What the reviewers say about Joe Morris Quartet: Underthru (OmniTone 11904)

• "On his best album yet, the remarkable avant-garde guitarist strikes a perfect balance between airiness and gravity, fluidity and thrust, maintaining an ongoing sense of anticipation with his continually expanding melodies."
  —Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Sun Times (6 February 2000)
    
• Top 5 Jazz Pick of 1999.  "[Morris] employs elasticity and groovy angularity to great effect....  Call it chamber jazz with sharp edges."
  —Nate Chinen, Philadelphia City Paper (30 Dec 1999)
     
• "Guitarist Joe Morris' music is all about process.  Whether he's playing his usual ferocious, understated, open-ended style of flatpicking, where all members of the band are encouraged to contribute or simply listen ... his sound is unique and always about what lies just around the corner....  [Maneri and Morris] suggest a simpatico that ... reminds me of the union of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.   Morris and Maneri are two very talented musical minds acting as one.  Reason enough to chase down a copy of Underthru." 
  —John Ephland, Down Beat (April 2000)
    
• "Morris and violinist Matt Maneri recall Eric Dolphy with Booker Little. Such interplay provides the band's modus operandi."
  —Nate Chinen, Philadelphia City Paper (28 Oct 1999)
    
• "The most surprising of the new Morris offerings ... Underthru swings and grooves and leaves a lot of space for interaction. Underthru should certainly win Morris some new fans."
  —Larry Applebaum, JazzTimes (April 2000)
  
• "For listeners who want to get to grips with the quite difficult Morris-Maneri ethos, Underthru is an excellent place to start."
  —Andy Hamilton, Jazz Review Magazine (October 2000)
    
• "This is certainly not groove-oriented music in the same way as soul jazz, but Morris's approach on Underthru is to lock into a rhythmic framework and explore an often stark mix of clean, precisely hit guitar notes and more slurry, but still pointed, violin strokes.   Morris hits all his notes with unerring perfection, even those he intentionally skewers.  And the quartet moves as a unit at all times, never leaving the tunes or its members outside the tight-knit community."
  —Andrew Bartlett, Amazon
    
• "Joe Morris is the man who's made the electric guitar relevant to new jazz at the turn of the century....the music [on Underthru] is full of fascinating inner tensions."
  —Ed Hazell, Jazziz (February 2000)
  
• "...a slightly different perspective ... this recording may open up a few more doors for Morris and his band ... for the uninitiated, Morris and Maneri are among the finest improvisers on the planet.... There's a little for everyone here while Joe Morris and co. not only journey to the outer limits of modern jazz but also uncover new and fertile territory along the way. Recommended. "
  —Glenn Astaria, AllAboutJazz.com