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REVIEWS of: Live At Maureen’s Jazz Cellar
Considering the wildly eclectic professional resume composer/saxophonist Peter Furlan has amassed over the past 30+ years – …. it’s hardly surprising that when he got around to leading a large top flight ensemble in a live setting, he’d make it a delightfully freewheeling blast of stylistically all over the map adventures.
Leading this tightly knit group on Peter Furlan Project Live at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar …– the multi-talented musician and bandleader shapes a program where composition and improvisation feel equally essential – each piece unfolding like an intense, expansive story of its own with its own shifting moods and motivations.
The punchy, brass fired and ultimately soaring opener “Return to the Be-Bop Tango” (inspired by the dual influence of Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie) sets the tone with a clever fusion of ensemble playing and powerhouse solos by Furlan, trumpeter Vinnie Cutro, trombonist Erick Storckman, alto saxman Andrew Beals and bari saxophonist Andrew Hubbard….. The balance of personal and literary inspirations (John Irving, Martin Amis and James Ellroy) elevates the aesthetic beyond just a well-played ensemble date throughout.
–Jonathan Widran – JW Vibe
https://www.jwvibe.com/single-post/peter-furlan-project-live-at-maureen-s-jazz-cellar
This dynamic nonet, recorded live at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar—the coolest jazz club in Rockland County, New York—features a group of seasoned musicians performing the compositions and arrangements of saxophonist Peter Furlan, a player known for his formidable chops and boundless creativity. The work Mr. Furlan has put in over the years really shows not only in his horn but how he voices the ensemble, creating arrangements that maximize the nonet’s potential for both power and subtlety. The combination of seasoned musicians, a hip venue with an engaged audience, and Furlan’s adventurous musical conception creates the perfect conditions for the kind of spontaneous magic that defines great live jazz recordings.
–Bret Primack, award winning journalist, filmmaker & author of “How John Coltrane Changed Me – A Jazz Journey,”
“There’s something inherently honest about a live jazz record when it’s done right, and Live at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar is exactly that kind of work…. this latest release from the Peter Furlan Project captures a band operating at full stretch; confident, conversational, ….. …Live at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar succeeds because it understands what a live jazz album should do: capture chemistry! It showcases Peter Furlan not only as a formidable saxophonist but as a bandleader with a clear compositional vision and the trust of musicians capable of bringing that vision to life on the spot.”
–Spoke Magazine
https://skopemag.com/2026/02/07/peter-furlan-project-presents-live-at-maureens-jazz-cellar
Peter Furlan’s…. group of seasoned East coast musicians performing compositions and arrangements by Furlan, a player respected for his formidable chops and boundless creativity.
They open with “Return to the Be-Bop Tango” which is an unusual title. The band’s arrangement combines Straight-ahead with tango music in a smooth and energetic way. Vinnie Cutro is the first to step into the spotlight and woo us on trumpet. The rhythm section makes me want to sway my hips and dance across my listening room. Nadav Snir-Zelniker takes a brief but delicious drum solo. The party is on!
An original composition by Furlan called “The Ice Committee features his improvised solo on soprano saxophone, followed by Vinnie Cutro’s fluid horn solo. All the while, the big band horn section punches and elevates the arrangement.
On Track #5, “Blues Squared” the piano player known as “The Nail” plays an amazing solo and puts a capital B in the blues. This tune is spurred forward by the dynamic drums of Snir-Zelniker and the electric guitar solo of Joel Newton. Brad Hubbard brings his baritone sax to the spotlight during a brief, but powerful solo.
I am enthralled with one of Furlan’s composition’s called “The Crawl Too” that is a strong mixture of modern jazz with a traditional swing groove…..
-Dee Dee McNeil
https://www.makingascene.org/peter-furlan-peter-furlan-project-live-at-maureens-jazz-cellar/
…. after some introductions the set opens on the soulful blues swing of “Return to The Be-Bop Tango” and the impassioned “The Ice Committee,” and then we get brought forth the lavishly elegant “The Raconteur” and the sterner, yet equally emotively veined “Blues Squared.”
Along next is the low slung, late night smoky jazz club ambiance of “The Crawl Too” which is in turn backed seamlessly by the upbeat and sprightly fare of “Time’s Arrow,” the mid-tempo balladry of “Twisted River,” the music rounding out on the furtive foot-tapper “Perfidia,”” coming to an all-too-soon close on the funkily grooved Mrs. Clean Freak.”
-Anna Carlini
https://annecarlini.com/ex_cd.php?id=6635
Furlan’s compositions are pleasing, his charts well-designed, the musicians focused and talented. Concert-goers could not ask for more than that. The nonet is sharp on every number, as are the soloists … the impression that lingers is one of an impressive jazz concert: handsome arrangements, instinctive solos, tight interplay—in other words, everything that would inspire and please an audience. Those who appreciate jazz that is reflexive and in-the-moment should derive considerable pleasure from this long-playing (seventy- eight minute) concert recorded Live at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar. It is, after all, the next best thing to having been there.
–Jack Bowers “All About Jazz“
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-at-maureens-jazz-cellar-peter-furlan-project-self-produced
REVIEWS: Between The Lines
By jamming exuberant, hard-edged lines into the net of composed and improvised sections, Peter Furlan blends the tradition and the contemporary with structured arrangements. While the individuality gives the project supplemental color, unity is what holds it together. This is a fun album.
–Filipe Freitas, Jazz Trail
www.jazztrail.net/furlan
“Literature as inspiration for music is of course not a new thing, but Furlan’s spirit for both artistic disciplines, and the rewarding musical quality of the result, is worth recommending here.”
–Joe Maita, Jerry Jazz Musician
www.jerryjazzmusician.com/on-the-truntable-furlan
Furlan is a New York area saxophonist who leads a mid-sized band of experienced players. Their years of working together have resulted in an intriguing blend of discipline and adventurousness. The capacious baritone saxophone of Roger Rosenberg begins the interwoven fun and games of Furlan’s “A Visit From The Goon Squad” Some of Furlan’s arrangements may remind listeners of ensemble ventures by such predecessors as Rod Levitt and Chuck Israels but, overall, Furlan’s writing suggests an original mind at work. That is as true of his energetic pieces like “A Visit From The Goon Squad” as of the relatively relaxed tracks, which include “Invisible” and “Black Hole Blue.” Furlan’s aggressive soprano saxophone solo on “Black Hole Blue” is a highlight. Rosenberg’s bass clarinet interludes on “Transatlantic” are reminders of why that versatile reedman is in steady demand.
–Doug Ramsey, Rifftides
www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/furlan
“Between the Lines, an album inspired by contemporary literature, is a captivating amalgam of musical possibilities powered by saxophonist/composer Peter Furlan’s lifelong love of reading, and his writing and instrumental chops, which stand along side the most accomplished jazz musicians. Peter’s original music is played by an ensemble of New York area heavyweights including longtime collaborators trumpeter Vinnie Cutro, who played with Horace Silver, and Sonny Rollins’ last guitarist Saul Rubin, a friend since their days at the University of Hartford under the wing of Jackie McLean. The result is an audio tapestry rich in diversity and emotional content. Repeated listening only serves to enhance this highly satisfying musical experience.”
–Bret Primack, Jazz Video Guy
www.jazzvideoguy.com
This is what jazz folks usually call a little big band. The ten piece unit under Peter Furlan sound big enough and are very well integrated. The ensembles are played with precision and a lot of thought seems to have gone into producing various different tone colours…..
It certainly has a distinctive sound and the sound colours produced are unique to Furlan’s little orchestra. … The music on all tracks has a distinctive flavour, in some ways like the old Gil Evans orchestras when Gil recorded under his own name…, this is a very good session.
–Derek Ansell, Jazz Views UK
www.jazzjournal.co.uk/peter-furlan-project
…A Visit From The Goon Squad opens with baritone sax in cartoon film mode and progresses into a triumphant big band blow out with catchy guitar, trumpet and keyboard soloing en route.. ..this is a collection of clever arrangements with accomplished musicians that proficiently blend the composed with the improvised… ..”an eclectic mix of straight-ahead, funk and post-boppish jazz with a distinctly big band style of delivery”
–Brian Payne, Jazz Journal UK
www.jazzviews.net/peter-furlan-project
REVIEW: Peter Furlan – SPY GLASS HILL
Peter Furlan’s New York love affair with the Caribbean is evident in the ambitious mambo big band arrangement for the 14-member brass and reed section of “Sleep Talking.” The performance effectively renders the arrangements’ suggestive jazz and Hispanic mores with groove, swing and plenty of feeling. His intimate pursuit of heated musical passions ensues in “Echoes of Rachelle.” Its melodic, flute-tinged, bongo-influenced, big band piano-seduced romance –featuring guitar and tenor sax solos– is extremely well written. In this tune, Furlan’s tenor sax renditions, dedicated to his wife, are impeccable in any regard.
–Javier AQ Ortiz, All About Jazz