Selected Reviews for The Tenth Muse

“While the album is remarkable for its plush harmonies and slow-drip accretion of mass, its most arresting quality is a deep-seated sense of exploration, the process of questions searching for answers, of epiphany becoming sound.” ★★★★ (DownBeat)

“. . . a refined chamber sound from the thoughtful end of the teeming Brooklyn scene, a very democratic, four-cornered conversation among like-minded peers, capped by a performance of Wheeler-esque tenderness and sincerity from the leader.” ★★★★ (The Irish Times)

“. . .the emotional and musical breadth of The Tenth Muse is immense and will leave one wallowing in a state of euphoric rapture. Reading these enduring fragments while immersed in Holman’s ethereal compositions makes for a truly special experience that seamlessly connects the past with the present, reiterating the fact that human nature, at its foundation, is largely unchanging.” ★★★★1/2 (All About Jazz)

“Each setting distinguishes itself from the others on this consistently rewarding collection in sometimes subtle and occasionally emphatic ways. How fortunate we are that Holman looked to the poet for inspiration: these are remarkable performances that effortlessly collapse multiple boundaries.” (textura)

“Matt Holman treats silence like sculpting clay . . . highly defined lyricism, where the poetry of motion sets the melody in play.” (Bandcamp Daily)

“The sounds, these abstract notes that coalesce into emotions, have great power and stand out from the standard fare. Matt Holman has given us a wonderful present; take notice.” (Step Tempest)

“. . . spawns an emergent trumpet star who boasts elevated compositional skills, musical maturity, and individual spontaneity.” (Jazz Trail)

“This is a spring Sunday morning kind of album, meditative and lighthearted at once.” (Stereogum)

“. . . it’s certainly a set of art jazz but it doesn’t beat you down with artsiness.” (Midwest Record)