"With Ulía River of Time John and his band have achieved a rare feat, and have captured the kinetic energy of their live performance." LondonJazz - Review of 'Ulia River of Time'

"A hugely enjoyable album. Every piece is highly melodic and Crawford's arrangements are consistently bright and inventive." Ian Mann - The Jazz Mann

The John Crawford Quintet was formed by his various musical passions with musicians who shared the same passions. The starting point was Latin Jazz, particularly with a flamenco influence - hence the acoustic guitar and cajon playing prominent roles from the start. For this, the Uruguayan musicians Guille Hill (guitar) and Andres Ticino (percussion) made the perfect partners: Two virtuoso musicians who are extremely comfortable in all South American and Spanish musical styles, equally comfortable playing a Flamenco Buleria by Paco de Lucia, as an Argentinian Chacarera or a Brazilian Samba, coupled with knowledge of jazz to bring improvisation to these styles.
Later, drums and bass were added and the brilliant Simon Pearson, a Yorkshireman who seems to have Latin blood in his veins, so well does he play the various rhythms on the drums, always with exquisite taste. And finally a Brazilian, Gili Lopes, from Porto Alegre- South enough in Brazil for him to be well aquainted with the musical styles of Uruguay and Argentina, as well as his native Brazil, and always his grooves are second to none for their solidity, strong rhythms and musicality.