ORIGIN RECORDS NEWS

Trombonist Benny Powell (1930-2010)

On Monday, July 12, New York's jazz community gathered at Saint Peter's Church to celebrate the life of the late trombonist Benny Powell. Saint Peter's is known as the "Jazz Church," having a dedicated jazz ministry and a long tradition of hosting memorial services for the city's departed musical greats.

Powells last record as a leader Nextep, was released on Origin Records early 2009. He performed with countless jazz luminaries, including Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Adullah Ibrahim, Randy Weston, and a very long tenure in the Count Basie Orchestra. That's him on "April In Paris."

'Speak' reviewed by the BBC

Laura Bellini writes:
This is a marathon album, despite running for only 45 minutes; a dense, fast meteorite on an edgy sky, brief enough to be indulged in all its frowning intensity. Throughout, Speak build huge constructs of volumes and dynamics. The music never sits still; it’s a snake that twists and turns in the juxtaposition of noise and quietness, light and darkness. Yet the band is tremendously cohesive, shifting as one from heavy improvisational territories down to eloquent writing with a message of unresolved tension.... read more.

Ray Vega & Thomas Marriott hit #1 on US jazz charts!

The East - West Trumpet Summit peaked at #1 on the Jazzweek charts; as the most played album on jazz radio. The disc, in the tradition of many other two-trumpet frontlined albums, features Tom and Ray in top form with one of the finest rhythm sections working in jazz today.
Allaboutjazz.com said it best:
"With evident camaraderie, East-West Trumpet Summit is a joyful celebration of friendship and music from two heavyweights of jazz trumpet."

Bobby Broom featured in Downbeat Magazine

Be sure to catch the feature on guitarist Bobby Broom in the June issue of Downbeat magazine - In stores now!

Broom's Origin Records offering of last year, Bobby Broom Plays for Monk, peaked at #2 for multiple weeks in nationwide jazz airplay and ranked #13 overall for 2009. Quite a feat considering it was released in June!

Having recently left Sonny Rollins's band where he served his second of two 5 year tenures, Broom can currently be heard on the new CD by trumpeter Pharez Whitted,Transient Journey, and live with his own groups the Bobby Broom Trio and the Deep Blue Organ Trio. DBOT will begin recording again in June. Visit http://www.bobbybroom.com for news and his complete performance schedule.

2010 Ballard Jazz Festival, April 21-25

A huge THANK YOU to jazz fans from all over the country who came out to Seattle for 7th annual Ballard Jazz Festival. We had 5 great days of music with the Brotherhood of the Drum, The Guitar Summit, The Jazz Walk with 18 bands, and the Mainstage Concert featuring Claudio Roditi, Jovino Santos Neto and Hadley Caliman. Sunday's Swedish Pancake Jazz Brunch was the usual hit, and made that much more fun with the "Swedish Iron" vintage Volvo/Saab car show. If you missed any of the events, check out photos, live recordings, and more at http://www.ballardjazzfestival.com and then we'll see you next April!

Earshot 2009 Golden Ear Awards

Seattle's Earshot Magazine presented its annual Golden Ear Awards on February 15th, 2010 at the Triple Door, hosted by Jim Wilke and featuring a performance by Greg Williamson's AYPE Big Band. The gathering is always a highlight of the year as it brings together Seattle's jazz community to celebrate accomplishments and to reconnect. Many Origin and OA2 artists were in attendance and nominated for numerous awards. Some of the winners were:

NW Recording of the Year - Mark Taylor, Spectre (Origin 82529)
NW Instrumentalist - Eric Barber (Eric will be featured in the Ziggurat Quartet, on an upcoming Origin release)
NW Outside Group - Neil Welch & Chris Icasiano Duo "Bad Luck" (Chris is a great drummer who works in the Origin office. Congratulations Chris!)
Hall of Fame - Marc Seales

For more information on the awards, check out the article in the Seattle Times, the Seattle Jazz Scene website, or visit www.earshot.org.

Origin wins 2009 JazzWeek Record Label of the Year

Seattle’s Origin Records was recognized as the 2009 Jazz Label of the Year at the JazzWeek Awards, held June 20th in Rochester, NY, during the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. The JazzWeek awards are voted on by several hundred members of the jazz industry including radio program directors, disc jockeys, program syndicators, satellite and cable broadcasters, record labels and promoters.

JazzWeek’s Ed Trefzger presented the award to Origin’s John Bishop during the JazzWeek Conference which has taken place alongside the Rochester Jazz Festival each year since 2003.

Also nominated in the Label category were Concord Records, Palmetto, Sunnyside, Heads Up, and HighNote Records.

Read the feature article in the SEATTLE TIMES.