octet's

But where the octet's instrumental skill radiates the most heat is in "The Box Set" and "Paddy Ryan's Dream/Blue Britches/Gan Ainm," the latter medley featuring some exotic percussion (cajon, darbuka, caixixi) and the hard-shoe stepdancing of Bernadette Flanagan and Ms. Dudasik.

What's Irish for 'Girl Power?' Earle Hitchner 2009

The austere dissonances of the octet's second movement, as well as the performance's exuberance and rhythmic bite, seemed, in the group's thoughtful programming, an outgrowth of the first half of the concert.

NYT > Home Page By ZACHARY WOOLFE 2011

Tonight is the octet's first local performance since that Millennium Park gig; saxophonist Ari Brown subs for Sullivan.

Chicago Reader 2010

Tonight is the octet's first local performance since that Millennium Park gig; saxophonist Ari Brown subs for Sullivan.

Chicago Reader 2010

This rowdy Austin, Texas, octet's national debut starts o-Kays "Soul Finger" brass lick and ends with vintage, lung-busting screams ala James Brown's "Please, Please, Please" - which should give you a good idea of the parameters Lewis and company are working in.

unknown title 2009

Hints of things to come were evident in the octet's unorthodox scoring (two oboes, four violins, piano and timpani) and its technical demands (at one point the timpanist uses four mallets to whack dull thumps on four drums simultaneously).

NYT > Home Page 2009