Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » John Hollenbeck & Jazz Bigband Graz: Joys & Desires

127

John Hollenbeck & Jazz Bigband Graz: Joys & Desires

By

Sign in to view read count
John Hollenbeck & Jazz Bigband Graz: Joys & Desires
Because of their sheer physical bulk and lethal defensive firepower, big bands have remained fundamentally immune to the jazz revolutions of the last sixty years. Bop, hard bop, cool, free, fusion, funked up, rocked out, astral, groove, and ecstatic... all the major reinventions have been created by smaller lineups. (Miles Davis's Birth Of The Cool band is the sole vanguard outfit to have been bigger than a sextet, and itself was only a nine-piece.)

So when radicals like Sun Ra, Matthias Ruegg (leader of the Vienna Art Orchestra), or the eclectic world/jazz drummer John Hollenbeck come along, rejecting mainstream codification and reimagining everything, it's time to put out more flags.

Hollenbeck delivered his big band manifesto with last year's A Blessing, and Joys & Desires follows in much the same direction. At its best it's a visceral, fiercely elemental concoction. Rhythmic expression is at the core; harmonic invention is relatively unimportant; and the role of the bravura soloist is much reduced. It's high torque ensemble music, often mesmerising in effect, precisely and arrestingly detailed, lightly dipped in electronica, and with many novel textures.

"Abstinence" and "Jazz Envy" work particularly well, their extended, trance-like tones (a Hollenbeck signature motif, often stated in unison by massed horns and at times echoing Tibetan temple chanting) driven upward by intense, mounting rhythm from below.

In all this bold music, Hollenbeck is true to the spirit of his muse, the visionary late-eighteenth century poet and painter William Blake. The album title is taken from Blake's poem "The Garden Of Love," which itself forms the basis of track six. The best of Joys & Desires gets close to the effect of seeing Blake's "The Ancient Of Days" or "God Judging Adam" for the first time.

An intoxicating experience which repays your surrender.

Track Listing

The Bird With The Coppery, Keen Claws; Just Like Him; Abstinence; Jazz Envy; After A Dance Or Two, We Sit Down For A Pint With Gil And Tim; The Garden Of Love; Maxfield.

Personnel

Theo Bleckmann: vocals & electronic effects; Christian Bachner: tenor and soprano saxophones, flute; Robert Friedl: alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet; Klaus Gesing: tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet; Martin Harns: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Heinrich Von Kalnein: alto and soprano saxophones, flute; Jorg Engels, Axel Mayer, Karl Rossman, Horst-Michael Schaffer: trumpets and flugelhorns; Robert Bachner, Wolfgang Messner, Hans Radinger, Reinhard Summerer: trombones; Oliver Kent: piano; Uli Rennert: keyboards; Henning Sieverts: bass and cello; John Hollenbeck: drums and compositions.

Album information

Title: Joys & Desires | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Intuition

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.