THE DGQ @ The Knitting Factory, NYC 9/10/99
The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette.  Seven strong we pooled to NYC to take a bite out of the apple and rip it up at the Knitting Factory. The gap between Dimitri viewings didn't matter to me one bit after tonight's gathering of freaks. The Alterknit Theatre in which The DGQ played was like a zoo. But more like The Popcorn Park Zoo, where all the mentally & physically handicapped animals go.  At one point I thought I was in a room full of coo coo clocks and jack in the boxes. People jumping up and down, screaming as loud as they could, making cat noises and meowing. It was totally out of hand and totally great.  The DGQ's bouquet of sounds blossomed while they sucked you into their psychic vacuum. The smooth sounds, old and new, mutated the room into animals, practically wrestling each other and smashing pint glasses on the floor.  The new sounds were  Martian landscapes, very different than other DGQ material.  Highly structured & lots of melody like any other DGQ song, but the arrangements and paces were all their own.  The horns really stood out.  They were almost playing guitar riffs, it seemed.  The harmonies were completely alien and schizophrenic.  Sweet like candy one moment and brutal as razor blade slashings the next. The boys played the last number and delivered a perfect set.  The crowd approved by standing and smashing pint glasses on the floor. Fuckin' Bravo, I was laughin' so hard I could barely breathe.  Worth every stinkin' penny. Don't be a cat, DGQ is where it's at.
- Dave Witte
Beers and Bands

The DGQ @ Holly & Jon's Wedding Reception, Port Monmouth, NJ  5/29/99
Now, The Navy Seals of Jazz/Klezmer/Polka/Zappa-ish get your heart a pumpin' and your legs o' jumpin', The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette, strategically placed and detonated joy bombs successfully into each and every group in attendance.  The Spell Casters whipped up one of the most potent potions I've ever encountered this evening, playing for a good hour. (Oh yeah, there is a trumpet man, Justin Mullins, on board now, and his placement, as well as, performance is top notch!)  Hell, the boys even got the 500 pound lady, surrounded by empty plates, rolls to jiggle, now that's entertainment!  What was even more entertaining was the drum solo that came to a very brief halt of silence to accept a Bass Ale from a audience member only to dive straight back into the solo.  Now that's improv my friends, pure genius, the fire that lights itself.  The whole time I was being satisfied I also Bass Aled myself into auto-pilot mode, so I took the streetlight runway home.
- Dave Witte
Beers and Bands

The DGQ @ Coney Island High, NYC 5/7/99
THE DGQ was awesome, come on...you guys should know this by now. They're probably the most consistently error-free band I've seen besides Rush.  The solo's and fill's by each member are like improv chameleons and always executed with class.  Some new ones were displayed this evening, the kind that you gotta count when playing.  Bacon was a new number I think, unless the wise-ass, "I can't make up my mind if I'm gonna drink and get a Fosters Oil Can" guitarist was just being himself.
- Dave Witte
Beers and Bands

The DGQ @ The Knitting Factory, NYC 8/28/98
Yup I'm still around BUT, there hasn't been anything worth writing about! With the exception of The DGQ at The Knitting Factory (where you need eye glasses and a London Fog sweater to get in). Once again The DGQ whipped through a set of listenable and entertaining songs. I was in the front car of the DGQ roller coaster this time and loved every minute as they dropped me from a thousand screaming feet into an almost psychedelic like swirling jazz hault with horns parading around the songs like circus clowns. A worthy watch every time. Check em' out.
-Dave Witte
Beers and Bands

The DGQ @ The Knitting Factory, NYC 5/27/98
This is the third time I've seen this band and, at this point, I'm certain that I can see them every month for quite awhile without getting bored.  I haven't seen a better ensemble of musicians at this age (in the twenty something area) in a very long time. Drums, bass, guitar, tenor sax, and trumpet all played by accomplished hands, that, each time I see them, get better. They play tirelessly and seemingly effortlessly, as they go through jazz influenced by klezmer, swing, and even thrash. Fast guitar lead, resemble the cool of Kristallnacht rather than a glam metal band from the 80's, with an amazing bassist whose fingers punch-out the notes all over the neck, at high speeds, too. Once again, I must emphasize, great work for all these musicians who show how to play like a team, as certain members realize when to play and when to not, highlighting the melody or beat from one to another. They have a 7" out now and an entire album out soon. This is a band filled with lots of promise, and I can't wait to hear their new songs.
-Rob L.
Sound Views

The DGQ @ The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ 5/16/98
The DGQ were the band of the night. They got the place going and played their asses off. The best thing about the DGQ is, after you see them
you'll be humming the songs to yourself for days after you've seen them. A band worthy of checking out.
-Dave Witte
Beers and Bands

The DGQ @ The Knitting Factory, NYC 4/16/98
Forget the jokey name: This band is straight from the Knitting Factory heartland, laying down a smart, funky and funny kind of avant-klezmer jazz rock that's a lot Zorn one measure, a lot Zappa the next, garishly cartoon antic here, smoky lounge-lyrical there. Fronted by Erik Hoagland's lithe saxes and guitarist Matthew Bergman's evocations of 70's heroics, and powered by an almost Chili Peppers rhythm section, they play the Alterknit Theater tonight at 11pm.
-Strausbaugh
New York Press

The DGQ Liner Notes - Local Scene By Daniel Gibson 10/97
The group seems to draw on an eclectic range of influences ranging from Coltrane and Miles, with side steps into Carl Stalling, to things like John Zorn and 80's hardcore.  This group can take you to "the zone" and then wake you up with a slap in the face.
-Daniel Gibson
Front End  IO/97
 

The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette CD
I used to listen to a lot of jazz but lately I seem to have strayed from it.  The DGQ has now given me an incentive to put on some old jazz greats that have been stored away in the back of my collection. They play really solid and saturated jazz influenced rock.  An amazing drummer, a lead saxophone, guitar, and bass are what comprises this quintette. Not only do these guys play jazzy shmazzy shit but they go on to the more mainstream frontier of ska as well.  I definitely find myself listening to the tracks with more funk and jazz. The DGQ might be something to look out for if you are into the brass.
-Steve Aoki
HEARTATTACK issue #20

The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette California 7"
I asked Will (the bass player, who also played bass in Human Remains and is currently in Full Speed Ahead) how the fuck I should describe his
band.  He said he didnt know because he doesnt even know how to describe it.  Im going to try and  describe this. First Id like to say this is sick!  And I could only wish to have this much skill and originality.  On this record there is sax, trumpet, tabla, shakers, digeridoo, chimes, rainstick, djembe, bongos, dumbek, congas, oh yeah, it also has bass, guitar and drums. Every song is different ranging from like jazz to Jewish to surf to fast blast to Egyptian to tribal to funk to who the Fuck knows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (hey Will I tried).
-Steve Asbury
TIME WILL TELL issue#6

The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette 7" Split
Interesting record.  The DGQ is difficult to describe, which in this case means that they are good.  Ill call them rock fusion with lots of horns.  A fresh and original sound that works very well.  Comes with a button.
-Dan Fontaine
HEARTATTACK issue #20

The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette 7" Split
This ia a bit of a novelty. I picked this up because the Casino Royales side of the cover contains the magic words, "super lo fi" and almost put it back bacause there are clowns on the other side. First off, it's all instrumental, which I wasn't expecting but am quite pleased with The Casino Royals do three tunes, "Escape to Bikini Island," "Infultration" and "Rendezvous in Red Bank," which are very basic, guitar/bass/drums surf songs done in a straight forward manner. The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette (a six piece for this recording), have a horn dominated sound. Thier side "Go", "Russian Clown Dance" and "Asia Minor," opens with a car crash and some crazerd orchestra tuning, dissonance and then works its way through a series of styles as disparate as progressive art jazz and traditional folk, all the while keeping things lively and entertaining.
-P. Edwin Letcher
FLIPSIDE issue #121

The Dimitri Gurevitch Quintette Self Titled Tape (no longer available)
Contemporary jazz that doesn't suck? Is such a thing possible? Apparently so. I'd file the DGQ in the category of "weird ass" jazz where I place the likes of Ornette Coleman, Frank Zappa & Sonny Sharrock. Bonus points for interpolating Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse"
-Faloon
Go Metric issue #7