshi Kato, Downbeat
Double bassist Cohen plays regularly with pianist Monty Alexander and vibraphonists Joe Locke and Stefon Harris, and those gigs are reflected on Home, the bassist's debut album. By bringing aboard steel pan player and U.S. Virgin Islands native Victor Provost, Cohen, a Chicago native, revisits the reggae and Caribbean sounds he heard as a child while vacationing in South Florida Cohen presents his deep, mahogany tone early into the opening cut,... read more
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