NYC Jazz Record

George Grella’s full review is here, from October 2022:

Void Patrol is entirely different, not the least in overall quality. This is something of a supergroup and hearing Sharp with drummer Billy Martin is one of its immediate pleasures, as is hearing saxophonist Colin Stetson playing more uptempo, less effects-laden material with other musicians. The mastermind behind all this is marimba player Payton MacDonald, who received grant money during the pandemic that enabled the recording. What he came up with is a set of strong, post-rock instrumental jams, marimba and drums working together to lay down steady patterns, guitar and saxophone adding atmosphere, harmonies and melodic lines. The mix of grooves and colors realizes the evocative titles, like “Antares” and “Acrux”. There are passages that are haunting, others that churn into a near thrash metal ball of energy. That this group sounds like a working band, in the pocket but loose and working easily together, is one of the strengths of the album and astonishing in itself. This is a synthetic, COVID-era album, with MacDonald laying down his tracks, then each player adding their part, organized by MacDonald, remotely. Arranging, mixing and some rerecording and Void Patrol was finished. Many albums were made with the limitations from the early pandemic and this is not only one of the best but would easily pass as a regular studio session—and one of the best of the sort from the last two years—if one never looked at the notes.