"Rory Stuart is an exciting young player who absorbed the legacy of Lester Young and who's kept an ear open to John Coltrane."-Downbeat

"One of the best young players in town."  -Village Voice

"Rory Stuart plays clean, carefully developed lines that never allow heat to submerge continuity."-Boston Phoenix

"A promising young guitarist swings mightily backed by an outstanding rhythm section."-Billboard

"... a young guitarist with a bristling tone and an intelligent approach to harmony.." -Philadelphia Inquirer

"One of the most exciting bebop-oriented guitarists to emerge in recent memory ...embracing the daring, innovation, purity, and freedom associated with the work of legends such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis."

-Guitar Player Magazine

"Strong fluent soloist..."-New York Times

"Intimate music full of energy and intelligence"   -Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 2nd edition

"perhaps THE most innovative straight-ahead jazz guitarist to emerge in years…"-Jazz Times

"Rory Stuart is one of the freshest new guitarists in jazz.  He has a full sound with a long lean style of playing.  His quartet has the energetic flow of the Coltrane quartet.  Rory Stuart knows the tradition even while pushing most broadly out from that tradition."          -Coda

“Virtuoso guitarist”-Jazz Times, 2002

“Rory Stuart is equally impressive as both an accompanist and soloist...Stuart is a confident player who really emerges as an individual among the horde of copycats, overplayers and uninspired practitioners.” – Cadence, August 2002

“Innovative, straight-ahead jazz guitar a contradiction no longer” – New York Press 2006 (nypress.com)

“rhythmic acrobats … tricky unison lines and extended, explorative solos… Combining the old and the new, and mixing it up just right” – Mark F. Turner “All About Jazz” (March 2008).

“Stuart’s firmly grounded technique and inquisitive spirit shines through these performances … and the close rapport he’s developed with his bandmates is always evident, especially when the tempo is swift and the meter tricky.” – Mike Joyce in Jazz Times (April 2008).

[About So Rise Up:] “A bold and dynamic quartet date ….Take note of this one!” – George Applegate Edwards, Cadence 2008

“Mr. Stuart is a guitarist with a lithe and harmonically literate style” – New York Times, 2008

"Stunning young guitarist"  - The New Yorker