Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Holly Hofman / Mike Wofford: Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Volume 2

110

Holly Hofman / Mike Wofford: Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Volume 2

By

View read count
Holly Hofman / Mike Wofford: Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Volume 2
Holly Hofmann (flute) and Mike Wofford (piano) make beautiful music together. The husband and wife have teamed for several acclaimed recordings including Flutology, Minor Miracle, and Further Adventures, all on Capri Records. They continue with another superb set of duets on Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Volume 2.

Both Hofmann and Wofford have a concentrated sense for the lyrical, adding an air of romanticism and injecting a sense of humor into their playing, all of which hinges on an emotional pith.

They pair two Monk compositions in "Introspection/Eronel. Hofmann plays the alto flute on the first and gives the title its truth. Her approach is contemplative, but it is the perfect one as she instills a dark, brooding quality to keep the sentiment palpable. The second takes flight, airy and lithe. Wofford adds the rhythm pulse, his comping filling in the spaces. When he takes off, he juices the melody and varies the context just enough to add a succulent flavor and make the whole attractive.

Presentimiento has enough of the tang of the tango to make it sensuous. Hofmann indulges in the melody of this masterful composition, before she shows her sense of improvisation with a charming sense of phrasing. Wofford's shadings are subtle in his accompaniment, and when he takes hold his dynamics reinvent the landscape.

Wofford gets to show his technique and creativity to a larger degree on the bouncy "Exactly Like You. He is lissome, yet he never strays from emphasis, rooting his playing in the harmony. Hofmann is agile and slightly frisky, but the song is from her heart. It's a joyous ode to love and the perfect vehicle for Hofmann and Wofford.

Track Listing

More Than You Know; Floof; Introspection; No Mercy; Twelve; Free Day; Out of This World; If I Should Lose You; Presentimento; Exactly Like You.

Personnel

Holly Hofmann: C and alto flutes; Mike Wofford: piano.

Album information

Title: Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Volume 2 | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Capri Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.