THREE BRIDGES TO BROOKLYN

“Although this was my first exposure to Rich Messbauer, he impressed me highly with his between-the-dots phrasing and rich textural colorations.”

“One can almost hear this threesome making some fine music and just having a good old time” 

Cadence Magazine

VOLUME 1: FLYING SAUCERS

VOLUME 2: HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN”

 

“The trio recording this two-volume set of CD’s, ‘Flying Saucers’ and ‘How Deep Is the Ocean’, consists of musicians in unified agreement of their music, calm and haunting”

“Battaglia’s and Messbauer’s own compositions, which comprise the majority of the music on the two CD’s, most personally reflect their style.”

“Battaglia develops uncomplicated, direct tunes, lyrical...like the ballad ‘One For Janet.’

“Messbauer’s ‘Flying Saucers’ is an oncoming force powered by bass and drums allowing for Battaglia’s improvisation over their current”

“Battaglia, with the rich clarity of his tone, combines improvisational imagination with precision.”

“The Battaglia / Messbauer / Davis trio has created a unified personalized sound all it’s own.”

Bill Donaldson, Cadence Magazine

DIABLO EN MUSICA

“This is free and rhythmic improvisation, with three musicians showing their insturmental skills, but more importantly also their ability to create coherent music full of intensity and openness...with an exceptional sense of unity”

“I hope this is not a one-time effort by this band. Highly Recommended.”

Stef at “Free Jazz Blogspot”

RATING:  FOUR AND A HALF STARS

“Herb Robertson, Rich Messbauer and Tom Sayek’s release, ‘Diablo En Musica,’ emerges into the spectrum of great avant-garde jazz...”

“Messbauer fuses arco and string stylizations into various motifs, yet the trio’s chemistry and mode of attack embodies hard-bop and semi structured developments.”

“With ‘Diablo En Musica,’ Herb Robertson, Rich Messbauer, and Tom Sayek inject

hair-raising elements of soul and inspiring concepts into the grand skulduggery of

avant-garde type matters.”

Dr. Ana Isabel Ordonez, in Jazz Review

RATING: FIVE STARS

EVENING RUSH

“The ensemble emphases shift from chorus to chorus, and there’s space for everyone. Subtle drumming from Wells and lovely bass work from Messbauer complete the picture. For his part, Leonhardt has a delicate touch and creates intriguing harmonic voiceings, with the end result being reminiscent of Evans and Tyner.

Michael Steinman, in Cadence Magazine