From David Orthmann's perceptive review of _Humanities_:

"The group that pianist/composer David Ake assembles for Humanities thrives on change and doesn't care all that much for boundaries, familiar stylistic references, or decorum. Distinctions between written material and improvisation, soloists and accompaniment, are subject to transformation, collapse, consolidation and mutation. . . As much as it's tempting to separate the pleasures of the performing arts from the demands of the social and political issues of our nation, in the end, there's no escaping the responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society. . . . Ake's excellent, inspired recording, [implies] that detachment, willful ignorance and passivity are luxuries we can't afford."