ASZA - One Final Note.com
ASZA is a collective representing multiple cultures linked by a common thread through the language of world music. They engulf the stage with a vast array of strange-looking and unconventional instruments and proceed to make highly rhythmic and spontaneous music that reflects the totality of their worldly experiences. Although all musicians appear to have equal standing in the group, Randy Raine-Reusch is the spokesperson and effective leader. He coaxes amazing sounds from his 21-string Asian zither, saw, and numerous other wind and percussion instruments. Raine-Reusch explained that he does not simply play these exotic music makers - he first absorbs the culture of their origin and studies with local experts to master them. His exotic sounds blend gently with the oriental music from Qiu Xia He's Chinese pipa, an ancient string instrument that she manipulates with high dexterity. Folding in the heartbeat of South America and the other continents is Pepe Danza, a powerful Uruguayan percussionist and shakuhachi player who visually and aurally dominates the soundstage. The impact of Southern and Eastern Europe is provided through André Thibault on flamenco guitar or the oud, another ancient string instrument. Guest musician Mark Rodgers inserted the bass line, and the five artists took the crowd on a whirlwind journey around the world, with stops in Spain, India, China, Japan, South America, Thailand, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and others. The exciting element in ASZA's music is its integration of multiple ethnic and cultural rhythms, melodies, and improvised enthusiasm into a collage representing a homogeneous whole. ASZA is a wonder to watch and hear. They captivated the crowd with their infectious beat and creative skill. 
Frank Rubolino , onefinalnote.com
 

ASZA - Ottawa Citizen
ASZA SPANS MUSICAL WORLD
Asza is a musical embodiment of the global village. Made up of a Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist, a Uruguayan percussionist, a virtuoso Chinese lute player and a brilliant flamenco guitarist, the Vancouver-based group creates richly textured instrumental soundscapes that employ a multitude of styles, from Chinese Minority Peoples' music to French-Canadian fiddle tunes. 

The four members of Asza also take full advantage of obscure instruments from far-flung corners of the Earth, including the Moroccan ud (a lute-like instrument), the Thai khaen (a mouth organ) and the Korean kayageum (zither). Australia's digeridoo is one of the more familiar instruments in its vast arsenal of noisemakers.

Qiu Xia He, Andre Thibault, Joseph Pepe Danza and Randy Raine-Reusch are all accomplished musicians with busy solo careers. When they combine their talents as Asza, they create a fascinating melange of textures, rhythms and sounds. It's not fiery world beat music to draw you to the dance floor, but neither is it ambient New Age mush that will lull you into a trance. 
Ottawa Citizen
 

ASZA - Georgia Staright - R. Jordan
ENERGETIC ASZA: A GROUP OF MANY MOODS
Asza really knows how to play to an audience, but what makes the four  member, Vancouver based world music group so special is that its informarive and entertaining style is backed up by highly polished performances and impeccable musicianship. 

With more than half the tunes performed at this concert -- part of the Enchanted Evenings concert series -- from the group's 1995 Asza CD, you might have expected the presentation to be polished.  You might also have expected that a little ennui could have crept into Asza's routine by now. 

You'd be wrong: at this concert, Qiu Xia He, Andre Thibault, Joseph 'Pepe' Danza, and Randy Raine- Reusch sounded as fresh and enthusiastic as when they played the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden a year ago.  Not only that, the rapport between them has grown, so their between song banter is wittier, their timing sharper, and they take a lot more musical chances that pay off, time after time. 

Even if most of the pieces were familiar, who could complain when they included rootin'-tootin', toe-tap-pin' tunes like "Xiang Yeng Hua" and "Dulcimer Stomp"  Or the exotic "Cancion de Agua", with Raine- Reusch's long, melancholy kwii (Thai flute) solo feeling its serpentine, improvisatory way over a forest of  birdcalls played by the other three!  Name a mood, and Asza can match it in music. 

I'm sure a tune like "Dulcimer  Stomp" keeps reappearing on Asza's  programs because it's as representative of anything the group plays and audiences want to hear it.  Raine-Reusch described it as "a little dirty I wrote for Aerosmith's album Pump in 1989" but which subsequently  became "Asza-ized".  It began in an Indian-Appalachian style, then added what Raine-Reusch called "an African -Spanish -Chinese twist".  The song incorporated Mongolian, Inuit, and Hawaiian stylings before it returned to the Appalachian twang of the dulcimer that began it.  Add Raine-Reusch and He out in front of the group in a "po ili" (Hawaiian percussion sticks) duel, and there was no doubt Asza had more pure fun on this one than anything else on the  program. 

The new songs -- "Balutai", "Dance of the Yi People", "Iemanja", and "A  Pair" -- were all attractive in their own way, and as pure Asza as anything else.  "Balutai", described by composer Thibault as "a sort of Thai Lahu -Chinese -Brazilian blues", was, indeed, bluesy.  But whereas the harmonica may be a blues instrument, its Far East cousin, the "naw" (Thai Lahu bamboo mouth organ) adds a whole new meaning to the word harmonica. Just watching Raine-Reusch play it was worth the price of admission. 

Because the audience wouldn't stop applauding, Asza played "Asa Branca" as an encore.  Another tune from the group's album, it gave Thibault a real chance to rip out some dazzling improvisations and demonstrate just what a terrific guitar player he is. He's in good company with Asza! 
Robert Jordan, The Georgia Straight

ASZA - Georgia Straight
Asza is a real phenomenon. The four member group not only plays more music of different ethnicities than you could shake a Hawaiian rain stick at, but does it with vitality, Elan, and total integrity.  The group's potent charisma comes from the great chemistry between the players, and in the context of a lively and informative presentation, their virtuosity and versatility are always at the service of the appealing music they play.  At a time when racial tension is so extreme in so many countries, it is encouraging to see Asza demonstrating just how possible it is for wildly different ethnic groups to coexist harmoniously at a profound level -- through their folk music. The possibilities are excitingly infinite.
The Georgia Straight

ASZA - Folk Roots
Multi-cultural Canada: Chinese pipa virtuoso Qiu Xia He, Uruguayan percussionist Pepe Danza, Flamenco guitar / oud master Andre Thibault, and Canadian born very-multi-instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch blend it all together extremely well.  Great band !
Folk Roots Magazine