“Where on any other string-quartet performance would you find the basic ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello complemented by an exotic array of African instruments, including delicate percussion and extravagantly designed strings? Or complemented by a gospel choir? Or with solo singers? It’s all here, and the results are, mostly, sheer enchantment… The main difference between the Kronos and the rest of the chamber-music world, in fact, seems to be that — defying all traditions of string-quartet behavior — the Kronos folks always seem to be having fun. Pieces of Africa zestfully proclaims that… The record is pure Kronos: delightful, imaginative, out-of-the-way music played with the same loving care the group might lavish on a Beethoven quartet, if they ever decided to play one.”