Long a fan of his music, NY trumpeter Kirk Knuffke joined with saxophonist Joe McPhee and his quartet of Christof Knoche (bass clarinet), Michael Bisio (bass) and Jay Rosen (drums), following Knuffke's wife's advice to "keep the dream up" as the quintet recorded a series of exceptional collective improvisations, one Knuffke compositions and at Knuffke's request, a poem/"Invocation" from McPhee.

Woodwind player Michael Marcus' duo with drummer Jay Rosen performed with fellow reedsman Joe McPhee and a 2nd drummer at the Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf in 2018, the concept so appealing that he took it to the studio in New York, with Warren Smith handling the 2nd drum part and cementing this unusually orchestrated and elegantly passionate band as "The Blue Reality Quartet".