What the press said…

CD ‘Postcard Collection’ JHM 258

…COB-Gründerin Leach empfiehlt sich einmal mehr als hochkarätige Komponistin, der es vor allem Fotografien von Prachtbauten der Vergangenheit angetan haben. So atmet dieses  Album in den berührendsten Momenten eine ergreifend nostalgisch-melancholische Aura. Saarbrücker Zeitung 7/2018

…There are a number of musical elements exposed in these works, an essence of jazz is but one of them. I quite enjoyed listening to this music even before I realized it is not primarily jazz. Just music, good music. 7/2018 Cadence Magazine.

..an album whose myriad facets may seem challenging to some listeners but should abundantly reward those whose hearts and minds are attuned to new approaches and ideas. Jack Bowers, 6/2018 All About Jazz

…Bunter Jazz mit Geschichte und Geschichten. Eine einmalige Zusammenstellung und Momentaufnahme des Composers` Orchestra Berlin. Hazel Leach ist gelungen, mit ihrem neuen Projekt eine Brücke zwischen Kulturen und deren musikalischen Einflüssen zu schlagen. Als Verbindungsglied dienen Jazz und Takt. Ein schöne Idee, die mit „Postcard Collection“ trefflich umgesetzt wurde. Christian Kautz, 6/2018 https://www.likehifi.de/

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Leach’s music is both and neither jazz, both and neither classical; instead, it is characterized by a sense of exploration and discovery that is open to a variety of influences from a wide range of musical genres. It’s not that the music takes turns in different musical worlds; it delves into different genres, using only their most important elements to express the concept of the moment in the best atmosphere possible. From straight musical interpretations of Leach’s written music, to abstract musical expressions best conveyed through wordless vocals, extended twentieth-century violin and saxophone performance techniques, coupled with improvisational sections, Leach has fashioned a world both disturbing and fresh.
WomenArts Quarterly Journal (USA), Thomas Erdmann, contributing editor Vol.3 Issue 1. Winter 2013

…she interweaves contrasting lines skilfully, uses color generously, and often lets her solists determine the dynamic intensity of a piece…
Carolyn Graye, Earshot Jazz, Seattle (USA) August 2005

… the unexpected turns of the writing are not too sharp and many outstanding lyrical moments soften the overall drama of the music. … The experience is of extreme emotions from the dramatic to the sublime and beautiful.
Mainly Big Bands (UK) 8/00 John Killoch

.. a provocative and most satisfying collection of musical journeys, never relying on the obvious or settling for the expected. Each composition is richly textured and highly evocative, performed with power, grace and those most sorely lacking elements in much of today’s Jazz — adventure and urgency.
GMN (Global Music Network) 12/00  George Lane

… The compositions are richly textured and absorbing tone poems, unsparingly swathed in polyrhythms and counterpoint… Leach knows how to enwrap an orchestra in sumptuous finery, and the ensemble passages are consistently engaging.
Allaboutjazz.com 8/99 Jack Bowers

… Closely-voiced horns and rhythmic shifts generate a mood seldom produced by large ensembles. Hazel Leach … has a magnificent facility for composing music which beguiles the listener with a light elegance, despite its complexity. She takes you on a wonderful tonal journey and will certainly cause goose-pimples to break out.… The whole production has a particular charm, lying somewhere between Gil Evans, Kenny Wheeler and European folklore and yet is absolutely distinctive. United Jazz Society (D) 11/99 Peter Brand

… a world of musical stories, excursions and polyphonic structures, creating space for fantasy and creativity. The ensemble-writing is in the foreground, but without suppressing the solos. The aforementioned exceptional arranging talent ..produces highly-personal compositions, philosophical reflections, experiences, pictures or predilections…
Jazz Podium (D) 11/99 Hans-Jürgen von Osterhausen

… The forward-looking music, much more than a conduit for able soloists, impresses most for the muted glow of the interestingly-voiced brass and low-register reeds. The resulting soft pastel colors give the arrangements an alluring emotional ambiguity..
Downbeat USA 1/97 Frank-John Hadley