Origin Records

Origin Records / OA2 Records / Origin Classical, All About Jazz: Seattle, and the Ballard Jazz Festival.

Origin Records was created in the fall of 1997 by Seattle drummer John Bishop to help in the design, production and distribution of jazz recordings made by his own groups and by artists he's known or worked with over his 25 years of performing.

With a great amount of early and continuing help from his former student, webmaster and New York drummer Matt Jorgensen, the label debuted on the web in 1998 and has grown steadily. With Matt's move back to Seattle in 2002, the focus has been to expand distribution, performing and recording opportunities for Origin artists as well as making developed resources available to a wider group of artists.

read more

Origin Records / OA2 Records / Origin Classical, All About Jazz: Seattle, and the Ballard Jazz Festival.

Origin Records was created in the fall of 1997 by Seattle drummer John Bishop to help in the design, production and distribution of jazz recordings made by his own groups and by artists he's known or worked with over his 25 years of performing.

With a great amount of early and continuing help from his former student, webmaster and New York drummer Matt Jorgensen, the label debuted on the web in 1998 and has grown steadily. With Matt's move back to Seattle in 2002, the focus has been to expand distribution, performing and recording opportunities for Origin artists as well as making developed resources available to a wider group of artists.

With Origin focusing on the music of significant Northwest artists, OA2 Records was started in June of 2002 to allow a broader array of musical statements from a wider range of artists. The Origin/OA2 catalog now boasts releases from more than 85 artists who share the common goal of an ever-evolving musicians collective.

Since the Fall of 2003 Origin Records has produced the Ballard Jazz Festival. This event has brought world-class artists to Seattle, to share the stage with some of the Northwest's finest musicians. Expanding in 2004 to include the Brotherhood of the Drum concert series, the Ballard Jazz Festival continues to grow, and in 2005 the award for “Northwest Concert of The Year” by Earshot Magazine was given to the Joe Locke / Geoffrey Keezer Group's performance, now available on CD here.

In 2006 trumpeter Chad McCullough joined the Origin team as Artist Relations and Production Manager.

show less