Turn Around Norman – We Turn Around Reviews
"A pretty tune that builds on its original theme, creating delicate tensions in the process."
All About Jazz – Download of the Day – 2/27/2012, "Transparency I" by J.J. Wright
NO. 3– "Members of Baltimore improv music combo Turn Around Norman have been around a lot of jazz greatness. Combined with the unpredictable but never timid personality of Baltimore’s experimental music scene, and the guys in TAN possess the means to take listeners on a wild, fun and heady ride. Three major songwriting voices also do much to make this a varied set of music, but coherency manifests itself it in the rugged, forceful and often dramatic way they perform. Live in the studio with few edits, this sounds much like I’d imagine they’d sound like on stage. Meaning, We Turn Around comes off as an honest rendering of the band’s uncommon personality." — S. Victor Aaron
Somethin’ Else Reviews – 10 Favorite Indie Acts from 2011 – 12/8/2011
"Collins, Wright and Hopkins share the songwriting duties roughly equally, and each bring their own predilections to the table. Wright cites minimalists Steve Reich and John Adams as big influences, and those sources of inspiration can be heard on tracks like “Transparency I & II” and “Awakening,” but Wright’s songs share some of the eccentric and circuitous harmonic progressions of his bandmates’ songs."
Somethin’ Else Reviews – 10/27/2011
Turn Around Norman – We Turn Around
Avant Music News – Best of 2011 – 12/12/2011
Turn Around Norman – We Turn Around (2011)
Avant Music News – Pick of the Week – 8/11/2011
"I was initially surprised by this album, which contains no standards, but rather consists of nine original compositions. No matter: it’s a terrific piece of work...Wright’s light-footed “Transparency II” provides a welcome contrast to the frantic search for Jon. Contemplative yet filled with longing, it recalls Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman”; like Coleman’s classic, it reaches a climax by way of a probing alto...A second one shows up on track five, Wright’s “Consolations.” Tricky enough to disorient listeners, the tune offers consolation with its locked in bass and drums, which leave plenty of space for Collins’s sinuous sojourns."
- Mark Osteen
Baltimore Jazz Alliance Newsletter – April 2012
"When a bunch of young jazzbos are bragging about playing with George Garzone and Dave Douglas, you know you are in for a left of center ride. Very much from the jazz/rock arena, they love to add free jazz touches to the mix but they come back to the middle in the end. Out there stuff that should be blasted down college dorm corridors where experimental sounds and left leaning jazz are the norm, the youthful energy and the edge pushing chops come together for a youthful joyous noize that works well, particularly when that extra zotch is needed around finals."
Midwest Record – 9/18/2011
"Calificación: Está muy bien...Transparency I y su secuela Transparency II, ambas pertenecientes a JJ Wright, ofrendan climas vaporosos y etéreos signados por líneas melódicas afables, pausados movimientos armónicos de impronta minimalista y delicados efectos ornamentales, luego coronados en sutil ascenso dinámico deliberadamente contenido en la primera de las piezas y mediante un lirico arrebato instrumental en la segunda...La enérgica propuesta de Turn Around Norman no es fácil de encasillar en una palabra o de identificar con un nombre; pero eso no impide que en todo momento luzca honesta y convincente ni impide su valoración y disfrute auditivo."
El Intrus – 2/21/2012