'A wonderful collection, each track is a gem! 'Echoes of Swing' collectively presents an approach like no other quartet, while individually each player is a master.'

'The Echoes continue to amaze and delight with their polymathic range and consistent originality. They don't echo, but renew.'

'Seldom have I heard such perfection. I’m totally thrilled! A conscious of tradition, contemporary musical performance of the highest order.'

'I've been listening to these guys for a few years now and they are always full of surprises. This CD is their best yet. They all have a deep understanding of the literature and they play from inside. How they do it all with four instruments is beyond me.'

'This record has recently won the top awards a jazz record can win in France and Germany and tell you what, it’s so cool I almost can’t handle it. Anyone who ever dug Raymond Scott will get this set immediately. It sounds like some old timey recording until you start to pay real attention and hear that it has a today hipness that just didn’t exist 70 years ago. Then comes the gotcha. Even the originals sound like they could have leapt off Scott’s scratch pad. By defying all convention, these jazzbos present the crème that rises to the top. You don’t have to be hipster Eurotrash to dig this, you just have to get off on killer players pushing the envelope in unexpected ways. An absolutely welcome tonic from start to finish.'

'…the group plays with absolutely impeccable time and a sense of swing that is simultaneously dead serious and lightly, elegantly fun. On 'Message from Mars' they adapt classical melodies by the likes of Chopin and Shostakovich(!), and take on respected standards like 'Don’t Explain' and 'Spring Is Here' with new arrangements that are as respectful as they are innovative. There are even a few originals slyly thrown in, among them a very fine blues composition by saxophonist Chris Hopkins playfully titled 'Twilightnin’ Hopkins'. This album is a delight from beginning to end. '

'There was a joke (I hope that’s what it was) about a young tenor player who, when asked if he listened to the past masters of the instrument, replied, 'Sure, man, I go all the way back to Coltrane'. Regrettably, such historical innocence is not rare, so it is gratifying to listen to the fifth recording by the German-based quartet Echoes of Swing, who are quite familiar with the music’s history and do it honour in recreating some of its styles…It should be emphasized that the playing on this CD is far from dry, sterile museum fare. It is full of vitality, actually transporting the listener’s imagination back to the Swing Era. But lest one think these folks live exclusively in pre-Modern times, Dawson’s two vocals sound a lot like 1950s Chet Baker and at one point Hopkins quotes from Charlie Parker’s Bebop anthem 'Ornithology'.'

'If this is the kind of music that's played on Mars, then book me on the next rocket launch to the red planet. Put simply, the Echoes of Swing get it on big time, with a distinct nod to the sound produced by the John Kirby Sextet even though there are two fewer musicians. However, it would be unfair to label the foursome a Kirby Quartet Clone. Not when the quartet echoes an Ellington small group sound in essaying 'Twilightnin' Hopkins' and turns to the classics for a boogiebeat version of Shostakovich's 'Gavotte'... The band's program is a hoot, beginning with the old Dixie dandy, 'Shake It And Break It,' given a sleek treatment by Hopkins, and ending with the previously mentioned 'Gavotte'. Between the salad and dessert, the musical smorgasbord offers one delectable delight after another... '

'No, the aliens haven’t landed. And this isn’t a detour into NASA’s territory or a nostalgic trip back to the Mickey Mouse Club (although I haven’t been able to get one ancient 'The Martians come to New York' joke out of my head*). MESSAGE FROM MARS is the name of a splendid new disc by Echoes of Swing, a world-class band that lives up to its name and more. While retaining its essential identity - flexible and convincing - this quartet can sound like a much larger unit, and the disc is characterized by a delightful variety in mood, tempo, and approach. The players are superb chameleons who remain true to themselves... The music produced here is both profound and hilariously flightly, skittering from surprise to surprise... MESSAGE FROM MARS offers a deliciously subtle and witty tasting menu of music - a disc you could listen to all the way through without the slightest hint of monotony, at the same time, you could savor each of the sixteen miniatures for its own surprises without ever getting tired. '