Downtown Music Gallery

This is Mr. Bates third disc as a leader and again, he has delivered the goods. The rhythm section is just astonishing…ever intricate and inventive, expanding and contracting and constantly shifting tempos with seeming ease. There are times when I swear I am hearing the Miles Davis Quintet of the mid-sixties, minus the piano. No small feat, I assure you….There is nothing less than stunning and stellar on this disc so don’t say that I didn’t tell you so. – BLG

Jazz Times

It’s no surprise that Greenleaf label owner Dave Douglas likes what he hears in bassist/composer Michael Bates, a musician who, like Douglas himself, evidences multifarious musical interests. From the Stravinsky-esque “Great Exhibition” to the freebop/funk convolution that is “Damasa”; from the circuslike “Fellini” Bates covers a lot of ground…he possesses monster chops, which he’s inclined to exercise in disparate ways…It’s to his credit that he’s internalized so many influences so successfully… -Chris Kelsey

Downbeat

Bassist Michael Bates frequently uses the phrase “the bigger picture.” Indeed, the compositions on his third disc, Clockwise, convey his explorative, picturesque sensibilties. Sometimes multiple melodies dance about like characters in a Dr. Suess cartoon….Bates aims to create a realm that extends beyond standard jazz convention. –John Murph

Glenn Astarita

I’ve said it before and will restate that bassist/composer Michael Bates possesses the goods to make a notable difference within the progressive-jazz community. With his third date as a leader, the artist continues to inject his extremely broad musical vernacular into a composite methodology. As the total listening experience is akin to sitting through an action-packed adventure flick amid all the shadowy episodes and rapidly-advancing sub-plots. And it is somewhat appropriate that Bates’ third outing as a leader would be presented by cutting-edge trumpeter, composer and idea man, Dave Douglas’ Greenleaf record label.

Throughout, Bates parlays his complex, yet highly listenable compositional frameworks, while incorporating variances in timbre amid an abundance of polytonal muses…[and he] doesn’t seem anywhere close to running out of fertile musical ideas. If the best is yet to come, I can’t wait to here his next outing. Regardless, this masterful exposition discloses previously undetected colors, sounds and mini-motifs with each subsequent listen. He attains the best of many musical worlds via his nouveau assault on the roads frequently traversed.

All About Jazz

…bassist Michael Bates’ band Outside Sources took the stage to celebrate the release of Clockwise, proving itself to be a tight unit that reveled in richness, unpredictability, astounding technical ability and near-telepathic interaction…this record was penned with confidence and an astute understanding of how to facilitate improvisation… the deftly-executed rhythmic complexity and modest use of austere neoclassical harmony also calls to mind “Soldier’s Tale” and “Octet”-era Stravinsky…Outside Sources is a formidable ensemble that benefits from the excellent compositions and passionate, dedicated first-rate musicianship from the whole band.

Maurice Hogue, One Man’s Jazz, CKUW

…Michael Bates’s new release (Clockwise) is right up there with new releases by Drew Gress and William Parker. The playing by all in the band is passionate and Bates’ pulse propels Nachoff, Johnson andDavis through a set of fantastic music. These guys take no prisoners. One of the best releases of 2008! Recommended highly.

Glenn Astarita-EJazz News

“With his new album, Bates demonstrates his rock solid composing skills and enviable technical faculties…. Simply put, Bates has the ability to make a huge impact on the existing state of modern jazz!”

Double Bassist Magazine

An irresistible searching quality permeates every second of the disc…St Helen bursts with contrapuntal interplay between the musicians; melodic and rhythmic motifs are tossed around and developed across the texture. Like a Mingus piece, it’s difficult to tell where the improvising begins and the writing ends…

Bates is an important and characterful voice on his instrument also. An ethereal flutey arco tone at the top of the bass’s range endows Partly Innocent with magic, before double stops and pizzicato bass notes fill the texture at the piece’s conclusion.

Outside Sources’s elastic structural approach, saturated with creativity and energy and channelled through strong compositions, makes for a remarkable disc. A fine balance indeed.- Mathew Simpkins

J.D. Considine: Globe and Mail

This quartet…evokes the intimacy and interplay of a chamber ensemble, with deft arrangements that find the instruments slipping almost imperceptibly between written and improvised playing.

Saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff was the perfect foil for Bates’s quietly lyrical writing, but it was the understated virtuosity of trumpeter Russ Johnson that ultimately lifted the music to the stratosphere.”

C. Michael Bailey: AAJ

“This music should be filed under “And Now for Something Different…” and be proud of it. Perhaps best classified as avant-garde jazz, A Fine Balance actually defies categorization in the same way progressive art often does….

Bates’ musical vision is one of freedom, but not at all costs. His compositions can be at once melodic and confounding. But no matter what, this is a thoroughly enjoyable recording, steeped in the the last forty years of the jazz tradition, which should occupy the CD tray for quite some time.”

Jerry D’Souza: AAJ

“When it comes down to music, he achieves a fine balance. He has all the right ingredients: a jazz sensibility, an open approach to classical music, a tingly edginess, and a sense of adventure.

Bates has a band that helps him along in no uncertain terms. Reed specialist Quinsin Nachoff is exciting as he lays bare unusual vistas in his improvisation; Kevin Turcotte, one of the finest trumpeters around, slips compactly into the mould and brings his own vision into play; drummer Mark Timmermans adds textures and accents that broaden the palette. The main protagonist, of course, is Bates, whose writing gives the musicians the room to change shape and density…”