Media
Isaacs, with every release, has refined his systematic approach to post-modernity jazz to the point that his sound defines what jazz should sound like at the advent of the 21st Century in the same way Joe King Oliver, Satch, and Bix defined New Orleans/Chicago, Basie and Ellington defined the swing era, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie defined bebop and Miles Davis defined everything else.
ALL ABOUT JAZZ (USA)
Isaacs is a master of writing pieces that are both emotionally complex and yet still orderly. Never does an Isaacs composition devolve into inane banging and clanging; this is music composed and performed for the listener, not at them. Wonderfully integrated, thoughtful and intelligent….. providing some of the best on the cutting edge of accessible jazz.
ALL ABOUT JAZZ (USA)
Here were dialogues to restore the faith. As the world crumbles into vulgarity, vitriol and worse, one felt blessed – privileged, even – to hear solo performances by pianists of the calibre of Mark Isaacs.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
At heart, the work of a full-blooded romantic, though one with plenty of rhythmic vitality.
GRAMOPHONE Magazine
Isaacs’ compositions flood the senses, the pianist playing with a passion that stands out in Australia today.
LIMELIGHT Magazine
He morphs the familiar into the unexpected. Great music, whatever genre, is about tension and release. This has it in spades.
THE AGE
The world of Mark Isaacs is a strangely compelling place. Passionate, whimsical, joyfully erratic. . sometimes eccentric and always deeply thoughtful . . letting loose, overflowing with ideas.
THE AUSTRALIAN
Monstrously brilliant….a prodigious group driven by a charismatic genius…. put [Isaacs] in a pair of iridescent orange Converse basketball boots and he becomes a stage demon…. a composer and musician utterly unencumbered by boundaries who has a breathtaking aptitude for making feeling and experience audible
AUSTRALIAN STAGE ONLINE
As ever with Isaacs, it is direct, concentrated and free-wheeling, as playful and serious as art can be.
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Polished, confident and deeply accomplished . . . must rank with the world’s finest.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Seamless in conception, flawless in execution, exuberant in creativity . . . makes extremely complex music natural and accessible.
ALL ABOUT JAZZ (USA)
The sound came in slivering cascades, like the finest crystal being joyously dashed into a fireplace.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Reflective, contemplative, inspiring calm, contentment, an understanding that there is beauty to be seen, and heard, and felt
CANBERRA TIMES