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Troy Dostert's Best Releases of 2016
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 ...
read moreThe Claudia Quintet: Super Petite
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 ...
read moreThe Claudia Quintet: Super Petite
If there's one thing you can pin down about the Claudia Quintet, it's their inability to be pinned down. Starting off this release with “Nightbreak" is like dropping into a soundtrack to some sleepy '50s-style arty cartoon, with an acoustic retro tone that comes from the combination of vibraphone and clarinet. The piece isn't catchy and barely even feels melodic, but simply meanders like a lazy insect wafting back and forth across the garden on a slow summer afternoon. At ...
read moreThe Claudia Quintet: Super Petite
Except for a brief dalliance with the ingénue Lucy, drummer and bandleader John Hollenbeck has been faithful to his Claudia for nearly twenty years. Super Petite is the 8th release and 7th on Cuneiform Records. Actually, the band leader has had others. Besides his Lucy Quartet, there is his John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Refuge Trio, duos with Jorrit Dijkstra and Theo Bleckmann, and the apropos (is there a pattern developing here?) Blind Date Quartet. His quintet is always ...
read moreJohn Hollenbeck / Alban Darche / Sébastien Boisseau / Samuel Blaser: J.A.S.S.
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 ...
read moreJohn Hollenbeck's September Songs
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 ...
read moreJohn Hollenbeck: Songs I Like a Lot
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 ...
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