Clarence Cameron White’s Basque Folk Song is a wonderfully descriptive piece with a simple beauty that is enchanting.…Undine Smith Moore’s Introduction and Allegro is another delightful work that, like the others, though short in length, makes up for it in the wealth of ideas within its brief span.

A complete change of tempo comes next with Quincy Hilliard’s Coty which is in three short movements. It is a gorgeous song without words that allows the clarinet fully to exploit its most attractive notes with a lovely piano accompaniment.

Soul Bird by Todd Cochran is beautifully soulful. It perfectly captures the nature of a bird as the clarinet awakes and flies around against the background of the piano before finally resuming its sleep.

The final piece on the disc is a really attractive arrangement of Amazing Grace attributed to H. Stevenson about whom nothing is written in the notes and about whom I could find nothing anywhere. The arrangement brings out the best elements of the tune and allows you to hear it afresh in a charming display of the clarinet’s attributes.

Marcus Eley has done a great service to African-American composers. He is a brilliantly talented advocate for his instrument who successfully exploits everything a clarinet can do while Lucerne DeSa is an extremely sympathetic partner. Together they have created a disc of unalloyed joy. © 2013 MusicWeb International Read complete review

Add in Lucerne DeSa’s full-bodied, elegant playing and the gratifying natural acoustic at Endler Concert Hall on the campus of the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa’s Western Cape Winelands, and the result is an exceptional musical experience in every way. The booklet-notes are documentary in authority and the sound is of the highest audiophile quality. © 2012 Gramophone Read complete review on Gramophone

The moods and styles range from the lyrical and evocative Basque Folk Song in which Marcus Eley clearly demonstrates the clarinet’s singing quality, to the technically challenging Episodes where he probably doesn’t even have time to come up for air. From the traditional form of the Romance to the quirky adventurous freedom of Coty, both Eley and pianist Lucerne DeSa easily shift gears and comfortably get into character.

Marcus Eley knows when and how to make the clarinet charm, dance, sing and cry. His versatile take on all of these widely different pieces makes this an enjoyable collection. The recorded sound itself by Sono Luminus…is warm and intimate. © 2012 Classical Music Sentinel Read complete review