“This recording represents the highest level of quality in woodwind performance, primarily in jazz but also across a variety of genres…. There is some great music here, to be enjoyed on many levels: classical players will appreciate the Bartók and other woodwind selections, big band lovers will be impressed by this saxophone section and there is Piazzolla, William Walton, Antonio Carlos Jobim… but not breadth without depth. This music is beautifully played by all concerned and required listening for woodwind doublers.”

—FluteJournal.com <http://flutejournal.com/> (April, 2019)

“Hey Ed, Your new recording is fantastic. Love the variety, playing, tune selection.”

—Gary Walker (WBGO)

Contrasts reflects all of Ed Joffe’s many years of experience as a performer, educator, conductor, and musical thinker. It exhibits his eclectic musical interests, as well as his deep awareness of many of the best musicians in New York City. All of these players get put to the test here in multifarious ways, and all deliver first-rate performances.

While we get to hear him play at a virtuoso level on virtually all of his instruments, he has generously chosen to share the spotlight with a number of other great players. But that is perhaps the best indication of who Ed Joffe is—a musician totally in service of the music. His concept is to play music of the highest caliber, whether it features him as a soloist or a section player or both. The idea of a “look Ma, no hands” dazzler doesn’t interest him.

So whatever your musical tastes, prepare to have your listening “chops” challenged. You are about to take a unique musical journey.

—Bill Kirchner, January 2016

“The challenge of meeting the highest standards that can be achieved in multiple woodwind performance is clearly defined here in Contrasts.”

—Gary Foster

“I loved it. Great woodwind playing by Ed Joffe in a beautiful variety of musical styles.”

—Eddie Daniels

“Are you a fan of Woody Herman’s Four Brothers band of the late 1940s or Supersax in the 1970s? Ed Joffe’s new album, “Contrasts,” will blow your mind. Ed manages to play nearly every woodwind instrument with enormous flair, and the album’s reed section is first rate.”

—Marc Myers, JazzWax.com