JAZZ TIMES

"The band punched, kicked, roared and swung with a disciplined abandon and an unaffected "Joie de vivre""

"Diva: Big time charts, big time playing and big time solos."

WASHINGTON POST

"Diva played with the vigor and complexity of the big time big bands."

AMSTERDAM NEWS

"Diva is the appellation for what to date, is the most sensational unfolding in local jazz circles this year.

MONTANA STANDARD

"The overall thrust of the band is more "pre" than "post" bop, to the great relief of those of us who love great melodies. They are edgy and energetic, yet mellow, melodic and thought-provoking. There is plenty of the 1990s in their sound, but with a respectful grounding in the earlier decades that spawned this evergreen form. A retro-rockish "Rockin' in Rhythm" and a festive Ella Fitzgerald medley were among the examples of this adept and expert marriage of "then" and "now." They play like fabulously competent musicians always have, whatever their sex, color or star-sign. There were shades of Shorty Rogers in the wildly diverse "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," a whiff of Harry James in "Stardust," a nod to Woody Herman in "Three Sisters and a Cousin" (based on "Four Brothers" and equally loaded with sax riffs), a soulful yet tonally modern "Limehouse Blues," some brilliant bass outings, Oscar Pettiford-edgy or Slam Stewart-crazy, but always personal and refreshingly new. Their take on "Caravan" was another lesson in how to keep the classics up to date while respecting their essential core. Minus the rhythm section, they sounded like a classical wind ensemble in a Copland-flavored "Happy Days Are Here Again." "Umbrella Man" provided an affectionate homage to Satch and Diz's landmark duet, recreating without resorting to carbon copy. Even old chestnuts sounded new again, as Eddie Cantor's "Makin' Whoopie" and Romberg's "You and the Night" went through the DIVA machine and came out swinging.

All these comparisons should suggest, not that DIVA is derivative, but that they are in the mainstream of the greats. Highly individual flights of musical fancy were the order of the day by every brilliant soloist in this 15-star lineup. And these ladies have chops to burn."

-- Jim Driscoll