THE WIRE – "Top 50 Records of 2001"

"The Best Jazz Records of 2001" : VILLAGE VOICE, BOSTON GLOBE, LA WEEKLY, SEATTLE WEEKLY, WASHINGTON CITY PAPER

VILLAGE VOICE - GARY GIDDINS, WEATHERBIRD, August 2001
"Consisting of eight main selections and three short untitled transitional pieces on which Ware does not appear, the paradoxical net result is a first-rate Ware showcase„even though he makes his first entrance five minutes into the disc. At that point Shipp„in his organ mode„mostly lays out, and tenor, bass, and drums lock down for the relatively conventional, aptly titled "Straight Track," an exuberant instance of Ware's capacity to avoid clichÚ while upholding passion and clarity. Parker snaps the strings so hard you can almost feel them slap the wood. Shipp returns toward the end, piling on the rhythm, and joining in a nicely abrupt finish.

"Superimposed" is a mini Ware festival, boasting an elaborate hoot of a solo, played (without dubbing) against synth rhythms that suggest a whole tribe of percussionists. The euphoric edge is fully extended until the humorous wind-down„Ware sounds as if he's running out of fuel. No less pleasing is "Sound-a-Bye," in which he creates barely mobile melody out of what is essentially a three-minute drone, continuing after the others fade away and then fading himself. It's completely convincing and like nothing else I can think of. More ambitious is "Corridors & Parallels," with its synth whistling, funk, zooming arco bass, and a bristling Ware, who enters like an electric shock and essays a thrillingly upbeat holler of a solo that produces an oddly liturgical feeling„sort of "Ascension" meets "He Loved Him Madly." After its mere eight minutes, you feel washed in the blood of the lamb."
Read Gary Giddins' whole review and full column on David and group

VILLAGE VOICE - GARY GIDDINS, WEATHERBIRD, January 2002 (2001 Year-End Best Of)
"I disliked Lord of the Rings (never read the book), but since seeing it, I find that Matt Shipp's electronic interludes remind me of the dark caves, and when Ware's tenor arrives, finally, and rises to its full height, it's like Gandalf knocking Christopher Lee on his ass. In other words, after five months, this album seems even grander than it did the first time around."

COLUMBIA NEW TIMES
"The term electronica-jazz fusion just doesn't fit, especially with this album's genre jumping. Not only are the compositions on Corridors & Parallels unlike anything I've heard before, they are essential masterpieces of sound formation - never forgoing the crucial element of enjoyment for the listener. Not only highly recommended, but the essential jazz album of 2001."
– JG

LA WEEKLY
"New moods don't hit the market that often. When they do, you gotta invest in the laboratory."
– Greg Burk
Read the whole LA Weekly review!

STEREOPHILE
"5 Stars ... In the days after the World Trade Center collapsed, it was difficult to return to normal listening habits. Old favorites referenced a reality that no longer existed; new releases seemed pointless. This album, however, stood out as a spiritual-emotional soundtrack to the incomprehensible. Ware's arching, emotive tenor-sax articulations were somehow able to express the unspeakable agony of the moment while offering profound solace."
– John Swenson

SOUND & VISION
"Ware perversely celebrates his return to the indies with the breakthrough album that Columbia was probably hoping for. Matthew Shipp plays only synthesizer here but resists the temptation to prettify, which sank so much 1970s fusion. Because this isn't fusion - it's latter day free jazz at its most rigorous and disciplined."
– Francis Davis

KUSF 90.3FM WebZine
"Another absolutely killer and essential release for your pathetic and puny music collection from this seemingly possessed avant-jazz giant of the sax. He's taken the torch of Coltrane and not just carried it, but he threw the damn thing into an active volcano. This man is the bringer of serious noise, you got me?"
– Cactus