... Epstein is making some pretty amazing statements rooted in world music and the avant-garde, but stretching even those parameters to create a contemporary modern sound all his own. -All Music Guide. Individually, the members of the Manzanita Quintet have created astounding music in their associations with artists such as Kneebody, Dave Douglas, Ralph Alessi, Jerry Granelli, Art Lande, Beck, and so many more. These experiences inform their role as the inspired jazz faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno and in the music they create collectively. Along with Monk's "Bemsha" and Charlie Haden's "Silence," trumpeter Josh Reed, saxophonist Peter Epstein, pianist Adam Benjamin, bassist Hans Halt and drummer Andrew Heglund have crafted a set of modern, original compositions that alternately stretch and groove, roar and whisper, revealing the inventive, creative vitality they've brought to this stretch of the Sierra foothills.