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CLAUDIA'S 2nd RELEASE HAS BEEN RELEASED!!!!!!!!!
The Claudia Quintet rose from the ashes of the Refuseniks - a collective trio featuring Ted Reichman on accordion, Reuben Radding on bass and John Hollenbeck on a wide array of percussion and toys. This trio held court every Monday for about a year at alt.coffee - a funky internet café in the east village whose owners John and Melissa Scott went on to open the celebrated music club Tonic.
"...I went downstairs to hear the Claudia Quintet. If the music they played wasn't jazz, it was better than jazz. Drummer John Hollenbeck's compositions were more varied and imaginative than what was going on upstairs, the mix of composed, improvised, structured and free parts more ambitious..." - Bill Barner - rec.music.bluenote
John tells the story:
Between sets on the Refuseniks' first gig, we met an attractive, bubbly, enthusiastic young lady named Claudia who rambled on incessantly about how "she was going to make this a regular thing" (coming to our regular gig), "she was going to invite and tell all of her friends", blah, blah, blah. When she was done captivating us (or at least me) with her good intentions, Reuben and I sauntered up to our instruments for the next set. He softly whispered, "She's never coming back". I was shocked, "What do you mean? She said…" Reuben answered, "Trust me, she's never coming back." Reuben proved to be more experienced in this department; we never saw Claudia again.
Amongst the trio, we tried to continue this relationship with Claudia with casual remarks, such as "Hey, I saw Claudia on the street, she says hi," or "Claudia left me a message that she is definitely coming by next week." As time passed, our imaginations continued to recreate Claudia's life. Claudia, according to me, eventually became pregnant and moved to New Jersey with her dot.com entrepreneur boyfriend.
As the summer began, Reuben announced that he had had enough. He was selling his possessions and moving to Missoula, Montana. A few months later, after regrouping from the sudden dissolution of my favorite band (the first ensemble in which I felt like I could be myself), I formed a quintet with Matt Moran-vibes, Ted Reichman-accordion, Drew Gress-bass and Chris Speed-clarinet/tenor sax. After trying some sillier names, I chose to name this group The Claudia Quintet.
My reasons for this choice:
1. In homage to Reuben and the Refuseniks.
2. I wanted the band to maintain a female quality.
3. I noticed ships were historically named after women, so why not a musical group?
4. I wanted to lose myself in the group-emphasizing the ensemble (this didn’t pan out, since the media and the music biz has taken to calling us John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet.)
5. I wanted this group to be able to play completely notated "new music" as well as jazz-based, improv-based, etc. - so I was emulating the common name format of chamber ensembles (i.e. The Arditti Quartet…)
I was thinking and plotting my own group since my first days in NY and after many years, it finally came together, with the right chemistry of personnel and instrumentation-something I can truly call my own.
"Versatile, articulate, and focused, they’ve got a book that keeps getting stronger, and a seriousness of purpose that goes well with their groove sense and arsenal of toys. Hollenbeck’s writing draws on modern chamber music and ethnic field recordings, and the band improvises around it fluidly." Douglas Wolk - Village Voice
The members:
Matt Moran is my percussive partner-in-crime. To my ears, Matt is the first player since Gary Burton with a new, unique, revolutionary approach to the vibraphone. He is constantly expanding the palette of the vibes using such devices as prepared piano techniques and bowing. We share a love of integrating toys into our bag of tricks to create new colors. He has incredible reflexes and an endless supply of creativity.
Ted Reichman, although in his twenties, is like the grandfather I never had. He has the versatility to make the accordion work in klezmer (with David Krakauer), free jazz (he has recorded a duo CD with Braxton), and pop (Paul Simon). More importantly for Claudia, he is a team player - willing to sacrifice his ego to make the group and its melodies sound lush.
Chris Speed has, to my ears the sweetest, purest clarinet tone on the planet. He has the uncanny ability to get his sound "inside" the ensemble, blending harmoniously with the vibes and accordion. He can read anything! He has the distinction of being both over-worked and underappreciated.
Drew Gress is my favorite bassist! I don't know of any other musician who is so comfortable with both "outside" and "inside" playing. He can instantaneously turn written notes into music - a rare trait. Also, he thinks he is funny. (me too!)