Gitarist Mary Halvorson maakt ook deel uit van het Sun Ship-ensemble van collega-gitarist Marc Ribot. Ribot, toch een echte nestor in de hedendaagse gitaarwereld, noemt Halvorson 'op dit moment de beste gitarist van New York. Ze verstaat de kunst om behalve virtuoos te spelen ook de dynamiek van ensemblespel goed aan te voelen. Het gaat niet om de solo's, maar om hoe je op elkaar reageert'. (uit het interview van Gijsbert Kamer met Ribot in de Volkskrant, 8 november 2010) Haar met vele elastische nootbuigingen opgetuigde gitaarspel doet in eerste instantie nogal bizar aan, maar blijkt binnen het creatieve spel van haar kwintet een ijzeren logica te hebben: ze kronkelt als het ware tussen de vaak strak samenspelende trompettist Jonathan Finlayson en altsaxofonist Jon Irabagon door. Een fascinerend en hoogst origineel bandgeluid is het resultaat.
"On this impressive mix of straight-ahead, post-bop and Latin jazz, the New York-based Pete McCann finally takes center stage after years of being a sideman for a.o. Kenny Wheeler, Kenny Garrett, Dave Liebman, the Mahavishnu Project, Peter Erskine, and Curtis Stigers. The guitarist reveals his deft sense of improvisation from the start, taking a swift solo a few minutes into the opening title track, egged on by Mark Ferber's chugging drums and brushes and bassist John Hebert's cool grooving. McCann is a great ensemble player, too, easing in and out of John O'Gallagher's lush alto melody on "Jojo's Waltz" and doubling perfectly with his saxman on the opening segments of the progressive jazz piece "About Face." While McCann and his swing-happy crew seem most at home in the uptempo mode, (the feisty "Split Decision" comes to mind), they're not above playing it weird and intriguing on slower, hypnotic, and ambient numbers like "Hunter Gatherer." A strong independent jazz record." (Jonathan Widran, Allmusic)
"Owen Howard assembled an ideal band to interpret his compositions, including the twin saxophonists Andrew Rathburn and John O'Gallagher, pianist Gary Versace, and bassist John Hebert. Beginning with the constantly shifting "Derailer" (a reference to shifting gears on a bike), the drummer often implies the rhythm while playing a bit off center. Three different versions of the African-flavored "Kalimba" feature Rathburn and O'Gallagher on soprano sax, each has a distinctive sound even with the same melody. "Sonny Side Up," a tribute to Sonny Rollins, opens with a Caribbean-like solo by the leader, with the tenors dancing around this engaging theme. John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" receives a fresh treatment, played in a rather laid-back setting with Howard's off-center drumming keeping it on edge. Recommended." (Ken Dryden, Allmusic)
"Saxophonist and composer Andy Middleton steps out with his fourth album as a leader on this all-original album consisting of compositions written with the fate of the environment in mind. Song titles like "Three Mile Island" and "Atlas Shrugged" hint at Middleton's ecological pessimism, but the music itself only betrays his concerns with a general mood of gentle melancholy and faint foreboding. The mood is not oppressive, though. On the strutting "Ode to Ken Saro Wiwa," which opens the album, Middleton displays both an appealingly straightforward melodic sense, and an admirable facility with complicated harmonic structures; on "Naugahide," he combines jaunty drumming and artful passages of group improvisation to create a sort of new-New-Orleans feel. His use of a sweet, legato melody over a busy and complicated rhythm part on "Les Beaux" is also lots of fun. "Federico" is maybe a bit too vague and rambly in places, but that's the closest thing to a misstep on this very fine album." (Rick Anderson, Allmusic)
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