PRESS
Reviews of Silverscreen Sextet: Live at the Angel City Jazz Festival
“Straight outta Oakland, meets the most extraordinary sounds in Los Angeles to form the Silverscreen Sextet! Vijay Anderson and Hafez Modirzadeh join William Roper, Roberto Miranda, Bobby Bradford and Vinny Golia. These elements form an organic compound whose sonic equation, derived by the sum of its unique parts, can only be vetted in the actual moments where the cross section of visual, audible, emotion, integrity and truth create temporary portals of unequivocal consciousness.”
“Calling the Silverscreen Sextet 'free jazz' would not do it justice, as that is just one of many styles that the group adapts into an amalgam of techniques, colors, and textures. If a label is necessary, let’s refer to this album as 'adventurous jazz', of which it is an excellent sample.”
“This has become a brilliant record in the relatively free landscape, but with clear and distinct roots back to the 60's most exciting jazz performers. We meet six musicians who, with all clarity, show that they love the music Anderson has 'written' for them, and they are all the way involved in making the 'compositions' pearls. A record I highly recommend!”
-Jan Granile - Salt Peanuts
(translated into English from originally Norwegian)
“The pre-planned structures can veer to the bluesy or to advanced outness, giving the sextet a sense of purpose and directional impetus and a rootedness as well as an immediacy for our present-day and the sound of how it feels. In the end we have a very nice blowing date that has pacing and outstanding compositional touches. It is a worthy listen that captures the very moment of the now of New Jazz.”
Reviews of Touch & Go Sextet: Live at the Novara Jazz Festival
“This is a capstone disk, a really fine assemblage doing music with a personal and collective stamp that flows with the best on the contemporary scene but does it in a unique way. I am stoked with this one. By all means, get it and listen!”
“Free-wheeling and as fresh as next-week's newspaper, Live at the Novara Jazz Festival strikes a fine balance between the kinetic and the cerebral and is worth seeking out.”
“Check out this album, the sextet goes for a big, dynamic and multilayered sound that is infectious with its inventiveness and fire.”
“Vijay Anderson obviously has a strong vision and his writing and playing continues to mature with each disc.”
“…their playing exhibits an intuitiveness to one another that borders on the telepathic. The brass and wood charts in particular are sometimes reminiscent of Ellington or a Braxton large ensemble, but come together with grace and playfulness. This is serious music that doesn’t get lost in its seriousness.”
Reviews of Hard-boiled Wonderland
“I've been listening to this album for a while now, finding it so immensely rich that I thought I would do it insufficient credit by already reviewing it. So I listened again, and again, and again.”
“A substance-of-group-feeling leads this sextet on a marvellous journey of exploration.”
“It’s improvised jazz in a group setting, a sextet of equal parts where the two horns or the two guitars could be spinning virtuoso lines or providing the backdrop for the scene.”
“The sonic palette of the whole sextet is impressive, travelling freely between worlds of postrock and postjazz (whatever that could mean). Gently weaved sounds create dreamy visions, walls of sound, palpable yet thin and almost transparent.”
“Llevo meses escuchando este disco sin digerirlo lo suficiente para atreverme a definirlo y aún me sigue pareciendo novedoso cada vez que vuelvo sobre él.”
“The music is straight from the heart and is pretty damn far out. These guys aren’t afraid of any sound, any direction, any feeling…”
Performance Reviews
"Moser pounded jagged, Monk-ian clusters while Dresser and Anderson divided the time into complex multiples. Hearing Dresser play in this context is a joyful experience, and I was instantly attracted to Anderson’s intention and clarity with the ride cymbal, which had amazing focus."
"Anderson is a complete drummer, swinging for the fences when necessary but also able to really penetrate the essence of a deep listening ability that not all percussionists possess."
Massimo Ricci - Touching Extremes (2007)
"Lane and Anderson discover a tumbling world of possibilities in every tune, meanwhile building up some of the most hypnotic, deepset grooves ever to grace the Spirit Room."
Nate Dorward - Paris Translantic Magazine (2005)
"Anderson is a most welcome newcomer. Whether adding vibrant shadings or coaxing the groove, Anderson demonstrates his natural abilities with consummate taste and skill."
Jay Collins - One Final Note (May 22, 2006)
"With the excellent Vijay Anderson on traps, a sextet of women engaged in fairly conventional partnering and ensemble moves. Seawall's most intriguing parts came from the juxtaposition of the quintet's sometimes feverish activity with Rae Chung's stillness and her ability to place martial arts–like moves with exceptionally directed focus."
Rita Felciano - S.F. Bay Gaurdian (Oct 24,2006)
"Go-Go Fightmaster played last. Pretty great high-energy free jazz. Some parts featured the guitar, bass and drums playing something like a less heavy version of doom metal while saxophonist Aaron Bennett blew a wild sax solo over the top. The highlights for me were Vijay Anderson's killer drum solos. Real tight and energetic. The bands became increasingly jazzy as the night progressed, which is the sort of thing I usually stay away from. I'm really glad I heard this stuff though. Pretty amazing playing."
Jacob Felix Heule - Bay Area noise/improv show reviews (2007)
"This is pure improvisation within a jazz context. Here we have Aaron Bennett on sax delivering weird lines with some interesting dissonances. Plus we have also John Finkbeiner on guitar and synth creating some interesting basis for each of the tracks. How does this sound? Well, take some of the most experimental King Crimson, then add some Ornette Coleman to it and put a small dose of Allan Holdsworth and you will have just a big picture of how Go-go Figtmaster sound. This is pure experimentation and musical boundaries stretching with no limits. Sometimes the tracks sound more chaotic and sometimes they are more structured but always the main thing is the improvisation. It is remarkable too the work of the rhythm section of Adam Lane on bass and Vijay Anderson on drums. Pure spontaneity."
WWW.MUSICEXTREME.COM (2004)