'One of the big surprises among the candidates for Young Jazz Talent at the Blue Note Festival last summer was undoubtedly The News Wing. The lack of any harmonic instrument such as the piano or a guitar will undoubtedly have contributed to this. The immense space opened up in this way gives the alto saxophonist Jan Verstaen and the tenor saxophonist Tom Callens a sort of freedom but at the same time it is also a tremendous challenge, probably comparable to the feeling trapeze artists and tightrope-walkers have when they work without a safety net. Their loosely improvised grooves sound exceptionally fresh and infectious and are packed full of quotations and references to familiar passages from standards and well-known numbers from the Latin jazz and big band repertoires (Yusef Latif, Hermeto Pascoal, Billy Strayhorn, Charlie Parker and many others). Their rebellious approach has already given them a recognisable sound.'