From the Toronto Star, April 7th, 2005

This is the week to catch great alto sax (by Geoff Chapmann)

Two splendid alto sax players, one in his late 70s, the other just getting established in his career, are in action over the next week. Both are well worth hearing.

The veteran is Lee Konitz, the American who rose to prominence at the same time as legend Charlie Parker, but didn't sound like him at all. He's at Glenn Gould Studio tonight with Toronto stars Steve Wallace on bass and Terry Clarke on drums.

The relative newcomer is Canadian Peter Van Huffel, who's doing very nicely in New York. He's bringing his New York band to The Rex on Wednesday.

The dry-toned Konitz, a rare visitor to this city although he worked one recent Downtown Jazz Festival, started winning attention in the 1940s playing with Claude Thornhill's orchestra and then recording with innovative pianist Lennie Tristano and the groundbreaking Miles Davis nonet on Birth Of The Cool. His albums with tenor Warne Marsh became collectors' items, he worked with Stan Kenton and for the past four decades he's primarily been a leader, known for his complex, introverted free jazz and cool bop. His discography is enormous, and you'll hear that his inventive power and restless imagination are in no way diminished.

Van Huffel, originally from Kingston, studied in Ottawa and Montreal before coming to Toronto in 1997 for the Humber College jazz program, from which he graduated in jazz performance. For the past 2 1/2 years he's been in New York, where he's a bandleader with a growing reputation. His Toronto band — with tenor Chuck McLelland, keyboardist Greg de Denus, bass Brandi Disterheft and drummer Joe Sorbara — made its debut indie recording, Mind Over Matter, with eight Van Huffel originals mainly on the "out" side, and is well worth obtaining. Particularly stirring tunes are "Free Spirit," "Dialing In" and "Hexed" and there'll be CDs for sale at his gigs.

It's Van Huffel's New York band that will play at The Rex on Wednesday during its first Canadian tour and, later next week, at Array Music Studio. This group comprises guitarist Scott DuBois, pianist Jesse Stacken, drummer Jeff Davis and another Canadian expat, Michael Bates, who leads the band Outside Sources, on bass.