What the press said about Aruán Ortiz's Pastor's Paradox in 2023

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Jazz Portugal– In this combination of original music and social message, we find here one of the greatest albums of the year, without a doubt. –Nuno Catarino.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Outside Left magazine– Brilliant piano and a pensive opening which is supported by a playful, low register saxophone, deliciously miked-up to capture the keys being pressed: all of which creates a great sense of being there. –Toon Traveller

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Klenkes Musik Magazine, Germany

★ ★ ★ ★ Jazz Trail — Pastor’s Paradox is compelling in its music and vital in its message. –Filipe Freitas–

★★★★ All About Jazz — "Pastor's Paradox, with all music composed by Ortiz, fulfills the pianist's wish to take his writing further into social concepts without losing the music's spontaneity. His non-compliant style and [Don] Byron's classical background and superb technique make their pairing, and this album, exceptionally fine listening." –Karl Ackermann

★★★★ Downbeat — "Pastor’s Paradox is as sobering as a morning-after survey of a still-smoking field of conflict. By turns brooding and stormy, this music effectively conveys the gravity of living social realities that stubbornly refuse to remit." –Bill Meyer –