"Andreas Willers states that was to be a “hommage to the legendary composer/improvisor Jimmy Guiffre, and his impressive body of work, it ended up being more than just that.” In getting to the point of actually assembling the musicians in the studio, much thought went into what a 'hommage' meant with such a figure. In the end four tunes of Guiffre's were included and the others are originals in the spirit of exploration of Guiffre by various combinations of the participants - the players met for the first time as a quartet in the studio! Overall, the music is achingly, almost hauntingly beautiful, and I don't know if it projection on my part that the title “In The North” seems to perfectly describe the desolate, cold, empty space that the music creates. The 'tune' “In The North” itself almost made me cry, and the rest was quite intense, pulling me this way and that. Willers is an incredibly inventive guitarist, and Bley is a most concentrated piano player who can get a beautiful sound. Robert's trombone get all sorts of sounds, listen to the pitched sucking in “The Train & the River.” This disc was literally a trip!"
Budd Kopman, All About Jazz