Albey on Bass "more bass than human" Bass Player Magazine

"Speaks on Bass" Miguel Algarin

"A truly remarkable meeting of spoken poetry and improvised double bass playing. In English and Spanish Algarin conjures visions, emotions and life experiences from New York's Lower East Side. Balgochian envelopes these poems with sensitive and insightful interplay, grounding and contrasting Algarin's colorful and eccentric poetic flights with assured playing."   EYAL HAREUVENI

"Algarin & Balgochian show how the mix of spoken poetry, performance and music - that is to say, art without boundaries is far from being a practice of the past. Performer and writer Miguel Algarin, is truly a preeminent figure - and 'always provocative', to quote Amiri Baraka. Balgochian is a virtuoso bass player committed with the likes of Cecil Taylor. "    GIAN PAOLO GALASI

"Together for the first time on "Soul To Sol" Algarin and Balgochian spark off each other, words and music combining superbly. As Algarin tells his stories, Balgochian weaves over and under, and in and out of, the poet's voice with a musical imagination that matches Algarin's linguistic one. Balgochian creates complex machine gun flurries of notes; spidery, tangential patterns; he plucks the strings with power, then gently, almost imperceptibly; he hits the body of his instrument as if it were a set of congas; and most of all he loves to bow the strings...his bass in conversation with Algarin. "Fiery Saxaphonist / Dematerialization" encapsulates his range: dark, threatening, bouncy, upbeat, free form, and always sympathetic to the spoken words."    BRUCE LINDSAY

"each piece recorded in one take...Algarin's expressive poetry, is accompanied by the bends, squeals and percussive sounds of Balgochian's bass in a cohesive aural fusion of New York and world-wide life and experiences. The album is sonically challenging and pleasing. Miguel Algarin and Albey Balgochian have recorded an album that contains plentiful reminders of what it is to be free as an individual, and to have the freedom to express what you will how you will."    SIMON HARPER

"The cerebral exchange between Algarin and Balgochian is striking and unexpectedly harmonious as they delve into the twisted realm of the subconscious mind. Balgochian's exploration of the underbelly of the bass is a study in the flexibility of the instrument and its alter-ego to depict the world of the dark and mysterious psyche. Algarin is equally provocative, as he vents about the ails of society and the contradictions that procure prejudices to thrive in cultures. Together, the pair demonstrate the effectiveness of the spoken word and improvised bass to move people to become aware of the under side of common thinking."    SUSAN FRANCIS