CODA
"Saxophonist Roy Nathanson's Sotto Voce is an unexpected delight, an avant-populist celebration of the multiplicity of the human voice, in which funky modern jazz meets Jewish raconteurship meets gospel spirituality meets pop earthiness meets hip-hop beatboxing. "By the Page" is based on an anecdote from Nathanson's childhood: an immaculate call-and-response chorus sings out over Napoleon Maddox's voice-percussion: "My father paid me to read - five cents a page!" Even odder, the book Nathanson's father gave him to read was Thirty Seconds over Tokyo: the images of bombing and destruction conjured up in Nathanson's monologue have plenty of resonance in these post-9/11 times. On "London Story" a man on the Underground bursts out singing "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child;" the song then shifts into another language and becomes entwined with a gypsy fiddler's lament. On "It's Alright" a beloved uncle says he lost three fingers fighting in WW2 - but it later emerges that he shot them off himself, to get out of active duty. In any case it's the old man's advice to Roy that matters: "Your whole life prepares you for getting old," and if you're lucky and listen hard, maybe you'll hear "a couple of words spoke true." The album includes three covers of diverse "standards:" the pop song "Sunny," graced by Maddox's showstopping "drum solo;" a yearning "Sunrise, Sunset" that pays homage both to Nathanson's Jewish roots and to Sonny Criss's classic reading; and, best of all, Roland Kirk's "The Inflated Tear," a boldly reimagined version teetering between sad consolation and awakening passion. Violinist Sam Bardfeld, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, and bassist Tim Kiah all turn in excellent, highly individual work, both as players and as occasional vocalists, and Nathanson's alto sax sings out strongly and passionately (in contrast to his soft-spoken monologues). It's an outstanding album, a hard-grooving, serious/funny exploration of the surrealism of everyday life, and Nathanson deals with potentially heavy topics-war, death, old age-with exemplary honesty, soul, and humour.
- Nate Dorward

VILLAGE VOICE
"Sotto Voce is the best example yet of the saxophonist-storyteller's tales 'n' tunes mélange. His hipster stance always has a big heart behind it, and as the 'bone, strings, and reeds jell, a true sonic cinema emerges. From a poignant 'Sunrise, Sunset' to a chilling 'Inflated Tear,' it throw out some touchstones too. Check the way the human beatbox dude splashes like Elvin." - Jim Macnie

JAZZTIMES
"The records dazzles from start to finish .. Sotto Voce blends bebop, funk, free improv, poetry and hip-hop, and the result is bizarre and irresistible." - Steve Greenlee

DOWNBEAT - "4 STARS"

SIGNAL TO NOISE
"Nathanson has created his best pop/jazz/monologue album to date. [it shows] the best of Nathanson's considerable talents as an arranger, a lyricist, a narrator, and - in no small part - a great saxophonist." - Kurt Gottschalk

BILLBOARD
"Here's a resounding welcome back for Nathanson, whose Sotto Voce brims with a bemused exuberance and bubbles with a strange brew of spoken word, song and improvisation. Sotto Voce functions as a hip, lyrical variety show that that at turns gets boisterous with instrumental soaring (snaky sax lines, Curtis Fowlkes' trombone slithers, violinist Sam Bardfeld's klesmer-shaded phrasings) and energized by the hip-hop and doo-wop-infused vocal of Napoleon Maddox. Tunes range from Nathanson originals (the playful but poignant "By The Page" and the melodic beauty "Home") to covers like the new-grooved rendering of Bobby Hebb's 1966 soul hit "Sunny." Like Nathanson's spirited projects with the Jazz Passengers, which he and Fowlkes co-founded in 1987, Sotto Voce is jazz that stretches the art form." - Dan Ouellette

THE WIRE
"With superb arrangements and inspired playing, the ironically-titled Sotto Voce is nuts and an absolute gem."

ALL ABOUT JAZZ .com (read both full reviews at AAJ.com)
"Utilizing a wicked combination of instrumental and vocal counterpoint, rich vocal harmonies, passionate instrumental cadenzas and collective improvisation, this is intimate ensemble music of a highly advanced but conceptually playful nature. Equal parts carnival excess, vaudeville showmanship and Tin Pan Alley smarts, Sotto Voce finds Nathanson and company delivering what may be the year's most unusual and intriguing album." - Troy Collins

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE
"The eclectic alto and soprano saxophonist and his four-man band do all the singing themselves [here], as they meld stories and poems into wonderfully skewed songs that are equal parts jazz, hip-hop, doo-wop, funk and pop. Sotto Voce delights regardless of whether you recognize the musical reference points it so smartly salutes and subverts." - George Varga

VILLAGE VOICE
"Poetic narratives are [this] boho conceptualist's strong suit. On the new Sotto Voce he recalls everything from his dad's monetary method of boosting the family's spellings skills to the one-world spirituality he watched unfold in a London tube station. The marvelous blend of sax, violin, bass 'n' bone helps vivify the tales and vice versa." - Jim Macnie

NEW YORK TIMES
"Sotto Voce, the new recording by the saxophonist Roy Nathanson, makes full use of his unusual skills as a conceptualist and raconteur. All of the members of his band double on vocals, occasionally suggesting a literate and subversive barbershop quartet." - Nate Chinen

TIME OUT NEW YORK
"On the new Sotto Voce, head Jazz Passenger Roy Nathanson's [new quintet] serves up jazz as one part theater, one part radio play. Nathanson puts it all across like an ace monologist who just happens to be a great bandleader."

THE NEW YORKER
"For his latest project, Nathanson alternates between his gruff storytelling voice and his mellifluous sound on alto sax to spin tales that feel both familiar and strange."