1 offers a wide cross-section of the many modes of impressive improviser and pianist Irene Schweizer.

It moves almost without pause through various forms and moods... With well-timed moments of suspense and humor, this album is a great listen and a good sampling of what Schweizer does.

"[4] The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 4 stars, and stated: "Brief and apparently inconsequential structures are delivered without elaboration and there is a meditative stillness to much of the music.

"The Ballad Of The Sad Cafè"... is a masterpiece of unsentimental expression, played with an affecting combination of gentleness and ironclad certainty... [The record is] faithfully and accurately registered, picking up Schweizer's softest figures and sustains, and handling the loudest and most impactful moments without distortion.

"[5] Author Todd S. Jenkins noted that the album provides "an unobstructed view of Schweizer's essential techniques," and commented: "a different aspect of the artist's personal vocabulary is demonstrated on each track, a virtual roadmap of her musical mind.