"Emerald Duets is a five CD set that features the trumpeter teamed with four different drummers - Pheeroan AkLaff, Andrew Cyrille, Han Bennink and - on two CDs - Jack DeJohnette. All are veterans of the avant-garde, with DeJohnette boasting a good deal more straight ahead cred from his long tenure in Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio. All of these masters make the drums sing; they can make the drum kit pull the music in the direction of the cosmic, especially in the company of Wadada Leo Smith. It is often said that a piano is a one player orchestra. The same can be said for the drum set, especially on The Emerald Duets, with its spacious approach that lets nuance and subtlety take center stage".