“Pieces rank among the best performances I’ve heard all year”. INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

“Dave Stapleton’s writing is so well conceived that it’s sometimes difficult to separate the written from the improvised”. IRISH TIMES ****

“…with a sound halfway between Miles and Arve Henriksen. An excellent recording with standout contributions from both composer and trumpeter”. JAZZWISE ****

“His compositional building blocks, repeated ostinati, short motifs that shift through registers and keys, and choppy phrasing alternated with smoother melodic or freely improvised sections, remain the basis of his technique, but the structures are tighter and his playing more deftly controlled than on his earlier recordings”. ALYN SHIPTON – PIANO MAGAZINE

“Rich and colourful music from one of the UK’s most talented and ambitious young jazz composers”. THE JAZZ MANN ****

“Stapleton’s writing mostly revolves around propulsive piano vamps with nods to Gil/Miles circa Sketches of Spain”. JAZZWISE ****

“Here is some of the best new jazz around, both in conception and writing and its performance is exquisite. It really is brilliant”. CARDIFF JAZZ SOCIETY CD REVIEWS

“…rich and colourful, the LSQ provide harmonic ’thickening’ to the ensemble sound as well as the odd sonorous, graceful solo (Joel Garthwaite’s soprano particularly ear-catching, with its almost oboe-like purity and elegance), and Yates [is] compelling, vibrant and agile throughout. It is Stapleton’s compositional skill, however, that immediately impresses, not only for its emotional range, but also for the variety of subtle and vigorous rhythms he utilises in the creation of this thoroughly enjoyable, intelligent but lively suite of pieces”. VORTEX CD REVIEW