Press
"What is most successful about I Insist is an insistence of music as not simply technical proficiency, but as a spiritual plane to consider what is at stake in imagining and remembering who we are."
★★★★
— Joshua Meyers, Downbeat
“For the young, Brooklyn-based tenor saxophonist Kazemde George, to insist doesn’t necessarily mean raising the volume or pushing idiosyncrasy … what George insists upon most — from himself and his bandmates — is clarity: Melody is never sacrificed to flair or crossfire, even as the momentum builds.”
— Giovanni Russonello, New York Times
"This is a strong debut from a musician and composer who has a lot of potential."
— Mike Shanley, JazzTimes
"Each piece deserves attention as does the playing of these musicians, all new to me, temperate in style here but each with an undertow of intriguing creativity."
— Peter Vacher, Jazzwise
“Kazemde George is a tenor saxophonist, composer and scholar presently poised for a breakthrough with the jazz public … His soulful new debut … combines an easy grasp of melody and a swinging foundation with some jostling ideas about cultural identity in the Black diaspora.”
— Nate Chinen, WBGO, Take Five
"An extremely poised and assertive statement by the Brooklyn-based saxophonist ... an exceptionally well-crafted collection of contemporary jazz compositions and performances."
— Textura
"What a pleasant surprise that the artist who also gives tribute to the wide ranging likes of John Coltrane and Joao Gilberto creates an album that is filled with a Lester Young-toned tenor and sublime modern sounding soulful themes. ... This is an album that is both timeless and modern."
— George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
“George holds everything together through the consistency of his writing, the melodic flair of his improvisation, and his ability to execute a vision through a core group of musicians. An auspicious debut, I Insist deftly shifts George from the status of valued sideperson to confident leader.”
— Michael Toland, The Big Takeover
"The music, often swinging even as it smolders, conveys something about George’s bond with the jazz tradition, as well as his firsthand research in Afro-Cuban traditions. And it introduces a smart young band with Sami Stevens on vocals, Isaac Wilson on piano and Wurlitzer, Tyrone Allen II on bass and Adam Arruda on drums.”
— Nate Chinen, WBGO Fall Preview
"Beautifully engineered, these mellow pieces form a crystal clear pond of dive-right-in ambiance. George is definitely a sax player to watch, as his terrific soloing attests, and vocalist Sami Stevens is a treasure, scatting and crooning her way around most elegantly and with an original, unstressed sound. I’d recommend this to anyone." A+
“Closely shadowing one another, voice, like-an-instrument, and tenor saxophone in a winning togetherness is the fresh and piquant combination that you hear on the lightly swinging ‘Things Line Up’ … The fine arrangement with its serpentine bebop-esque melody trajectory opens into a George solo timbrally akin to the style of Joshua Redman backed by a piano trio rhythm section.”
★★★★
— Stephen Graham, Marlbank.net
“The band acts as one cohesive unit throughout the album, and it is no surprise that the pieces presented have been performed live time and time again prior to entering the studio. Enjoy I Insist now and expect to hear more great things in the future from George!”
— Sam Dickinson, The WholeNote
All the way, we get brilliant tenor saxophone playing from Kazemde George, and he has brought with him musicians who know the history of jazz, and who help to make this a brilliant record, which helps to inherit the great masters from the 60's on into the future.
— Jan Granlie, Salt Peanuts