Woodwind legend Bennie Maupin, best known for his work with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, The Headhunters, and many others, follows his highly acclaimed 2006 CD Penumbra, with Early Reflections, a beautiful recording of Maupin s European quartet featuring pianist Michal Tokaj (Tomasz Stanko), and guest vocalist Hania Rybka. Early Reflections features a brilliant new version of Maupin's classic composition, The Jewel in the Lotus.
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The veteran Detroit-born multi-reedman Bennie Maupin has been criminally under-recorded as a leader with just five previous albums under his own name in the last 35 years. But Maupin, whose sinewy bass clarinet solos helped define Miles Davis' landmark fu
Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press, 4/1/08
Bennie Maupin's Cryptogramophone label follow-up CD to Penumbra both parallels and provides a departure from that excellent effort. What is similar is the softer tone Maupin is displaying in his far post-Headhunters days, refined by experience and cured t
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide, 4/14/08
While veteran multireeds player Bennie Maupin has enjoyed a rich history performing in bands led by Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, he's also a potent leader in his own right, as evidenced on "Early Reflections." A passionate outing of ruminatio
Dan Ouellette, Billboard, April, 2008
"Most widely known as the bass clarinetist on Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew,” Bennie Maupin has been making excellent albums lately. He recorded “Early Reflections” (Cryptogramophone), his latest, with a group of young Polish musicians who aren’t well
Jonah Jones, The New York Times, May 2008
Bennie Maupin made his name in Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock's fusion bands, then progressed into avant-funk; on Early Reflections, the flute/saxophone/clar-inet player splits that continuum wide open. Recorded in Warsaw with a Polish quartet, it's aco
Michael J. West, Village Voice, April 2008
""Early Reflections" slides easily from Latin to ballad to blues, revisiting 1974's electronically adventurous "The Jewel in the Lotus" along the way. While playing in Poland, Maupin was knocked out by some local musicians... a
Gina McIntyre, The Los Angeles Times, April 2008
In 2006, multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin breezed back to jazz prominence with Penumbra, a charming, spare-but-sprightly album that landed on many Top 10 lists. Maupin, former Headhunter and Miles Davis electric-era sideman, had reemerged as a leader w
David French, Downbeat, July 2008
Thirty-five years ago, Bennie Maupin seemed to be the natural heir to Eric Dolphy's fallen crown. His work with Miles Davis, Lee Morgan and Herbie Hancock revealed a musician with a highly personal sound--particularly on bass clarinet--and the ability t
James Hale, Signal to Noise, Summer 2008
I love this album by multi-reedist Maupin, best known for his years (late '60s to mid-'70s) with Herbie Hancock, his history-making appearance on Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" and earlier recordings with McCoy Tyner and Lee Morgan. Here, with a gr
Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News, June 29 2008
