"A small miracle. What a wealth of sound from such unexpected instrumentation. Wherever his sound comes from, namesake Leo Smith, Bill Dixon or the Gabriels of forgotten jazz bands and orchestras, Smith is in love with brass. That comes across on the delicious trio with Marshall and Brand, Falange, Falanginha, Falangeta, as well as the opening duet with the brilliant tubist. Weston plays a breathy chamber instrument. The veteran Bailey is the trumpeter's partner on Coffee and makes light of the fact that timbrally he is odd man out on this date. It's a stunning album, one of the unexpected treasures of the Emanem catalogue and something that anyone interested in contemporary trumpet-playing and structured improvisation should sample." RICHARD COOK and/or BRIAN MORTON - 'The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD' 2004
"Trumpeter Smith has produced a work that's as significant as it is fresh, using some unusual instrumental combinations in a series of collective improvisations. The sound palette and the unusual combinations of overtone patterns - rooted at times in traditional baroque brass and organ sonorities - lead into some genuinely new directions. The brass/organ sonorities of the sustained chords of There we are are extraordinary, while there's tremendous range of approaches on Windsurfing. It's deeply mysterious and beautiful; most peculiar is that the band sometimes seems to swing in an almost tradition way, thanks in no small part to Bailey's mastery of traditional and subliminal jazz kinetics." STUART BROOMER - CODA 2002 |