26/09/2008 John Fordham

This British piano virtuoso runs a sublime, somewhat Brad Mehldau-inspired trio - but he is a fearsome unaccompanied player, too. These two albums of contrapuntal improvisations may bring Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert to mind. However, devotees of classical piano may be drawn by Law's elegiac and flawlessly stroked slow explorations of chord voicings. He doesn't hide the years of detailed preparation that have gone into his music, so you don't get Mehldau's deceptively lazy, slow-burn restraint, or a loose deployment of the left-hand ostinatos that Law tends to keep remorselessly tight. But the Englishman can still be light and playful - as on the rocking Zero-G, which suggests early, hard-swinging Abdullah Ibrahim. The Last Dance gently explores twangy prepared-piano; Fair Weather Friend features a boogie feel, Monkish chordal jolts and swing-style trills; and the three-part Little Suite is a lovely display of Law's classically immaculate sense of form and contrast. There is little to choose between the albums, though volume two might just clinch it for variety

01/12/2007 Nod Knowles

Hearing John Law’s trio had me paying rapt attention to every bar, every nuance in a way I don’t remember since listening for 30 years. One to watch out for in 2008.
Jazzwise, Nod Knowles chief executive, Bath Festivals and president of Europe Jazz Network

19/10/2004 John Fordham, The Guardian

"Law's piano improvisations were often astonishing in their boldness and technical ambition, the more so for being jazz-rooted without mimicking the usual Jarrett, Tyner or Hancock licks. [His large ensemble project Out Of The Darkness produced] a rich and completely distinctive contemporary music programme."

01/03/2003 Alfred Brendel

"An interesting and highly gifted maverick musician"

01/12/1997 Jazzman, France

"(next to Django Bates) the other prodigal child of British piano"

01/10/1997 Jazz Podium, Germany

"...technical bravura with crystal clear, fast passagework coupled with a sovereign command over everything that is pianistically possible. You wonder if there is actually anything that this pianist cannot do."

01/09/1997 Avant Magazine

"John Law is one of three British musicians to have emerged over the last few years who are genuinely world class... He really is a major talent!"

10/06/1997 Chris Parker, The Times

"Law's three solo piano albums confirm his reputation as one of this country's most imaginative young pianists"

01/05/1997 John Fordham, The Guardian

"John Law is a highly communicative artist whose technique and focussed view of his work crosses many boundaries."

01/04/1997 Jazzwise

"John Law has developed into one of Europe's most adventurous pianists"

01/09/1995 Cadence, New York

"Creative music at a level not often heard... a formidable technique"

01/07/1995 Jazzthetik, Germany

"Talitha Cumi is a pianistic masterpiece... stupendous and precise technique. When he records for ECM he'll become a star!"