Jazz Articles
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Dylan Jack Quartet: The Tale of the Twelve-Foot Man
by Troy Dostert
Drummer Dylan Jack has long been a fixture on the Boston jazz scene and, with assorted partnerships including fellow Bostonians Charlie Kohlhase, Jeb Bishop and Bill Lowe, he has kept very busy. But, of late, his most fruitful collaboration may be his recordings with guitarist Eric Hofbauer. The two released the first-rate Remains of Echoes in 2019 (Creative Nation Music), a wide-ranging effort to reinterpret pieces from the jazz tradition and beyond, from Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus to Sting ...
read moreEric Hofbauer and Dylan Jack: Remains of Echoes
by Troy Dostert
Always attuned to unusual choices that keep his listeners guessing, guitarist Eric Hofbauer knows no bounds when it comes to his repertoire. One is as likely to hear a Cyndi Lauper or Nirvana cover as something by Thelonious Monk or Charlie Parker. And his stylistic approach on the guitar is similarly idiosyncratic, with a gutbucket blues as likely to spill forth as something more spikily avant-garde. This unpredictable creativity is once again on display on Remains of Echoes, an enticing ...
read moreEric Hofbauer: Book Of Water
by Mike Jurkovic
Boston based guitarist and rising star Eric Hofbauer obviously isn't afraid of challenges. But then again, no musician/artist should be if they wish to leave a mark. The compositional intent at first come across rather lofty: a five part, multi-ensemble project interpreting wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, namely the five pillars of Chinese philosophy understood as the “Five Agents," with each element its own book or, in this case, album, containing five chapters or compositions, someone's got to take ...
read moreEric Hofbauer's Five Agents: Book Of Water
by Jerome Wilson
This CD marks the beginning of an ambitious project for guitarist Eric Hofbauer, five connected recordings based on the Chinese philosophical construct of the Five Agents, wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each of these recordings is to have a different instrumental lineup, but for this first one, Book Of Water, he uses an explosive jazz sextet recorded in concert. Apropos of the CD's title, this music flows continuously like water with only brief pauses between the five ...
read morePocket Aces: Cull the Heard
by Samuel Stroup
Pocket Aces have made all the right moves in gearing up for their first album. The three improvisers are comfortable with each other, having spent time playing together, unearthing their sound. Cull the Heard finds the leaderless trio composing as they improvise, curating an album full of focussed and engaging songs. The Boston trio omits any overindulgence--even in their album's 'out'-est moments--favoring subtlety over clutter. Though experienced in playing cover tunes as well as their own, Pocket Aces have proven ...
read morePablo Ablanedo Octet(o): ReContraDoble
by Glenn Astarita
Executed and stylized within the heart of Tango, Pablo Ablanedo's octet features distinguished jazz trumpeter Phil Grenadier and other prominent Boston-based musicians. The Argentinean composer/pianist incisive arrangements, charted with layered horns and contrapuntal theme-building exercises are contoured by breezy choruses, buoyant jazz improv and the inherent festivities often resident within the Latin jazz element. Ablanedo's compositions contain a broad dynamic scope in concert with the percussionist's driving cadences and multi-hued shadings; rays of sunshine intersect these alluring works.Ablanedo's ...
read moreEric Hofbauer: American Grace
by Mark Corroto
Origami or balloon animals, it is always interesting what a solo artist can do with his bare hands. Same for a gifted guitarist like Eric Hofbauer, whose American Grace completes a trilogy of solo recordings that began with American Vanity (Creative Nation, 2004), and was followed by American Fear! (Creative Nation, 2010). In these three outing, he has mined the nation's post- 9/11 psyche via pop tunes, jazz, blues, and instant composing.Although a jazz educator and graduate of ...
read moreEric Hofbauer and The Infrared Band: Level
by Nic Jones
Back in 2008 this band--the only change here being bassist Sean Farias in for Michael Montgomery--produced one of the best albums of that year. In 2011, they've gone and done it again. Like Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols and Andrew Hill, guitarist Eric Hofbauer's music benefits enormously from having the right musicians to bring it to fruition, and in this instance he's blessed. His quartet effortlessly avoids all the well-established tropes; on “La Ligne De Chance," it brings ...
read moreAlec Spiegelman / Lefteris Kordis / Thor Thorvaldsson: Bebop Trio
by Mark Corroto
The theme of “walk, don't run" occurs throughout the entirety of Bebop Trio, a suite of improvisations on the sometimes pell-mell music of Herbie Nichols, Lennie Tristano, Elmo Hope, Bud Powell, George Shearing and Duke Ellington. Played by three accommodating and adaptive musicians, the familiar and frenetic becomes casual and conversant. Where Powell's “Celia" is usually consumed with a bebop pulse, the trio skirts the conventional approach, serving the meal as mere aroma, though there is quite enough ...
read moreEric Hofbauer: Eric Hofbauer: American Fear!
by Tom Greenland
With American Fear!, creative guitarist Eric Hofbauer once again exposes his funny bone, effectively demonstrating that jazz and humor are not mutually exclusive. Like American Vanity (Creative Nation, 2002), this is a solo guitar effort mixing unusual covers with quirky originals, all delivered with the Boston-based artist's extroverted minimalism. There are no disposable notes in this suite of vignettes, each track a meditation on the various ramifications of fear, whether from childhood ("Monsters Under the Bed"), adolescent ...
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