Brilliantly performed…very impressive. – Ahmad Jamal, jazz piano legend, of “100 Dreams Ago.”
This no-nonsense jazz pianist in the Ellington and Monk vein (who has occasionally written for Arts & Leisure) gets a big, ringing sound out of the extreme registers of the instrument; he also takes a decisive stand against the ultra-sensitive, lush-harmony tendency of so many young jazz composers. One Hundred Dreams Ago, with a trio including the bassist Matt Penman and the drummer Gerald Cleaver, is by far the best thing he’s done, but he hasn’t been making records for very long. – NY TIMES
Mr. Waltzer, the pianist, manages a thoughtful modernism that coexists more than peaceably with a buoyant, unselfconscious sense of swing; his trio…is first-rate – NY TIMES
Pianist and composer Ben Waltzer is one of the New York-New Jersey area’s more resourceful jazz artists, a fellow who works to keep his music fresh by pushing it in different directions, swinging here, letting things fly there. – Zan Stewart, NJ Star Ledger
Pianist Ben Waltzer is a multimedia force to be reckoned with. In addition to recording and gigging with his trio, Waltzer also finds the time to pen articles for the New York Times and has appeared as the musical director for fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi’s show on the Oxygen television network. Impressively, with all of these extracurricular pursuits, his new album, One Hundred Dreams Ago, recorded with Gerald Cleaver on drums and Matt Penman on bass, is a highly satisfying affair that features both uptempo swinging and reflective balladry… One Hundred Dreams Ago is a tasteful and sophisticated recording by a trio with a refined sense of interaction. Waltzer’s own compositions hold up well even when placed alongside works by the likes of Ellington and Strayhorn. I’m curious to hear more from this trio.- Stephen Latessa, All About Jazz
It’s not too hard to pinpoint the classic pianists that Ben Waltzer respects — Ellington, Herbie Nichols, Monk, Wynton Kelly, among them — which is just to note that he has great taste. Waltzer has assimilated his influences and comes out with a sure identity of his own on One Hundred Dreams Ago. The opening punch of the first four tunes — all Waltzer originals — also announces his knack for crafting melodies that warrant repeated listens: Time and I sounds like a lost Herbie Nichols gem, while the waltz ballad Smeenus Smiles has a lilt that brings to mind Randy Weston’s triple-time masterpieces. That Strayhorn’s U.M.M.G. and Ellington’s title track sit so well alongside Waltzer’s own compositions is testament to the album’s consistency of tone as well as Waltzer’s artistic worth. The limber contributions of bassist Matt Penman and drummer Gerald Cleaver aren’t to be overlooked either. – Steve Futterman, Jazz Times 5/05
The session’s tone, the trio’s cohesive articulation, and each individual solo stretch add up to a great fourth album for this pianist whose talent deserves wider recognition. – Jim Santella, Cadence
One Hundred Dreams Ago shows a focused bandleader. – Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
Intelligence and originality leap from the young pianist’s recent One Hundred Dreams Ago, from the well-chosen standards no less than the inventive originals. – Francis Davis, Village Voice 9.15.04
He’s a teacher, journalist, and Isaac Mizrahi’s pal. But all you should really care about is the way the pianist is able to conjure mystery with a feathery touch here and some graceful dissonance there. Known for the eloquence of his trio work, which updates Ellington’s Piano in the Foreground approach, Waltzer’s also got a nice little horn-band concept. Tonight he’ll have Bill McHenry and Duane Eubanks out front; both will have plenty to chew on, because the songbook can be meaty. – Jim Macnie, Village Voice, 4/23/10
In the era of concept records, this startling young pianist has flipped the script: the message behind ‘One Hundred Dreams Ago is ‘let’s just play.’ Accordingly the trio gets its bustle on. Ellington’s small groups are in the air here, and the pleasure Waltzer generates is bountiful. – Jim Macnie, Village Voice
Waltzer is a good, sensible pianist, and this trio recording is solid and inventive and impressive from stem to stern. The original “Our Rhythm” kicks off quickly; he slows down quite a bit for “Hymn and the Blues Up High,” which gets by on lyricism. I noticed that Waltzer wrote a long and very fine piece on Ahmad Jamal, evidently for the N.Y. Times, and that seems to slot Waltzer reasonably well. This is his fourth album in Fresh Sound’s New Talent series. B+ – Tom Hull, Village Voice
“Mr. Waltzer is a young jazz pianist who is interested in a meaty, rhythmic sound, delicately exotic harmony and organized small-group composition with strong melodic motion. It’s sort of a new take on Duke Ellington’s legacy, which his new album on Fresh Sound, ‘One Hundred Dreams Ago’ makes plain.”
- Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
“There’s a seat on the train next to fellow young pianists Bruce Barth, Brad Mehldau, Ethan Iverson and Bill Charlap. It belongs to Ben Waltzer whose taste and talent rival his peers.”
- Michael G. Nastos, veteran Detroit jazz radio DJ, in the All Music Guide
“Mr. Waltzer is an imaginative pianist and composer, and he’s part of a valid new underground in the jazz of this city, building on a foundation of straight-ahead jazz and adding foreign concepts and fresh sensibilities to it…He has a fistful of smart compositional ideas, and his regular quartet is spangled with some of the best young jazz players in New York.”
- Ben Ratliff, New York Times
“An inspired statement.”
- David R. Adler, AllAboutJazz.com, of ‘In Metropolitan Motion’
“Waltzer is an elegant stylist. If you enjoy the creative swing mainstream, In Metropolitan Motion is a must.”
- David Lewis, Cadence
“Pianist Ben Waltzer’s In Metropolitan Motion, his third offering for the label, is a strong release. His music is both probing and calm; tunes like “Bass Line” and “The Blonde Bedouin” deliver a honeyed melancholy melodically, while settling into an imperturbable grooves straight out of North Africa. He’s joined by an excellent cast-bassist Chris Lightcap, drummer Gerald Cleaver, saxophonist Bill McHenry and, on a few tracks, hand percussionist Mohammed Naseehu Ali-that helps him keep one foot kicking forward with harmonic freedom and trance-inducing rhythms and the other firmly rooted in postbop fundamentals.”
- Peter Margasak, JazzTimes