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Jazz Articles about John Hollenbeck
Scott Fields Ensemble: Beckett
by AAJ Italy Staff
Scott Fields è un chitarrista che definire jazz sarebbe molto riduttivo. La definizione che lui stesso dà della sua musica è “post-free jazz”, ed “exploratory music”. In realtà, il suo maggior riferimento è il sistema tonale di Stephen Dembski, compositore che il chitarrista ha conosciuto nel 1991. Beckett, album dedicato allo scrittore irlandese, è comunque il suo album più “jazzistico” (virgolette d'obbligo). Sporadicamente infatti (ad esempio in “Come and Go”, oppure al ventesimo minuto di “What Where”) è possibile rinvenirne ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck: Joys & Desires & Sequence
by Ty Cumbie
John Hollenbeck & Jazz Bigband Graz Joys & Desires Intuition 2005 Jorrit Dijkstra + John Hollenbeck Sequence Trytone 2006
Jazz' tradition police may have a necessary role to play, but that role is purely negative if it inhibits the music's continued creative mutation, especially as manifest in new work by iconoclastic ...
Continue ReadingThe Claudia Quintet: Semi-Formal
by AAJ Italy Staff
Memori della gustosa prova precedente, è con ghiotte e baldanzose aspettative che inseriamo nel lettore l’ultimo album del Claudia Quintet. Purtroppo, varcato il primo promettente squarcio, il gusto si guasta un poco e subentra l'amarezza per l'aver osato sperare troppo. Là dove I, Claudia era una precisa sincera originale affermazione d'identità, Semi-Formal raffredda gli entusiasmi e irrigidisce le fibre, rettificando gli angoli di quelle spezzate che nell'album precedente erano così provvidenzialmente sghembi, serrandosi su ampi pannelli mono-cromi/toni costruiti per ridimensionamenti ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck Jazz Bigband Graz featuring Theo Bleckmann: Joys & Desires
by C. Michael Bailey
This release would look like the dozens of big band recordings that surface every year, except for the small print mentioning Theo Bleckmann. Bleckmann, a fixture in New York City performance art circles, was a conspicuous presence on this year's Winter & Winter recording Las Vegas Rhapsody: The Night They Invented Champagne. Bleckmann isn't singing this time, but his mere presence means something unusual, and perhaps very significant, is up.
The first bit of subterfuge surrounding Joys & ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck & Jazz Bigband Graz: Joys & Desires
by John Kelman
Only days into the new year, and there's already a strong contender for 2006 “best of lists. That it comes from John Hollenbeck--a drummer who, in recent years, has emerged as one of the most distinctive composers in and out of jazz--is no surprise. After all, last year's--A Blessing (OmniTone), with his Large Ensemble, and Semi-Formal (Cuneiform), with the Claudia Quintet--were critically acclaimed, genre-busting albums with roots in jazz, but equally drawn from other styles too numerous to count.
Joys ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck
by AAJ Staff
By Chris DiGirolamo To take on the labels “composer , “drummer , “percussionist and “bandleader means being a busy man for John Hollenbeck. Maintaining his composition practices while leading The Claudia Quintet and his Large Ensemble, Hollenbeck this year alone has also toured and/or will soon be touring with vocalist Meredith Monk, pianist Fred Hersch, Jazz Big Band Graz, Bob Brookmeyer's New Art Orchestra and with the many sidemen who share his musical passion such as saxophonist ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hollenbeck Large Ensemble: A Blessing
by Mark Corroto
I heard the news today oh boy, four thousand holes in the jazz canon. And though the holes were rather small, they had to count them all. Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Carnegie Hall.
With apologies to Lennon/McCartney (and the Michael Jackson corporation that owns the music), John Hollenbeck and his Large Ensemble release a recording of “what the hell is that" music. The drummer/composer and leader of the Claudia Quintet and ...
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