“like the late lester bowie, he is as likely to use the trumpet in colouristic ways as he is to play continuous lines. like bowie, he sometimes sounds more like a flugelhornist and like bowie, he uses percussive strings of tongued semi-quavers so common in modern jazz trumpet playing, mostly for the surprise drama of the sudden flurry.”
john clare, mca music forum 8/1, october – november 2001

“ball’s trumpet melds with the other instruments rather than rising above them, usually in subtle, legato phrases that leave as much space as they fill.”
jessica nicholas, the age, tuesday august 29, 2000

“always inventive, often original, compelling to hear, he has now added technical mastery and perhaps a more intense drive.”
john clare, jazzchord, dec 01/jan 02

“ball strikes sparks at every appearance, his rich urgent sound occasionally carrying flashes of the brilliance of the great booker little or the wicked humor of lester bowie.”
john shand, sydney morning herald, 23-24 feb 2002

"ball is actually the key voice here, kind of a chastened lyricist who brings out the nuance in the pieces…"
jason bivins, cadence (u.s.a), march 2002

"… ball's trumpet floated and sang out over a sequence of rhythmic patterns, drawing the audience into a chamber music aura full of subtle tensions and gliding releases. ball has a lovely clear singing sound…"

"…but it is eugene ball’s ‘ess muss sien’ that truly dominates the outfit’s performance. a dark and evolutionary piece comprised of rumbling toms, strange piano chords, pulsing bass lines and cinematic brass, ball’s work is a masterpiece of musical tension – escalating and neutralising the anxious drama of the piece without ever compromising its understated intensity."
matt o’neill, timeoff.com.au, may 2005

"ball played with a light, fluent momentum, propelled by little syncopated "catches'' recalling the feeling of early miles or chet baker; but it was contemporary in style, lifted by high flares, long arcs and arabesques."
john clare, www.sima.org.au, 2006

"...it is trumpeter eugene ball who shines in new ways. ball supplements his mellow, cornet-like tone and flexability and lovely cup mute playing with plaintive, half-valve choked tones ... a kind of stutter tonguing and timbral distortion, ... and rapid, unaccompanied free-form melismatic passages."
michael webb, www.jazz.org.au, 2007