'To call the Pittsburgh Collective a big band is a bit like calling the New York Philharmonic an opera outfit...A new kind of fusion is going on in [their] music, but also, perhaps, a new kind of analysis, in which the origins of jazz -- the fusion music of a century ago -- are being creatively explored.' 
  - Paul Griffiths, 2007

'This is a progressive big band...crossing into the contemporary classical music camp without a care and often with complexity and wildness...the wail of a memory of Dizzy Gillespie bop at its most flamboyant juxtaposed with Webern-like abstraction.'              - Richard Ginell, All Music Review, 2007

'Sanford writes challenging charts steeped in jazz, funk, and modern classical music. And his players tear through them like an elephant through a bag of peanuts.'
 - Alexander Gelfand, Jazziz, Jan/Feb 2008 (Critics' Choices for 2007)

'It's safe to expect that even [Chapin Auditorium at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA] will be filled to capacity with soundwaves, and listeners will experience the kind of live fireworks that create something more akin to an event than a concert.'
 - James Heflin, Valley Advocate, October 18, 2007

CD available: David Sanford & the Pittsburgh Collective, Live from the Knitting Factory featuring Matt Haimovitz
(at Amazon and cdbaby)

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All photos by Jim Gipe