"This album follows Alessi's two previous ECM outings, 2013's Baida and 2016's Quiver, and it's the first to feature This Against That since 2011's Wiry Strong. As with Wiry Strong, Alessi and Coltrane are joined by bandmates pianist Andy Milne, drummer Mark Ferber, and bassist Drew Gress. This is nuanced, atmospheric music that skirts the hinterlands between searching modal bop, evocative soundscapes, and measured jazz lyricism"

"Imaginary Friends furthers Alessi's working template: allow the music and the musicians of the moment to evolve within each others' conscious and unconscious frameworks, then capture it at just the right point of creative harvest. Reuniting the quintet with whom he recorded This Against That, Ravi Coltrane, Andy Milne, Drew Gress and Mark Ferber come together with nine compositions worked to fever pitch on a short European tour, making the music feel and sound ready for any unknown"

"The musical bond between trumpeter Ralph Alessi and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane is arguably developing into a rapport on par with the highest echelon of trumpet/tenor combinations. Not merely a strong frontline, they're a unit that creates something greater than the sum of its parts"