"It seems that Swiss-born tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler is already involved in so many contrasting groupings that he would have no need to be joining or creating yet more. Active groupings of which he is a member include Hubbub, Mark Wastell's The Seen, Trio Sowari, Zoor, plus a trio with Eddie Prevost and John Edwards. Some others seem dormant, but not actually extinct, including the saxophone quartet Propagations, his own Bertrand Denzler, and a duo with Hans Koch. In addition, in the wake of his innovative solo album Tenor (Potlatch, 2010), he must be much in demand on his own. [...]

The duo of Denzler with drummer Antonin Gerbal is a new one, but the two have had experience together in the trio Zoor which has been together since 2011. Of course, to play together in a saxophone-drums duo requires the participants to be familiar with one another. While there are successful precedents for the format-Coltrane/Ali on Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1974), Parker/Stevens on The Longest Night (Ogun, 1977)-they feature pairings of players with history together. On the one thirty-four minute title track of Heretofore, studio-recorded in May 2014, Denzler and Gerbal are recognisably the players who collaborated in Zoor and, unsurprisingly given Denzler's thirst for innovation, they create a new paradigm for saxophone-drums duos. As in the trio, Denzler avoids pyrotechnic displays, instead employing plenty of sustained notes which are held long enough to be savoured by the player, his playing partner and his listeners. Gerbal is just as restrained, providing a variety of support, commentary and coloration while keeping a steady pulse ticking over. Crucially, as in any successful duo, there is a balance between the two players, with the style of each being apparent but neither dominating the other or hogging the limelight. This is certainly a duo for the future, one to watch out for."-John Eyles, All About Jazz