The Microscopic Septet Web site
Manhattan Moonrise (Cuneiform 370) – The Microscopic Septet
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“Ever since its cutting-edge debut, 1983’s Take The Z Train, there has been an air of mystery and mirth surrounding The Microscopic Septet. . .There’s a whole lot of quirk here, but it’s always on the joyous side, a quality perhaps best represented by the title track, which stands as Forrester’s streamlined answer to Glenn Miller’s “Chattanooga Choo Choo. . . An eclectic bunch of kindred spirits still doing it against all odds.” – ★★★★ (4 stars) –Downbeat Magazine (Bill Milkowski)
Friday The 13th: The Micros Play Monk (Cuneiform 310) – The Microscopic Septet
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“Just about the time you ask yourself, “What else can be done with a Monk tune?” The Microscopic Septet comes in to blow you away… Septet co-leaders Johnston and Forrester have been loving and playing Monk together since the 1970s, and their joy infuses every second of this disc.” – ★★★★ (4 stars) Downbeat Magazine (Dec 2010 Editors Picks)
Lobster Leaps In (Cuneiform 272) – The Microscopic Septet
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“…sounds like someone mistakenly booked the Art Ensemble of Chicago to play a 1950s prom. As always with the Micros, it’s gloriously, delightfully and inappropriately right. Welcome back. – Shaun Bradey, Downbeat (2009)
Seven Men in Neckties: History of the Micros vol. 1 (Cuneiform 236/237) – The Microscopic Septet
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In all seriousness, as amusing as all this is, it’s also virtuosic and absolutely brilliant. Although the Micros didn’t go unnoticed by the mainstream jazz world during their 80s heyday, these two rediscoveries ought to vault them to the prominence they so richly deserve. –Lucid Culture (2008)
Surrealistic Swing: History of the Micros vol. 2 (Cuneiform 238/239) – The Microscopic Septet
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The Micros are quirky and there are avant elements but it also very accessible. Their mixtures of swing, bebop, lounge jazz, trad jazz, New Orleans Second Line, tangos, you-name-it, are always intelligently and wittily put together and played with great gusto. Someone else observed that there is both “froth and substance” in the Micros’ music. –John Henry (Audiophile Audition)