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Jazz Articles about John Hollenbeck
John Hollenbeck: Songs You Like a Lot
by Angelo Leonardi
Con questo disco John Hollenbeck conclude la trilogia iniziata otto anni fa sulla reinterpretazione di famosi brani della popular music (Songs I Like A Lot, Sunnyside 2013) e proseguita due anni dopo con Songs We Like a Lot per la stessa etichetta. Nel primo album la scelta dei temi era strettamente personale, nel secondo fu condivisa con alcuni partner (i cantanti Theo Bleckmann e Kate McGarry) ed ora nasce dalla selezione di proposte giunte all'arrangiatore dal suo ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Idiom
by Mark Corroto
Is Idiom, from composer, saxophonist, and flutist Anna Webber, new classical music or jazz? Yes. Is the music scored or improvised? Again, yes. Last question: Is it demanding or easy on the ears? Both. On the heels of two stellar releases, the septet Clockwise (Pi Recordings, 2019) and the Webber/Morris Big Band recording Both Are True (Greenleaf Music, 2020), Webber was commissioned to present Idiom VI at John Zorn's Stone series. She expanded the material from one track heard on ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck: Songs You Like A Lot
by Dan Bilawsky
Every ending a beginning, each conclusion an act of creation. If multi-hyphenate John Hollenbeck's Songs You Like A Lot doesn't slot within that sentiment, nothing really does. This collection marks the completion of a lauded trilogy that's stretched out across the better part of a decade, but it also signals the start of something new--the Flexatonic Arts non-profit, which will serve as an umbrella for Hollenbeck's arts and education initiatives, and the record label it houses, acting as a home ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck, Alban Darche, Samuel Blaser, Sebastien Boisseau: Mix of Sun and Clouds
by Angelo Leonardi
La ricca e frammentata scansione ritmica di John Hollenbeck, spesso animata da un'impronta danzante, è un policromo tappeto che interagisce con le parti scritte o gli appassionati interventi di Alban Darche e Samuel Blaser. L'interplay col contrabbassista Sebastien Boisseau finisce di caratterizzare una musica in costante mutazione, che passa da atmosfere d'astratto camerismo a sequenze di magnetica suggestione, capace di rileggere il blues con gli occhi di Julius Hemphill ("Missing Marc Suetterlyn" ) o distendersi liricamente trasfigurando le forme della ...
Continue ReadingTroy Dostert's Best Releases of 2016
by Troy Dostert
It has been an exciting year for artists perched on the precipice between jazz and other idioms. Each of these releases manages in its own way both to challenge and to inspire the listener, and the stylistic variety on display is an encouraging sign that creative music is truly in good hands! The Claudia Quintet Super Petite (Cuneiform) Another superb collection of songs from John Hollenbeck, brilliantly played by his veteran associates ...
Continue ReadingThe Claudia Quintet: Super Petite
by Angelo Leonardi
Preceduto dal tour che ha toccato anche l'Italia in marzo, ecco l'ottavo disco del Claudia Quintet registrato nell'agosto 2015 con la formazione modificata qualche anno fa, con Red Wierenga al posto di Ted Reichman. Con due decenni di attività continuativa, il quintetto di John Hollenbeck è uno degli organici più stabili del jazz contemporaneo e rimane uno dei più creativi. È noto che il batterista leader è anche un eminente compositore e il Claudia Quintet resta un veicolo ideale per ...
Continue ReadingThe Claudia Quintet: Super Petite
by Glenn Astarita
For this widely acclaimed band's 8th album, drummer John Hollenbeck decided to compose concise pieces that get the job done in less time stating: “When the tunes are longer, there tend to be moments when not a whole lot is happening. If you have a really short tune, the whole thing has to be compelling." Hence, the drummer succeeds when abiding by that principle without sacrificing the quintet's famously tight rhythmic excursions, abetted by sinuous movements and buoyant dialogues. Hollenbeck's ...
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