“... in his sold-out concert Saturday night, Chernicoff led one of the hottest bands around in a program of his idiosyncratic, intelligent, witty, and accessible brand of improvisational music. You may have heard this type of thing before, but to Chernicoff’s credit, you’ve never heard it done like his band did it Saturday night.”
Berkshire Eagle”... an impeccable synthesis of jazz, rock, classical, and world folk styles. Chernicoff knowingly enriches simple song structures with layers of counterpoint and intriguing instrumental colors. His own vibraphone and bright contributions by Tim Moran are most often splendid ” Downbeat
”With his incredibly talented ensemble, Chernicoff was able to achieve the nearly impossible task of rendering sophisticated improvised music in an accessible manner without sacrificing its integrity or pandering to popular tastes. The show was also impeccably paced, with never a dull moment. Best concert of the year!”
Berkshires Week“His compositions began from deceptively simple structures, then expanded into complex, spontaneous counterpoint, with a sense of controlled freedom. This is an unusual and engaging band, with energy, lyricism, and humor... very memorable. Catch them next time they’re around.” Albany Times-Union
“... rich in its extended harmonic range, [with] a subtle jazz beat... Chernicoff demonstrated his skill at developing his own original vocabulary.” Berkshire Record
“There are few easy niches to put this music into. Some points of reference might be the Paul Winter Consort / Oregon axis, Don Cherry, or maybe Philip Glass. There are both ancient and modern qualities to this music. Chernicoff scores highest as a composer of highly original music with an elusive ‘I’ve heard this before’ quality. This is fascinating music and a memorable introduction to Larry Chernicoff.” Seattle Review
“In the hands of the Chernicoff band, even the most familiar of musical forms became something alien and askew. Rhythms collided, chords didn’t quite change when and where you expected…and that’s what makes the music of the Larry Chernicoff Quintet so compelling and intriguing. The band boasts four world-class improvisers, and each had his moment in the spotlight. Hovering over all this was composer, keyboardist, vibist and visionary Chernicoff, a self-effacing Clark Kent, who once every year or so goes into a figurative phone booth, spins around and pops out as a musical wizard leading one of the hottest bands around…. .” Berkshire Eagle
“I have no idea whether Larry has ever thought of his work in the context of motion-picture soundtracks, but the visual images that his sounds evoke came to me readily and vividly. This music is beautiful and complex. Larry Chernicoff is a composer who will draw attention with this recording.” Creative Music Newsletter, 2002
Comments From The Musicians
“I love the instrumentation, and the way the music is orchestrated, the way the voices are constantly interweaving. And the harmonies are lovely. For me as a player, it makes for a really unique experience.” Tomas Ulrich, cellist
“Soothing” for us cool jazz musicians can be a negative term, but this music has a wonderful soothing quality to it. It just feels good.” Tom Varner, french horn player
“It’s natural healing music. Each time you hear it, you hear something else. It has a quality that is Larry, and it’s not anybody else; he’s not copying anybody. Very few people do that; most people are looking for what’s working, and what other people are doing. That’s what makes it very rare. He know exactly what he wants. That’s a power”
Karl Berger, composer, conductor, pianist, vibraphonist