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"grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing."

- Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times

 

"...a suite of knockout compositions...genre-bridging poetic sensibility and structural intelligence...A terrific album."

- Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal (U.K.)

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"Achingly beautiful...a delicious mix of short songs masterfully played by Okura and Hays in perfect synergy."

— Reuben Klein, The EAR

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“Just four strings on a violin and Meg Okura manifests with them an orchestra of sounds both musical, familial, and otherworldly… Her music is alive with herself… It was spectacular. Marvelous.”

— Holli Harms, The Front Row Center

 

"...Okura's rich violin work, the sui generis combination of voices in the mix, and the individual soloists—Okura, Harrell, Sam Newsome, and pianist Brian Marsella chief among them—all deserve top-billing. The manner in which all of these aspects and artists magically meld together goes beyond words. Okura and her music are truly in a class all their own."

- Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

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"Okura's classical virtuosity combines jazz, Jewish and Japanese cultures into a distinctive transcendental musical identity."

- Elliott Simon, New York City Jazz Record

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"The ten-piece ensemble, here featuring trumpeter Tom Harrell, renders Okura's dense through-composed pieces with a dynamic range spanning from delicacy to thunderous power."

- Morgan Greenstreet, Chamber Music

 

"a captivating hour-long set of music....the three musicians have an instantly-apparent rapport, with a synthetic vision that provides impressive cohesion and focus, despite the fully-improvised nature of the performance.  ...an album that offers such an inventive, expansive approach to music-making."

- Troy Dostert, All About Jazz

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"There are some stunning moments on this set from the NPO Trio of violinist Meg Okura, saxophonist Sam Newsome, and pianist Jean-Michel Pilc. Their music is a balancing act between cohesion and chaos, allowing the music to fall into one of those states while still grasping tight to its counterpart. This sense of everything coming apart at the seams creates the most intoxicating tension as the balance of power shifts back and forth. The intensity is magnified by corresponding changes in influence, from avant-garde to classical to Yiddish to modern post-bop. Recorded at NYC’s The Stone back in 2016, the electricity of the live performance comes through strong, and the presence of this music is immense."

- Dave Sumner, Bandcamp Daily

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"The music on "Live at The Stone" (Chant) by the NPO Trio is a thrilling improvisational jazz odyssey"

- Michael Roberts, JAZZIS

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"Filled with strong melodies, excellent arrangements, and fine musicianship..." 

- Richard Kamins, Step Tempest

 

“…breathtaking...shivers of emotion down the spine...flawless technique... Okura has established herself as a complete musician and a major one."
- Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz

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“Meg has created what surely must someday become a Jazz standard. Meg Okura has given a stunning reintroduction to the music from the genius of Ryuichi Sakamoto."
- Travis Rogers, Jazz Times

“…a stunning improvisation on top of an impressionistic backdrop."
- Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times

“…chamber jazz has found its queen in Meg Okura."
- Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

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“… equally comfortable playing classical chamber music, rock and everything in between."
- Stephen Holden, The New York Times

 

“From Asia to Africa and the Americas, and from classical to jazz—via the inspiration of electronic music—Okura sees beauty everywhere and translates it into her own exquisite idiom.”

- Ian Patterson, All About Jazz

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“PACJE (Meg Okura & the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble) have no peer in melding classical and jazz within an ethnically informed chamber setting.”

- Elliot Simon, The New York City Jazz Record

“Naima is the magnificent new release from violin virtuoso Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble. Captivating, exciting and refreshing are just one way to describe the track offerings that are featured. Aptly named after one of John Coltrane’s famous compositions,

Naima is marvelously diverse mixing the past, present and future."
- Esther Cailens, Birmingham Times

 

“successfully blends the musical cultures of East and West for a new and exciting direction in modern jazz expression.”

- Eric Nemeyer, Jazz Inside New York Magazine.

“Okura has made a bold statement with Naima, ensuring her place among the top names playing chamber jazz."
- Jon Neudorf, Sea of Tranquility

“A confident collection of chamber jazz that is wide in scope and deep in feeling…features outstanding solos by Okura."
“Meg Okura offers a clear sense of vision of her world of music. Okura's Naima goes to many places, speaks in many voices, and is often rich with surprises and admirable in its aspirations."
- Mark Hayes, EJazz News

“Ms. Okura’s vibrant, Eastern-influenced, jazzy score and the playing of her musicians were the most sophisticated parts of the work"
- Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times

“… (some of) the best jazz New York has to offer."
- Elliot Simon, All About Jazz

"... mixes a classically trained mastery of strings, piano and drums with quick-witted compositional twist performed with high energy."
- Jennifer Odell, Down Beat Magazine

“The group delivers exactly what its name promises… the group found a common ground in '60s-style modality, occasionally reminiscent of John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner's Eastern explorations."
- Will Friedwald, The New York Sun

“…elegantly intertwine(s) elements of classical, jazz and world folk into a new sound…by presenting precisely played ethnically inspired original compositions in an exciting modern jazz context."
- Elliot Simon, All About Jazz

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