17/05/2009 Ian Mann, thejazzmann.com

**** 4 stars

’Mandorla’ is an excellent début from Lopez-Real and one that demonstrates his skills as a player, writer and arranger. He covers an impressive range of moods and styles but does so in a wholly organic way, nothing sounds forced or wilfully eclectic.

The playing from all concerned is highly proficient and a relaxed, quietly adventurous quality permeates the music. Lopez-Real exhibits a real melodic sense and there are many moments of real beauty here.

The album and band are aptly named; the ‘Mandorla’ on the cover is an ancient symbol denoting the interaction between two superficially different worlds, something this group and the F-ire collective as a whole are particularly adept at… ‘Mandorla’ fits well into the F-ire aesthetic, open minded and culturally aware but delivered with a spirit of adventure and considerable technical skill.

01/05/2009 Selwyn Harris - Jazzwise

Very impressive debut... Lopez-Real's engaging alto/soprano sax playing sounds at times like a breezy variation of the vocabulary of Steve Coleman...

27/04/2009 Chris May - All About Jazz

Lopez-Real is not only a vibrant improviser, but also a composer and arranger of substance...

The fun Mandorla had making this album practically jumps out of the speakers. Gorgeously lyrical and infectiously rhythmic.

17/04/2009 Chris Parker

Lopez-Real's saxophone sound is always cogent, his choice of texture and use of the full dynamic range of his instruments impressive throughout.

He says his aim was 'to create an album which takes you on a musical journey, through different textures and colours'; with this recording, his debut as a leader, he has done just that.

19/07/2007 Oxford Times

"Lopez Real...tended to take the harmonics more by the scruff of the neck and turn up the heat so the slow cooking laid down by Quinn began to spit a bit more. Lopez Real has the technique and temperament to make the most of Quinn's arrangements" Review of live gig with Justin Quinn's Bakehouse

30/05/2007 Oxford Times

Scintillating…[Carlos Lopez-Real] can produce highly individual and musically mature interpretations of ballads, bossas and blues without ever seeming to fall back on technique or repetition. And these are the signs of a great player…a player brimming with individuality and imagination.

25/05/2005 John Eyles, bbc.co.uk

“Lopez-Real on the opener, "Neck" - set the pulses racing” review of Justin Quinn's Bakehouse 'Before I Forget'

20/08/2004 John Fordham in The Guardian

“Lopez-Real has a nice line in Lee Konitz smokiness but also its opposite, a raw and explosive multiphonics that suggests the Argentinian Gato Barbieri.”