THE CRITICS ON PHILLIP JOHNSTON

"Phillip Johnston could rightly be classified as the
 H.G. Wells of the jazz world."

            -Ashley Kahn, Rolling Stone Record Guide

"...perhaps the hippest of late, Phillip Johnston is
a modern jazzster with the smarts to shape daring
music in commercially palatable ways. Potent and
frolicsome, able to conjure an assortment of emotions
and references, FLOOD AT THE ANT FARM will surely
enhance the leader's rep as one of modern music's
more versatile writers.

            -Jim Macnie, Billboard

"...swerves through territory where you can dimly
discern signposts erected by Charles Mingus, Carla
Bley, Gil Evans, the Willem Breuker Kollektief,
Sun Ra, Rova, and New Orleans brass bands. The
disciplined lunacy makes Big Trouble big fun."

      -Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian


"...playful irony, pastiche, nutty compositions with
hair-raising arrangements, and loving jabs at the jazz
canon... Jazz Passengers and Lounge Lizards take heed:
you'll be in Big Trouble when you try to match whack
for whack with Phillip Johnston's superior band."

               - John Corbett, Downbeat

"One of the best jazz records of both 1993 and 1994.
Johnston originals offer something like a history of
minimalism in miniature."

            - Francis Davis, The Village Voice

"...from serious to delerious -- like an African
highlife tune -- like music for the early James Bond
movies -- like Steve Reich fleshed out -- like a
children's song -- blues progressions, a snatch of
Dixieland, cartoon music, jungle beats. Clever without
being annoying...Recommended!"

               - Richard B. Kamins, Cadence

"Fans of the Mingus large groups will undoubtedly
appreciate Big Trouble's eccentric humor, musicianship,
and knowledge of the jazz tradition...an Ellington
update -- sophisticated and urbane, musical and highly
entertaining."

               - Bill Tilland, Option

"Pulsing with sharp-eared musicianship, guided by
snakey, unpredictable arrangements, and spiked with
zany humor...exploratory musical ideas cloaked in
oddball, but catchy surfaces and wry textures for a
winning mix."

             - Gene Santoro, New York Daily News

"Big Trouble makes you feel as if you're in a noirish
filmscape starring fabulous you. The music goes with
almost any occasion...unapologetically silly and
breathtakingly agile."

               - Sally Eckhoff, City Paper

"...quite a formidable band...This is one of the most
fun-loving discs I've heard in quite a while!"

       - David S. Strassman, Whitehall-Coplay Press