Jazz Articles about Jim Hobbs

Lawnmower: West

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 14, 2010

I componenti di questo quartetto sono artisti d'avanguardia trenta/quarantenni che per formazione, esperienza e produzione musicale si collocano in un'area dove le usuali etichette (jazz, rock, elettronica, ambient ecc...) sono inopportune: i generi sono così amalgamati che è impossibile separarli uno dall'altro. Il nome più noto è il bostoniano Geoff Farina, eclettico chitarrista già leader dal 1993 al 2005 della rock band Karate; chi segue il jazz contemporaneo conoscerà invece il batterista Luther Gray per il lungo sodalizio col chitarrista ...

The Fully Celebrated: Drunk on the Blood of the Holy Ones

by John Sharpe
May 31, 2009

For Drunk on the Blood of the Holy Ones, Boston's The Fully Celebrated have dropped the orchestral tag from their name, but retain their wide ranging eclecticism, all transmuted through a jazz prism. Though altoist Jim Hobbs composed all eight tracks, it is the tight syncopation of bassist Timo Shanko and drummer Django Carranza that breathes impudent life into them. A shared history in roots reggae bears fruit on the title track but Hobbs and Shanko have also plumbed the ...

Jim Hobbs: The Story of Mankind

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 20, 2009

Musicista dell'area di Boston, Jim Hobbs, come tanti prima di lui e molti che verranno, meriterebbe più attenzioni di quelle che riceve. Chi scrive ne incrociò l'acidissimo contralto in un Silkheart di qualche anno fa, licenziato a nome della Fully Celebrated Orchestra [Orchestra si fa per dire, visto che in realtà si trattava di un trio completato dal contrabbasso di Timo Shanko e dalla batteria di Django Carranza]. Il disco s'intitolava Peace & Pig Grease e a suo modo fu ...

Darrell Katz & Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra: The Same Thing

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 2, 2009

Darrell Katz è il direttore di una delle big band più interessanti degli ultimi vent'anni, quella Jazz Composer Alliance Orchestra che ripercorre con un piglio contemporaneo le intuizioni di Carla Bley e Mike Mantler, capaci di mettere assieme musicisti di grandissimo spessore alla fine degli anni sessanta con la loro Jazz Composer Orchestra Association. In questo bellissimo The Same Thing, pubblicato dalla storica e meritoria etichetta Cadence Records, Darrell Katz si mette alla prova sul versante compositivo e coordina alla ...

Jim Hobbs / Joe Morris / Luther Gray: The Story Of Mankind

by Nic Jones
May 30, 2008

There are numerous precedents for alto sax-bass-drums trios, and it's to the credit of this one that they manage to stake out their own territory in a well-populated area. Whilst the music they make is rooted in free bop territory they also have no qualms about covering more rarefied ground and the results are by turns compelling and individual.

Their collective cause is served in no small part by the eloquence of alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs.. Whilst he has something ...

Jim Hobbs & The Fully Celebrated Orchestra: Lapis Exilis

by Germein Linares
June 19, 2005

The Fully Celebrated Orchestra is an uncommon creature, even in the bizarro world of free jazz. While its music remains firmly rooted in the jazz aesthetic, the orchestra frequently invites other elements to its dance. Invite might be too soft, actually; these players demand action, movement, and depth from rock, soul, funk, and several non-Western influences. Placed into their compositions, the potent mix makes for jazz that is more urgent and youthful than swing, more eclectic than bop. It is, ...

Jim Hobbs & the Fully Celebrated Orchestra: Lapis Exilis

by Paul Olson
March 12, 2005

Boston-based altoist Jim Hobbs and his Fully Celebrated Orchestra combine vast musical prowess and playful, irreverent intelligence on Lapis Exilis. No one today is playing the alto better than Hobbs--the vast range of tones he summons from the small horn is altogether remarkable--and Orchestra members cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, bassist Timo Shanko, and drummer Django Carranza display a comparable mastery of their respective axes. Carranza and Shanko are a devastating rhythm section (Carranza's got the shifting time of jazz down, ...