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Jazz Articles about John Hébert
Andy Milne: The reMission
by Mike Jurkovic
Ever hear a disc and wonder why the deep-seated beauty of some players' music escapes your radar? Juno Award-winning pianist and composer Andy Milne's The reMission, a challenging, tough, terse and ultimately triumphant recording, is one of those. One of those discs that, after several uninterrupted listens, has one digging into the discography scrambling to catch up. A composer with an agile, far flung curiosity, Milne has held the bench for Ravi Coltrane and Ralph Alessi. He's teamed ...
read moreMat Maneri Quartet: Dust
by Glenn Astarita
The respective artists are firmly rooted in the modern vanguard of experimentation, improvisation and countless offshoots of the jazz vernacular. However, A-list bassist John Hebert is also a veteran of many modern/progressive jazz sessions but, as evidenced here, is also comfortable exploring the outside realm. Hence, the musicians dish out a rather somber and stoic chamber-jazz program amid fragile underpinnings and a slowly-paced gait with asymmetrical pulses and blossoming mini-themes. In addition, Mat Maneri's extended viola choruses assist with steering ...
read moreRunning The Bas(s)es
by Maurice Hogue
In baseball parlance, touch 'em all" refers to hitting a four-bagger, a home run. In this week's episode, we try to touch" a whole bunch of wonderful contemporary bassists. The following would make up a pretty darn good all-star team of bass" runners: John Hébert with Marty Ehrlich, Joshua Abrams, Drew Gress in Free Country, Sean Conly, Moppa Elliott of Mostly Other People Do The Killing, Antoine Berjeaut, Robert Landfermann, Hubert Dupont, Krzysztof Pabian of the Chicago Edge Ensemble , ...
read moreMike Holober: Balancing Act
by Angelo Leonardi
Non è facile coniugare raffinatezza formale e tensione emotiva, meticolose orchestrazioni e libertà individuale, sottigliezze cameristiche e momenti jazzisticamente impetuosi. A capo del suo ottetto, Mike Holober offre un appassionante esempio di tutto ciò, realizzando il suo lavoro più maturo e ricercato, a distanza di sei anni dal precedente con la Gotham Jazz Orchestra (Quake, Sunnyside 2009). Pianista, compositore e insegnante al City College e alla Manhattan School of Music di New York, Holober s'è ...
read moreMike Holober: Balancing Act
by Mark Sullivan
Pianist/composer Mike Holober has had an active career with big bands (including HR Big Band Frankfurt, WDR Big Band Cologne, Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, and the Westchester Jazz Orchestra in the U.S.). So he brings a refined approach to the composing and arranging on this octet recording. He set himself an ambitious goal: to feature a vocalist, but as another frontline instrument rather than the primary focus. I wanted to use a singer and lyrics in extended form compositions--not wrapped up ...
read moreMike Holober: Balancing Act
by Dan Bilawsky
Conceptualizing and creating music is a delicate balancing act, leaving composers to strive for symmetry between head and heart, reasoning and intuition, and structure and freedom. Who better to understand that than Mike Holober? Whether penning a piece or playing piano, Holober has always shown himself to be mindful of the need to find harmony between those and other opposing principles. It's his ability to do so that, in large part, has made him such a hot commodity in the ...
read moreJohn Hébert: Floodgates
by Mark Corroto
Finding three musicians that speak the same language--jazz--is not uncommon. However, finding three that are as compatible as bassist John Hébert, pianist Benoît Delbecq, and drummer Gerald Cleaver is, as the French say, recherché. French culture is the theme of Hébert's trio recording. The New Orleans born, Cajun bassist invited the Paris-based pianist and Detroit's Cleaver (a city founded by French officer Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac) to record the follow-up to their inaugural release Spiritual Lover ...
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