Posts Tagged ‘John Hollenbeck’

Theo Bleckmann Releases ‘Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush’

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

Out March 13 via Winter & Winter -

Featuring HENRY HEY (piano, minimoog synthesizer, fender rhodes piano, prepared harpsichord, voice), SKÚLI SVERRISON (electric bass, voice), CALEB BURHANS (electric five string violin, electric guitar, voice), JOHN HOLLENBECK (drums, percussion, crotales, voice)

After tackling American maverick composer Charles Ives and receiving a Grammy nomination for it, vocalist Theo Bleckmann now takes on the mysterious songbook of British pop recluse Kate Bush. This project goes beyond merely re-creating Kate’s Bush music, taking it into other realms of sound and interpretation. Bush’s œuvre is indeed mysterious and often enigmatic in nature: unusual song forms, oracular lyrics amd unpredictable meter- and harmony-changes are an anomaly in pop music, making it the perfect vehicle for Bleckmann’s distinctive, interpretive spirit and interest in the unusual. Even though Bush still remains a household name, it is fair to say that her music is not your usual run-of the mill boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl fare. Her use of British and Irish myths, her references to psychology, literature and film, her meticulously multi-layered productions and her unusually high voice make her idiosyncratic body of work challenging for other artists to interpret.

Bleckmann first heard Bush as a young teenager and was immediately intrigued…”her music has this thing that I love in art: you’re instantly drawn into someone’s universe without really knowing why but somehow understanding everything in your heart.” A lot of teenage pop heroes came and went, but Kate Bush remained a constant in Bleckmann’s life. “Her songs and records never became obsolete  –I now realize that the way she layered sound, speech and music became a major influence for my live electronic looping aesthetic.”  For “Hello Earth!,” Bleckmann chose songs that warranted a different interpretation.

Joining him in this venture are long-time collaborators percussionist John Hollenbeck and electric bassist Skúli Sverrisson, and keyboardist Henry Hey and violinist/guitarist/vocalist Caleb Burhans, who can also be heard on Bleckmann’s “Berlin” CD. “When I set out to do this, I knew right away that these were the perfect musicians for this kind of project. Hollenbeck, a brilliant composer and arranger of his own, contributed his vast orchestrational palette and ideas to the music, including the use of crotales which greatly shaped the sound of this record. Sverrisson and Bleckmann also go back many years and have worked together in various configurations (including Laurie Anderson’s band). Sverrisson’s profound sense of sound and layering and his compositional instincts became essential to the music. Keyboard wizard (and newly appointed musical director for George Michael) Henry Hey, whom Bleckmann worked with here for the first time, contributed a vast array of sounds and possibilities, transforming and bringing to life Bleckmann’s initial ideas. Caleb Burhans is perhaps one of the most sought after young musician/composers on the NY downtown scene today “I wanted someone who could play many different instruments, loop, improvise and sing, which pretty much eliminated everyone but Caleb. For the recording I chose to overdub myself and add more harmonies, but in performance Henry Hey and Caleb Burhans play AND sing.”

“Hello Earth!” is a journey into Kate Bush’s world through Bleckmann’s voice and interpretive vision: “Running up that Hill”, which open the record, gets a mysteriously ambient treatment.  The lyric suggests switching gender in order to fully experience the other, which is where Bleckmann’s journey begins. “Suspended in Gaffa’s” thumping waltz feel is now a suspended multi-metric virtuosic vehicle for the band, with Bleckmann proclaiming in jolting harming: “I want it all”. “And dream of sheep”, a song about being lost and shipwrecked at sea, turns into an ambient dream through Bleckmann’s use of vocal looping and Sverrison’s spherical bass playing then segueing into the unsettling “Under Ice”; a tale of entrapment under ice (a definite choice of song for Bleckmann who once was a competitive figure skater in his teens). “Violin” turns into a distorted death metal thrash, echoing the lyric’s destructive fierceness.

The title track,”Hello Earth” keeps most of its original elements, including the inclusion of the Georgian folk song “Zinzkaro” in which the violin is now taking over the main melody while Bleckmann provides the harmony. “All the Love”, however, gets a more radical transformation, again stripping away a lot of the original, Bleckmann stretches the original melody and harmonies and inserts a vocalise into the middle. The last verse is delivered over a static vocal and violin loop, bringing out the song’s fragility and feeling of regret. Set in a “Berlin bar”, “Saxophone Song” probably gets the most jazz treatment, while “Army Deamers” has been completely stripped of most of its original accompaniment and turned into an antiphonal drinking song as a lament over a lost generation of soldiers.

The record closes with Bush’s most well know (and covered) song “This Woman’s Work”. Here, Bleckmann accompanies himself with looped voices leading us out of the initial gender switching “Running up that Hill” to his exit by singing “make it go away, make it go away…now”. Bleckmann treats Bush’s music as he would  that of Charles Ives, Thelonius Monk, George Gershwin, Guillaume de Machaut, Joni Mitchell or any other composer he takes on: with love, respect and an insatiable curiosity for new possibilities.

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Congratulations to Grammy Nominees Miguel Zenón and John Hollenbeck/Orchestre National de Jazz!

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

33. Best viagra Jazz Ensemble Album
Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook (Marsalis Music)

57. Best Instrumental Composition
“Falling Men” from Shut Up And Dance (Bee Music)


For all press inquiries on Miguel Zenón and John Hollenbeck,
please contact us here at Fully Altered Media

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The Claudia Quintet +1 with Kurt Elling & Theo Bleckmann – What Is The Beautiful?

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Commissioned by the University of Rochester’s
Rare Books and Special Collections Department
for the 100th Birthday Celebration of Poet / Visual Artist Kenneth Patchen

Out October 11 on Cuneiform Records

“Soon it will/Be showtime again,” recites Kurt Elling at the outset of The Claudia Quintet’s sixth CD,What Is the Beautiful? “Somebody will paint beautiful faces all over the sky.”

The sentiment expressed by those lines, penned by poet/visual artist Kenneth Patchen, captures something of the anticipation proffered by the release of a new Claudia album. Bandleader/percussionist John Hollenbeck’s evocative, richly luminescent compositions definitely possess the suggestive power to encourage listeners to look heavenward, searching for those faces in the sky.

Richard Peek, director of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of Rochester Libraries, describes Patchen’s body of work as one that “defies easy categorization and is undeniably his own.” Perhaps in that one statement, more than in any aesthetic choice or thematic material, we can find the common ground between poet and composer.

Most of the material on What Is the Beautiful? was commissioned by the University of Rochester for its 100th birthday celebration of Patchen in 2011. Not particularly conversant with the poet’s work, Hollenbeck began a crash course and found himself immediately drawn to the breadth of Patchen’s themes.

“He has a wide palette, which I like,” Hollenbeck says. “There are a lot of really dark, political poems, but then he has whole collections of almost childlike drawings with very short, funny poems. And usually in every collection there are lyrical love poems, always dedicated to his wife, which are more flowery, almost old-fashioned. I really started to love the humor, the darkness, and the sincere love he had for his wife.”

Born in 1911, Patchen was an avant-gardist with strong pacifist leanings. His work bears an obvious kinship with the Beats, though he dwelt on the periphery of that scene, never one to align himself with any movement or affiliation. He was an early experimenter in the fusion of jazz and poetry, often reciting his work against a bebop backdrop (slyly alluded to here in the eccentric swing during the opening moments of “Showtime”). A debilitating back injury kept him away from public engagements for most of his life, and he spent more than a decade bedridden before his death in 1972.

Hollenbeck immediately thought of singer Kurt Elling to give voice to these poems – wholly unaware that Elling is something of a Patchen aficionado. “Kurt is a scholar with this stuff,” Hollenbeck says. “He knew Patchen and knew exactly what to do. He’s amazing.”

On his own recordings, Patchen recites his work in a gruff monotone; Elling, on the other hand, inhabits these poems as an actor would a role. On “Showtime,” he welcomes listeners with the bold enunciation of a television emcee; he lurches through “Opening the Window” with an intoxicated stagger; and he recounts the menacing absurdities of the surreal “Job” with dueling voices: his own and a blue-collar Chicago accent, transforming the piece into a duet of narrator and character.

Surprisingly, Hollenbeck discovered that engineer Andy Taub was also a Patchen fanatic, with his own collection of the poet’s works. It was his idea to alternate Elling’s two readings. “He was really into the material and was blown away by the way Kurt was reading the poems,” Hollenbeck recalls. “More than your average engineer, he was really involved in the creative process.”

Vocalist Theo Bleckmann, probably Hollenbeck’s most frequent collaborator, was also enlisted to lend a dreamier, more song-like atmosphere to several of the poems. “Theo has a very gentle, open, vulnerable approach,” Hollenbeck says. He uses that voice to stunning effect on “The Snow Is Deep On the Ground,” which conjures the image of swirling snow and the crystalline hush of a fresh snowfall on a still morning.

Two of the session’s three instrumental tracks were commissioned by the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and inspired by the Scottish island of Islay, renowned for its wintering geese. “Mates For Life” unfolds with a rich narrative progression, while “Flock” lives up to its name with a frenzy of percussive fluttering.

As on their previous CD, Royal Toast, the Claudia Quintet is again supplemented by a +1, in this case Philadelphia-based pianist Matt Mitchell, a member of saxophonist Tim Berne’s Adobe Probe who has collaborated with the likes of Ravi Coltrane, Ralph Alessi, Mark Helias, Ari Hoenig and Josh Roseman. His virtuosity and spontaneity make him a perfect fit with the long-running core group – Hollenbeck on drums, Drew Gress (Tim Berne, Ravi Coltrane, Fred Hersch) on bass, Matt Moran (Slavic Soul Party, Mat Maneri, Ellery Eskelin) on vibraphone, Ted Reichman (Anthony Braxton, Marc Ribot, Paul Simon) on accordion, and Chris Speed (Bloodcount, Yeah No, Human Feel) on clarinet and tenor sax.

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France’s Orchestre National De Jazz Releases ‘Shut Up And Dance’, Featuring Music By John Hollenbeck

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Out April 19 on Bee Jazz

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, France’s Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ), an initiative of the French Ministry of Culture, has appointed artistic directors who have successfully chronicled the musical history of this unique organization through nine different projects. In 2009, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Daniel Yvinec was appointed to head the ONJ, and is the first artistic director to do this under a renewable three-year mandate.

The Orchestre National de Jazz’s 2009 critically-acclaimed release under the direction of Yvinec, Around Robert Wyatt, was a tribute to the English prog rock vocalist-drummer of Soft Machine that recast his compositions into a jazz setting. Following on the heels of that ambitious project is Shut Up And Dance (release date April 19, 2011 on Bee Jazz), a two-disc set of progressive big band music featuring the compositions of John Hollenbeck, the American composer, drummer and leader of contemporary jazz group the Claudia Quintet.

Produced in New York, Paris, Berlin and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Shut Up And Dance emphasizes the relationship between music and movement. John Hollenbeck’s compositions, inspired specially for this program, stem from an extensive collaboration with Daniel Yvinec and reveal the excitement and body of classical works, in a series of ten mini-concertos, each one dedicated to a different orchestra musician tailored to their unique personality and language.

Rhythm, in all aspects of expression, is spotlighted, at times even where least expected: a ping pong ball bouncing across piano wire, miscellaneous objects mistreated by computer software, instrument keys, hands rubbing, PVC tubes morphing into melodies. Percussion is everywhere, a bona fide sequence of powerful melodic passages that blend the shades of a repeating musical sound, pygmy music, art music, electronic music, not to overlook a Gnawas’ trance or a Duke Ellington swing. The wind instruments drive the beat, while the prepared piano moves onto the percussion side of the orchestra. It’s all about the idea of movement, conveyed in these mesmerizing rhythms.

Yvinec imagines his orchestra as being carried forward by ten young emerging talents with original and adventurous profiles. Unearthing new talent has always been one of the Orchestre National de Jazz’s strong points, and these multi-instrumentalists are also composers and arrangers keen to explore collective music-making in all its forms.

The Musicians:

Eve Risser (piano, prepared piano, flutes); Vincent Lafont (keyboards, electronics); Antonin-Tri Hoang (alto saxophone, clarinets, piano); Rémi Dumoulin (tenor saxophone, clarinets); Matthieu Metzger (saxophones, electronic treatments); Joce Mienniel (flutes, electronics); Sylvain Bardiau (trumpet); Pierre Perchaud (guitars, banjo); Sylvain Daniel (electric bass); Yoann Serra (drums)

Orchestra National de Jazz / Photo credit: Annabelle Tiaffay

Artistic director Daniel Yvinec intends to give the Orchestre National de Jazz a transversal dimension and take it along a new path. To do so, he will accord equal importance to workshops and pedagogy, so that the orchestra, strong in its ambition, will reach out to new audiences.

Orchestre National De Jazz Website

Orchestra National De Jazz on Facebook

Orchestre National De Jazz on Myspace

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First-Call NYC Multireedist Ben Kono Releases His Nineteen-Eight Debut, ‘Crossing’

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Featuring Pianist Henry Hey, guitarist Pete McCann, bassist John Hébert, drummer John Hollenbeck and singer/french hornist Heather Laws

The broader a bandleader’s tonal palette, the richer the music becomes. Ben Kono proves this numerous times on the colorful Crossing, a sublime ensemble disc that finds lots of unique territory being investigated. The respected New York saxophonist is expert in an array of instruments that stretches from oboe to shakuhachi, and he’s put some deep composing and arranging skills into play on his debut. As Crossing’s varied interests present themselves, its sextet music speaks to both the power of scope and the art of integration.

“I never wanted to record a straight-ahead small group thing,” explains the 43-year-old bandleader. “ My tastes have strayed away from that, and more towards contemporary classical sounds. I’ m absorbing music that’s been informed by jazz, the Bang On A Can composers, and what might be called post-classical work. It’ s a different kind of sound.”

What Kono’s describing can be heard in the buoyant bounce of “Rice,” the pensive elan of “Shadowdance,” and the dramatic reflections of “The Crossing.” Two decades ago, someone would have deemed this “third stream.” At various points, Kono’s flute, English horn, bass clarinet all help stir the group’s graceful maneuvers towards something quite singular.

Working with some of the city’s most expressive jazz musicians gives the action an exceptional slant as well. Pianist Henry Hey, guitarist Pete McCann, bassist John Hébert, and drummer John Hollenbeck form the core team; Kono’s wife, singer and French horn player Heather Laws, appears on a few tracks, too. The saxophonist has had longstanding relationships with his work mates, and says that the notion of family is the thread that connects several of the disc’s pieces.

The unexpected death of Kono’s father in 2002 prompted the writing of some new pieces. The saxophonist has relatives on the West Coast and in Japan, and he wanted to record this music and share it with his far-flung clan. Then life got in the way. He got married, had his first child, and the project was postponed. Last year he became inspired again. Crossing is the fetching result.

“Some of the pieces relate to my childhood memories,” he offers. “ And there’s also a song for my daughter. Of course there are a few that were prompted by my dad’s passing as well, like ‘Celestial Birch.’ He was a photographer and he has a gorgeous picture of a birch tree shooting up into the late autumn sky in the hills of Vermont – we lived in Brattleboro when I was in high school. It’ s very spiritual and epitomizes walking through the woods on a crystal clear day.”

A profound ensemble unity and the gorgeous tone of Kono’s horn mark the track, which dazzles with the kind of poetry a Wayne Shorter ballad regularly delivers. “Paradise in Manzanar” has a similar glow. It was written in the wake of 9/11 (Kono watched the downtown devastation from his Brooklyn neighborhood), but shelved for several years. A cousin’s virtual reality project about the infamous WWII internment camp Manzanar inspired him to dust off the piece.

“In my cousin’s piece you could see the horrible conditions they were under in California. And yet somehow the Japanese prisoners managed to make art classes, have a school for the kids, and develop gorgeous gardens. Really courageous and resilient.”

“Manzanar” features Kono’s striking English horn work. His ability to double on so many woodwinds has been one of his calling cards. He’s a key member of critically acclaimed groups such as John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, and Ed Palermo Big Band. He also works in an array of Broadway show orchestras. The wealth of instruments he handles is impressive, but he says it’s not without a cost.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he chuckles. “ Doubling opens all these doors, but it’s a pain in the ass when you actually have to keep up on all these instruments. I went to the Eastman School, and a few professors had a strong connection to the tradition of doubling woodwinds that existed in New York back in the day – versatility is important. It’s funny, though: I went to North Texas State, too, and they couldn’t really care less about how you played your doubles – they just wanted you to let loose the most ungodly tenor solo anyone’s ever heard.

“One thing’s certain: I wanted to put my head into each of these instruments as I studied them, not just be a saxophone player who tries his hand at the clarinet once in a while.”

A short listen to Kono’s chipper flute work on “Rice” lets listeners know how dedicated he is to mastering other instruments. And the high-flying sax excursion on the title tune (about the joys of traversing the Queensboro Bridge on the way into Manhattan) is evidence that his main horn can be ungodly itself. It’s always exciting to hear him head to parts unknown during a solo. Is there any chance he’s being a bit too hidden in large groups?

“When I moved to New York, I was ready to bust out of the sideman genre,” he concludes with a smile. “ Then what happens? I fall in with all these fantastic big bands and creative composers like Darcy and Hollenbeck, and they turn out to be my biggest influences. Ten years go by, and when finally I do start the small group project I wanted, I wind up writing music that demands more people participating. Argh! My next record will be a trio disc, I swear.”

Ben Kono Website

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Follow Ben Kono on Twitter

Nineteen-Eight Records

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Fully Altered Media **Spring 2011** Release Schedule

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

January



Chris Parrello –Things I Wonder (Stray Dog Music) – January 25
Chris Parrello – guitars, compositions; Karlie Bruce – vocals/lyrics; Ian Young – saxophones; Kevin Thomas – bass; Aviv Cohen – drums; Rubin Kodheli – cello; Greg Glassman – trumpet; Rich Hinman – pedal steel

February

Yaron Herman - Follow the White Rabbit (ACT Music) – February 8
Yaron Herman – piano; Chris Tordini – bass; Tommy Crane – drums

Youn Sun Nah– Same Girl (ACT Music) – February 8
Youn Sun Nah – vocals, kalimba, music box, kazoo; Ulf Wakenius – guitars; Lars Danielsson – acoustic bass, cello; Xavier Desandre-Navarre – percussion: Roland Brival – narration

Ben Kono – Crossing (Nineteen-Eight Records) – February 22
Ben Kono – saxophones, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, English horn; Henry Hey – piano; Pete McCann – guitar; John Hébert – bass; John Hollenbeck – drums; Heather Laws – vocals/French horn

Gutbucket – Flock (Cuneiform) – February 22
Ken Thomson – alto saxophone; Ty Citerman – electric guitar/effects; Eric Rockwin – bass; Adam D Gold – drums

March

Vijay Iyer – Tirtha (ACT Music) – March 8
Vijay Iyer – piano, Prasanna – guitar, Nitin Mitta – tabla

Helen Sung – (re)Conception (Steeplechase) – March 17
Helen Sung – piano, Peter Washington – bass, Lewis Nash – drums



Steven Lugerner – These Are The Words/Narratives 2-CD Set (self-released) – March 24
CD 1 – These Are The Words: Steven Lugerner – B-flat Clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, soprano & alto saxophones, oboe, English horn; Darren Johnston – trumpet & flugelhorn; Myra Melford – piano; Matt Wilson – drums

CD 2 – Narratives: Steven Lugerner – soprano & alto saxophones, bass clarinet, B-flat clarinet; Lucas Pino – Tenor Saxophone; Itamar Borochov – trumpet & flugelhorn; Angelo Spagnolo – guitar; Glenn Zaleski – piano; Ross Gallagher – double bass, Michael W. Davis – drums



 Honey Ear Trio – Steampunk Serenade (Foxhaven Records) – March 22
 Erik Lawrence – saxophones; Rene Hart – acoustic bass, electronics/looping; Allison Miller -drums, percussion

Joe Fiedler Trio – Sacred Chrome Orb (Yellow Sound Label) – March 29
Joe Fiedler – trombone; John Hébert – bass; Michael Sarin – drums

April



Anthony Wilson– Campo Belo (Goat Hill Recordings) – April 5
Anthony Wilson – guitar; André Mehmari, piano; Guto Wirtti, bass; Edu Ribeiro, drums

Kermit Driscoll– Reveille (Nineteen-Eight Records) – April 5
Kermit Driscoll – bass; Bill Frisell – guitar; Kris Davis – piano; Vinnie Colaiuta – drums

Marco Cappelli Acoustic Trio – Les Nuages en France (Mode Avant) – April 12
Marco Cappelli – guitar; Ken Filiano – bass; Satoshi Takeishi – drums

May

Art Hirahara – Noble Path (Posi-tone Records) – May 3
Art Hirahara – piano; Yoshi Waki – bass; Dan Aran – drums

Taylor Haskins – Recombination (Nineteen-Eight Records) – May 10
Taylor Haskins – trumpet, special effects, laptop, synths; Ben Monder – guitar; Henry Hey – keyboards & piano; Todd Sickafoose – bass; Nate Smith – drums; special guest Samuel Torres – percussion & kalimba

June

Erik Friedlander – Bonebridge (Skipstone Records) – June 7
Erik Friedlander – cello; Doug Wamble – slide guitar; Trevor Dunn – bass; Michael Sarin – drums

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Portland, OR’s Blue Cranes Release 3rd Album of Indie-Tinged Chamber Music, “Observatories,” September 14, 2010

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

It takes a minute for a band to hurdle growth spurts and become the eloquent ensemble it hopes to be. But striving for a truly individual sound, one that depends on the contributions of each member is a noble goal. After three years as a quintet with two saxophones up front, Blue Cranes have achieved such a victory. They prove it with Observatories.

On its third album, everything gels for the acclaimed instrumental outfit from Portland, Oregon. Working that thin line between prog-jazz improvisation and indie rock catchiness, the band arrives at a unique spot. Like forebears such as The Ordinaires and The President, and contemporaries like Todd Sickafoose’s Tiny Resistors and John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet, Blue Cranes have found ways to make exploration seem like the most enjoyable process around.

The songs and performances on Observatories are all about rewards of collective articulation. Reed Wallsmith, the group’s straw boss, saxophonist and main composer, says the new album finds them putting their best foot forward.

“Homing Patterns, the record before this, was a quintet with two horns; Sly Pig joined us on tenor saxophone a year before we made it.  But, I had conceived of a lot of the music originally for quartet.  Since then, with more time under our belts, I think our compositions more fully incorporate all five of us.  For Observatories we wrote more contrapuntal lines, not just melodies and support riffs.  I hope that the entire group unity comes through. It feels great to hear it happen.”

Blue Cranes is comprised of drummer Ji Tanzer, bassist Keith Brush, keyboardist Rebecca Sanborn, tenor saxophonist Joe “Sly Pig” Cunningham, and Wallsmith himself. The alto saxophonist says that the camaraderie of gigging on the road has bolstered the band’s unity.

photo credit: Jason Quigley

“We’ve done seven tours now, and gone out for a week and a half at a time. That kind of continuity is such a great way to get tight as a band – performing every night and being able to talk about the music every day. We have fun on the road. Sharing music on iPods, hanging out, laughing about everything. It’s such a blast to get to know each other better. It’s not just my vision driving the action anymore; it’s all of ours – which has always been my goal.”

Blue Cranes’ music is refreshingly diverse. They may be a left-of-center instrumental outfit, but their book has lots of room for old-fashioned beauty. Wallsmith’s “Grandpa’s Hands” is a bittersweet anthem with a luminous theme that boasts echoes of Steve Reich. Cunningham’s “Broken Windmills” is an evocative lament that could easily snuggle up to an Ornette Coleman ballad. Waxing rustic isn’t forbidden with Blue Cranes, and that decision widens the record’s emotional palette. On “Yellow Ochre,” the group sounds like The Band sauntering its way through The Beatles’ “Let It Be.”

“Tim Young, the guitarist from Wayne Horvitz’s band, made a comment I liked,” says Wallsmith. “He said ‘You guys aren’t afraid to just play melodies.’ I think that’s true. ‘Yellow Ochre’ feels old fashioned to me. ‘Maddie Mae,’ too. I’m proud of that tone. But the album wouldn’t work if it was full of tunes like ‘Yellow Ochre.’ We wanted to make it flow, to have the pretty stuff move right into the in-your-face stuff.”

Indeed, Observatories does strike a balance between genteel and rambunctious. Crescendos crop up in all sorts of places, and the physical thrust of the rhythm section gives several moments a wonderfully vicious clout. “Richie Bros.” has an intricate pounding intro, a dreamy head, and an explosive middle. “We don’t get super mathy, but ‘Richie Bros.’ is aggressive,” Wallsmith concurs. “I like the power of it, but I also like the fact that it’s followed by the softness of ‘Maddie Mae.’

Sly Pig also played and recorded with indie rock superheroes, The Decemberists. It seems he and Wallsmith have found the perfect formula for cogent abstraction.

“From the first day we started playing, I felt unexpectedly in-synch with him,” says Wallsmith. “We started at an all-improvised gig, and when we played together, I had this feeling that we were long lost brothers.’ I’ve never really met another sax player who approaches music like me. Wherever we’re coming from, it’s a similar same place. We work as a team.”

The Blue Cranes have received kudos from a few key contemporaries. They’ve shared bills with keyboard icon Wayne Horvitz (his “Love Love Love” is part of Observatories) and he’s now a fan.  Wallsmith was a Happy Apple zealot when he was in college in Minneapolis and when drummer Dave King, now of The Bad Plus, posted a “don’t miss John Hollenbeck’s tour” missive on the The Bad Plus’ blog, Wallsmith made a point to catch the drummer-composer. “After the gig I gave someone at the venue a CD to give to John.  He later contacted me out of the blue to say that, although he didn’t expect to, he really liked it.  What an honor!”  Blue Cranes have since shared the stage with bands as diverse as Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet, the dub/hardcore Mi Ami, trumpeter Cuong Vu and violinist Michael White.

Ultimately Observatories is about breadth. Blue Cranes is a band that sees things from various perspectives. A toy piano is the first sound you hear on the disc; a baby’s voice is the final. Variety is central to the action. Tanzer is the go-to guy when it comes to album titles; he’s named the previous Blue Cranes albums. But it was the band’s friend and Tanzer’s band mate, Spinanes leader Rebecca Gates, who came up with the current moniker, and one thing’s for certain: Observatories is dead on, because the Blue Cranes are here to show us all sorts of things.

RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

For more information, please contact Matt Merewitz at Fully Altered Media / (347) 527-2527 or matt@fullyaltered.com

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Claudia Quintet Release Day Is Here!!!

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Today we are vindicated and rewarded for our advance efforts on The Claudia Quintet’s newest album “Royal Toast” (Cuneiform Records).

Royal Toast web-ready

New York Times CD review by Nate Chinen.

Los Angeles Times CD review by Chris Barton.

Boston Globe CD review by Siddhartha Mitter.

NPR Exclusive First Listen by Patrick Jarenwattananon.

Spinner.com interview by Tad Hendrickson.

Also Claudia is performing in New York City on June 14th at 45 Bleecker presented by Search & Restore. This concert will immediately follow the 14th Annual Jazz Journalist Association Jazz Awards (in which Claudia Quintet ringleader John Hollenbeck is nominated for Composer of the Year and Arranger of the Year and sometimes Claudia member Gary Versace for Organist of the Year).  We welcome inebriated and non-inebriated journalists, industry folk and regular ole fans to come and partake in the joy that is Claudia starting at 10 PM at 45 Bleecker.

We couldn’t be happier. So congrats to John, Chris, Ted, Matt, Drew, Gary, the folks at Cuneiform and all involved.

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The Claudia Quintet Releases 5th Album, “Royal Toast” on Cuneiform Records May 18, 2010

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Composer/Drummer John Hollenbeck Continues Prolific Recording Period
With Fifth Claudia Quintet Album, Royal Toast,
Due May 18, 2010 on Cuneiform Records

cover art for Royal Toast

cover art for Royal Toast

On their fifth CD, Royal Toast, The Claudia Quintet raise a glass in salute to their regal muse with a set of new music fit for a king – albeit one with more refined tastes and open mind than your average monarch.

If a round table seems a wholly appropriate setting for this egalitarian ensemble (with an extra place setting this time out), theirs is as much Algonquin as Camelot, renowned for their sophisticated wit as well as their sharply-honed musical jousting.

As composer/leader John Hollenbeck points out, the title might also sound a bit “silly” – but there’s something in its odd incongruity that exemplifies the band’s one-of-a-kind sound.

“I like toast,” Hollenbeck explains with characteristically laconic humor, “and I noticed that if you put ‘royal’ in front of something, it seems elevated.”

The Claudia Quintet has similarly been finding the majestic in the mundane (or vice versa) for more than a dozen years. Nowhere is that more evident than on Royal Toast, where Hollenbeck began by collecting song titles found in often unlikely sources, divorcing them from their original context, and devising music inspired by these evocative phrases.

Hollenbeck’s compositions somehow conjure raucous beauty from dizzying complexity, enticing the emotions with lilting melodies or irresistible grooves while engaging the cerebral side in a surreptitious workout. The music marries jazz, new music, post-rock – but no laundry list of influences is quite sufficient to describe their iconoclastic sound. Suffice it to say, you can feel secure bringing your hipster nephew and your math professor along to a gig, and everyone will go home happy.

Of course, no one could pull off such a a trompe l’oreille without a well-honed ensemble, and the Claudia Quintet has, through intensive collaboration since their 1997 debut, developed a language all their own. The music can best – perhaps only – be defined by the individuals who create it – Hollenbeck on drums, Drew Gress (Tim Berne, Ravi Coltrane, Fred Hersch) on bass, Matt Moran (Slavic Soul Party, Mat Maneri, Ellery Eskelin) on vibraphone, Ted Reichman (Anthony Braxton, Marc Ribot, Paul Simon) on accordion, and Chris Speed (Bloodcount, Yeah No, Human Feel) on clarinet and tenor sax.

As attuned as the Quintet have become to each other, they’re each remarkably attuned to themselves, as Hollenbeck discovered while recording the CD. Bridging several of the pieces on the album are short improvised interludes in which each member plays a short improvised duet with himself – unbeknownst to them until the tracks were in the can. While they sound as if each side of the mirror is reacting to the other, they were actually played separately and married after the fact.

“I didn’t know if it was going to work, so I didn’t tell anybody I was doing it,” Hollenbeck admits. “And I couldn’t believe it because each one just worked fabulously. It was totally unbelievable how they breathed in the same places – Drew even has a rest in the same spot. I think the result is better, actually, than if I had asked them to react to their solos. That might have been a little artificial.”

The quintet is here supplemented by pianist Gary Versace, a longtime collaborator of Hollenbeck’s (including the composer’s Large Ensemble and in the Refuge Trio along with vocalist Theo Bleckmann).

“Gary and I have very similar aesthetics,” Hollenbeck says, “so what he plays is exactly what I would I be doing if I could play piano really well. Gary has a very composerly approach, so he’s very sensitive to the music and tries to make his part sound composed even when it’s not.”

The addition of Versace means that half of the band is now essentially playing percussive instruments, giving Hollenbeck more opportunity than ever to follow his polyrhythmic muse – which emerges most fully on the gleefully intricate title track. But the album begins not with force but with lush intoxication. “Crane Merit” sets an unexpectedly atmospheric mood, enveloping the listener with an idyllic warmth.

Introduced by a Hollenbeck solo that gradually builds into funky propulsion, “Keramag” is the album’s toe-tappingest tune, densely wrought and utterly infectious. It and “Zurn” have the titles with the least concrete associations; the latter is a through-composed piece that generates considerable tension through an insistent drum/piano figure that is thoroughly dispelled by its ethereal finale.

“Sphinx”, on the other hand, brings very distinct associations to mind, which Hollenbeck followed through Egypt to African rhythmic influences. The word “Standard” crops up twice, and in each case the composer took this as a cue to use jazz as a leaping-off point, penning an abstracted ballad with “Ideal Standard” and a fractured anthem on “American Standard.”

The album closes with the elegiac “For Frederick Franck”, an homage to the Dutch-born painter, sculptor and author who died in 2006 at the age of 97. Hollenbeck’s personal connection to the artist comes via a sculpture park in upstate New York that Franck designed and where Hollenbeck proposed to his wife. But Franck’s expansive philosophy is also representative of Hollenbeck’s boundary-blurring approach to genre.

“The meaning of life is to see,” Franck espoused in his work, and the Claudia Quintet approach music with eyes wide open.

For more information please contact Matt Merewitz at Fully Altered Media (matt@fullyaltered.com or 347-527-2527).

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