Jazz Articles about John Hollenbeck

About John Hollenbeck

Album Review

John Hollenbeck / Alban Darche / Sébastien Boisseau / Samuel Blaser: J.A.S.S.

Read "J.A.S.S." reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
February 3, 2014

J.A.S.S. as in the first letters of the names of American drummer John hollenbeck, French saxophonist Alban Darche and double bassist Sébastien Boisseau and Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser. But Jass also as the term used by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in March 1917 for the very first jazz-album recording or just the name of centuries-old popular card game in Switzerland and Austria. All of the above references relevant to this quartet who first played together ...

Profile

John Hollenbeck: profilo di artista

by Angelo Leonardi
January 8, 2014

Lo scorso mese di agosto il 61° critics poll di Down Beat ha votato John Hollenbeck al primo posto tra gli arrangiatori emergenti, riproponendo valutazioni già espresse in passato (Rising Star Arranger nel 2012 e Rising Star Big Band nel 2011). È il doveroso riconoscimento a uno degli artisti più originali del jazz statunitense ma non rende giustizia sul versante della collocazione. Nato a Binghamton (New York) 45 anni fa, John Hollenbeck non è un artista emergente. Attivo ...

Interview

John Hollenbeck's September Songs

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
October 7, 2013

John Hollenbeck's productivity would be astonishing in its own right, but the uniformly high quality of this high output places the drummer among the top tier of jazz (and not only jazz) musicians. Hollenbeck's recordings, compositions and performances defy certain expectations. He can be as seriously intellectual as a stereotypically stuffy classical musician, but his music is interlaced with humor and fun. As befits a 21st century drummer, he is rhythmically complex but the music is underlain with a deep ...

Extended Analysis

John Hollenbeck: Songs I Like a Lot

by C. Michael Bailey
April 23, 2013

There are four potent musical personalities at play on Songs I Like A Lot. The first is the erstwhile leader, drummer John Hollenbeck, musical raconteur and general high-art roustabout. He has had a long association with vocalist Theo Bleckmann, both in big band settings on A Blessing (Omnitone, 2005) and with Claudia Quintet on What Is Beautiful? (Cuneiform, 2012). Bleckmann, in turn, is friends with vocalist Kate McGarry, who's Girl Talk (Palmetto, 2012) was a highlight of the year. From ...

Album Review

John Hollenbeck: Songs I Like a Lot

by AAJ Italy Staff
April 15, 2013

John Hollenbeck, compositore e polistrumentista americano, è noto ai più per essere il fondatore dei Claudia Quintet, gruppo che, si può dire senza temere di offendere nessuno, ha, con soli sei album all'attivo, contribuito ad allargare i confini del jazz contemporaneo, fertilizzandolo con idee e contenuti originali o provenienti da “altri mondi": dalla musica da camera alle avanguardie più sperimentali. E già questo è un grosso merito, ma Hollenbeck non è uno che si accontenta e da anni ha intrapreso ...

Extended Analysis

John Hollenbeck: Songs I Like a Lot

by John Kelman
January 24, 2013

It's hard to resist, at the very least, looking at an album with as honest and unassuming a title as Songs I Like a Lot; but it's even harder to resist when it turns out that the instigator is John Hollenbeck, founder of and primary composer for Claudia Quintet--the chamber jazz ensemble which has, over the course of six albums in nine years, completely defied definition and categorization, beyond combining improvisational prowess and the ability to subtly interpret through-composed music. ...

Album Review

Jurgen Friedrich: Monosuite

Read "Monosuite" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
August 17, 2012

Pianist Jurgen Friedrich doesn't play a single note of music on Monosuite, but his personality and cognitive bearing are omnipresent. While Friedrich's piano was at the heart of the sound on the trio-based Pollock, he removes his hands from the ivories on this follow-up date, allowing a cadre of string players and a highly flexible foursome to express his well-crafted thoughts in their own way. This 49-minute opus is as much about sought-after equilibrium as anything else. ...