On Kissinger in Space:

"John Ettinger, a versatile violinist based in the San Francisco Bay area, has in the past played with rock and avant-garde groups so he has a very open style. On Kissinger In Space, he mixes together lyrical melodies with free playing while emphasizing catchy yet unpredictable rhythms, close interplay with tenor-saxophonist Tony Malaby, group improvising and quirky themes that take their time to develop....the music is fairly accessible and concise if full of constant surprises. It takes a few listens to fully appreciate this diverse and colorful music for it follows its own intriguing logic.. Recommended."

"...As Ettinger and Malaby spiral around one another you can hear each instrument borrowing qualities from its counterpart: it's particularly intriguing to hear Malaby shifting towards a light sound and edgeless, long-lined lyricism rarely heard in his work elsewhere. The shorter pieces are beautifully pared-down: a track like "The Observer" emerges as a single unbroken utterance that takes the track's entire length to make its point. The best pieces, though, are the longest and most unpredictable ones. the freeboppish 'Quaint' is one of the album's most exciting tracks, though it keeps circling back to a hushed, secretive core; the sadder-but-wiser lyricism of 'Harper Lee' twists between dark and light, eliciting some of Ettinger's most rapt, flowing violin; while the rock and roll thrash of the title cut turns into a mysterious plunge into the cosmos."

"Rarely the ringmaster and more often the performing seal, the violin has never been a member of the jazz lineup's inner circle. From Stuff Smith’s congenial swing through Ornette Coleman’s excruciating scratchings, it has instead orbited colourfully around the margins, at best providing exoticism, at worst attention-seeking novelty. The closest the fiddle ever got to the beating heart of things was probably with Stephane Grappelli in the Hot Club de France in the 1930s. 59-year-old Billy Bang aside, precious few players of substance have since come forward.

Listening to John Ettinger’s muscular and weighty Kissinger In Space, you wonder why. Most likely it’s because the violin comes with a truckload of uncool conservatoire associations: ranks of penguin-suited automatons sitting cowed by the conductor’s baton, and not a reefer in sight. (Only a few people today know Smith’s 1936 recording ’Here Comes The Man With The Jive,’ and most of them have short-term memory loss).

Whatever the reason, the violin’s isolation is undeserved. Here, without fanfare or special treatment, it fits right into a high-grade piano-less quartet-displacing easily as much weight as tenor saxophone, bass or drums, and proclaiming Ettinger as a distinctive and top-drawer new voice in the music.

Still little known outside the San Francisco area, Ettinger shines alongside his three more celebrated colleagues-Tony Malaby (saxophone), Devin Hoff (bass), and Scott Amendola (drums). He gets something of a boost through looping and post-production, but no more than Amendola. Electronic manipulation is sparingly used (considerably less than on Ettinger’s 2003 debut, August Rain), and the title track and Amendola’s showcase ’The Doors Are Closing’ aside, post-production supports rather than shapes events.

By turns joyous and autumnal, pensive and funked up, lyrical and beat-driven, on the page and off it, all sometimes within the course of the same tune, Ettinger’s music blends precisely arranged through-composition with unfettered collective improvisation. It’s utterly distinctive stuff, and amongst its chief joys is the remarkable symbiosis between Ettinger and Malaby, whose close sonic fit and dual-drive improvised lines are the disc’s dominant presence. Amendola’s subtly groovalicious drums are another source of delight.

Most of the tracks (there are nine, averaging about six minutes each) are composed of mini-movements: the eight-minute title track, for instance, moves through five distinct sections, from tender to tribal. Only one tune, ’Quaint,’ is built around a traditional soloist-plus-rhythm section template. At any given moment, there’s always at least one person improvising and almost always at least one person playing something written. The music is in a permament transitive state-and its evolution is thrilling and engrossing to witness.

An auspicious release from a real-life emergent star, and a new benchmark for creative jazz violin."

On August Rain:

"Let’s be honest. The best thing about what critics do is that we get the chance to listen to new music more or less constantly. So when something random falls out of the mailbox, we might just make a discovery. And have a chance to share it with the world, of course.

And so with that selfish mindset a given, John Ettinger just scored a whole heap of points this evening. August Rain comes from San Francisco and the artist put together a pretty miserable press sheet, along with a ’maybe later...’ web page, so there wasn’t much to do but guess. And to be honest, it’s brilliant. These West Coasters have a thing about music hovering between funk, the jam, free jazz, and good solid swing, simultaneously doing it all (and them all) right.

The secret in this case is John Ettinger, violinist and looper and effects man, sharing the stage with electric piano, bass, and drums. He has a way of popping in and out at opportune times to build a melody out of a groove, establish a specific mood, or carry on a burst of lyricism. The loops swirl all the time.

’Lead A Normal Life’ grows out of a simple drone to acquire echoing background whispers, a child-like bass melody, Fender Rhodes chords... and then finally Ettinger pops in personally to take swinging pizzicato lines away from the organist and turn them into a rallying point for a few ’70s dream sequences. And then, more or less without warning, everyone falls off a cliff into a smouldering dirge, emerging into one more of those childhood discovery moments and some straight up group polyrhythms.

That’s one track, and you can guess how the rest work. Fortunately they do work, which is the frightening (and brilliant) thing about this music. You single out anyone from the band and he is more than competent. Drummer Scott Amendola in particular digs deep enough into each groove, whether organized or loose, to almost singlehandedly determine its rhythmic course. Rhodes man Art Hirahara and bassist Todd Sickafoose both hold their own in any case.

You don’t often bump into this sort of thing, which makes it all the better when it’s unexpected. (There’s a whole lot of bad unexpected music in the world, trust me.) So score twenty for John Ettinger and his team. August Rain is a dream state with enough of both fantasy and reality to leave you wondering whether it’s actually happening."

"This is not your grandfather’s string quartet, nor even your new classical Kronos or Arditti, but rather a power trio of amplified improvisers on strings that become orchestral, rocking, and outward bound through extemporaneous manipulations by Doug Carroll, John Ettinger, and Jim Herron."

"The band’s compositions were tightly arranged to highlight sinewy violin-guitar textures and allowed ample room for solos. Ettinger’s cleanly executed, alternately rhapsodic and jarring improvisations were most compelling."

"Two exciting bands that fall into the ’90s jazz scene. T. J. Kirk (Charlie Hunter, John Schott, Will Bernard, Scott Amendola), and Hurlo Thrumbo offer different approaches to figuring out just how to integrate the great jazz of the past into music of today."

"I don’t know how to describe it, but the music is enthralling and the musicianship is excellent."