GEORGE: Looking for Consonance

John Hollenbeck has spent much of the past three decades blurring the boundaries between jazz, chamber music and improvisation. A Grammy-nominated composer and bandleader known for his work with the Claudia Quintet and the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, he enters a new chapter with an electro-acoustic ensemble named after George Floyd. Its debut recording, Letters to George (Out of Your Head Records, 2023), introduced a socially-conscious aesthetic that Looking for Consonance further explores.

Joined by saxophonist and flutist Anna Webber and singer-keyboardists Sarah Rossy and Chiquita Magic, Hollenbeck leads a group that thrives on ambiguity. Synth-pop textures, electronica and improvisation intermingle across 10 compositions dedicated to figures including George Lewis, Wayne Shorter and George F. Johnson. The result is less a tribute album than a meditation on connection and shared purpose.

"Bounce" opens with a surge of nervous energy, landing somewhere between prog-rock drama and an electronic gathering that has wandered pleasantly off script. Webber's multiphonics cut through the dense textures with grit and authority, while Rossy's fractured scat-like phrases and unison vocals add another layer of intrigue. Throughout, Hollenbeck's drumming functions as both engine and architect, shaping the music through unexpected rhythmic detours.

On "Porter (10,000 Men Named George)," floating vocal chants and Webber's rugged yet fluid saxophone improvisations ride atop Hollenbeck's counterintuitive grooves before resolving into memorable ensemble passages. "Johnson" offers one of the album's more accessible moments, propelled by an infectious groove and colorful nu-jazz sensibility that briefly lightens the atmosphere.

The closer, "Wayne Phases" captures the spirit of Shorter's restless imagination without resorting to imitation. Rather than borrowing the saxophonist's vocabulary, Hollenbeck embraces the curiosity and openness that defined it.

Hollenbeck's liner notes describe the title as a gesture toward hope rather than resolution, and the music bears that out. Listeners seeking easy answers may leave empty-handed. Those willing to follow the album's unpredictable path will discover a work rich in invention, purpose and emotional resonance.