NEWS
February 03 2010
“This is John Hollenbeck, reporting from the Grammys”
What? huh? That doesn’t sound right…
Well, true dat, son!
My Large Ensemble Recording, eternal interlude was nominated for a Grammy this year. And not only that, but I actually went to the festivities! Theo Bleckman, my great friend (and fellow nominee) was thinking of going and so I thought I would take Kate, my lovely wife…once she found out Lady Gaga was performing, she was going!!!
Ever the frugal traveler, I came up with a master plan that involved
taking the train (yes, there is a train!) from LAX directly to the LA Convention Center to pick up our tickets which we had to do before 10pm on Saturday. I was curious about the rail line and I’m here to say, it was cool, cheap and efficient! I enjoyed the irony of taking the train to pick-up tickets for the Grammys. And we still had time to go to The Nickel Diner (highly recommended!) before the night was over!
On Grammy day, after an important visit to the hair salon for an „updo“ (my new favorite word), we took a very quick limo (by now I realized that most girls probably don’t want to go the Grammys in a train) ride to the LA Convention for the pre-telecast ceremony. We got there unfashionably early, before the red carpet was unfurled, so we missed out on that experience, but we got good seats! (we saved seats for Theo and his best dude, Preston).
As soon as we got there, we realized one of the best parts of this shindig is people watching! From kimonos to something resembling an aluminum foil balloon-miniskirt…the other attendees were dressed to the nines (I did unfortunately see one of those tuxedo tee shirts that were „in“ for a second in 80’s geekdom). The pre-telecast is a long affair: 3 hours, 99 categories with 4 performances in between. Kurt Elling and Tia Carrere (from Wayne’s World and most recently,Richard’s girlfriend on Curb your enthusiasm.) ably hosted the show, not an easy task. Except for one women sitting next to Preston, who seemed to know and love every nominee, most people seemed dead or even just split when it was wasn’t a category they were interested in. Maxwell and Taylor Swift were the only big new stars who showed up to gather their awards.
Soon after the gospel categories (“Thank you Jesus”...), the jazz categories came. When my category (large ensemble #45) was called, rows and I mean ROWS of uninterested people (I think it was mostly the girls in the balloon outfits) split like there was a fire - not a good sign for “America’s music.” Fully ready to lose to the late-great Bob Florence, I was surprised that Mick Fleetwood (yes you heard that right) announced „The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra“, although if it was based on audience applause, the UNT Jazz Band (I didn’t even know that a student band would be eligible, gee I wonder if any UNT alumni voted for them?) would have won, because I think the whole band was there! I have not heard the NOJO album, nor do I know anyone who has heard it…weird. I remember trying to find clips or info on it a few weeks ago and I could not find anything. So how does an album win when you can’t find any info on it or hear it?
(„I’m not angry, I’m just pointing!“) But after what those particular musicians have gone through, I would give them a bunch of Grammys if it helps them…maybe others felt the same?
After jazz, folk, country categories and a great performance by Kurt Elling and Lalah Hathaway it was time for the exciting classical categories….even more people split or just went comatose,
(even the enthusiastic lady took a breather here). Most of the classical people were not present and that kind of puts a damper on things…(maybe they could drop some hints to some people to get them to show up: “dude, are you going to the grammys? are you sure? dude, you might want to go-I have a good feeling you will enjoy parts of it, especially the awards ceremony part.”)
Theo and Kneebody were in the tough „crossover“ category. Yo-Yo probably always wins just for his great name, who doesn’t like a good Yo-Yo?
Things got more exciting for rap, pop, etc., but by that time everybody was tired and hungry. Plus after you win, you don’t go back to your seat but to the media area, so as the ceremony goes on most of the „audience“ consists of the “losers” - that is a definite vibe-kill.
As we exited, Theo talked briefly to his next “new best friend”, Imogen Heap (think „Beyonce for geeks“), who was decked out in something that resembled a large dog collar, which was in fact her “twitter feed” attached to a transparent plastic iphone carrier with matching umbrella…it actually looked a lot cooler than my description of it.
We quickly made our way over to the Staples Center for the televised event where most people gorged themselves on expensive hotdogs and pretzels and $5 water in the lobby. Those who know me, know I didn’t go for the dogs.
Now the “famous people” watching really started! It was fun to be near so many people I have only seen on the screen! I enjoyed a lot of the show, the theatrics of it and was in awe of the logistical end of things. Except for one mic that didn’t come on in time, I did not notice any snafus, and there were some pretty risky things: mid-air acrobatics, fire, not to mention Gaga’s very pointy, scary Gumby-like outfit (I would love to see her try to get on a flight with that thing….not to give anybody any ideas, but instead bringing a knife, why not wear a big “knife hat”?)
To me (and Preston, Kate, Theo) Pink was by far the most amazing part of the evening. She sang a very nice, understated song, while simultaneously doing Cirque de Soleil acrobatics in a silk curtain hanging and moving over „the famous people“. Then she got totally soaked in water (I hope it was water) and let it sprinkle down on „the famous people“ as she whirled and twirled and spun to ultimately land perfectly and walk off the stage, ending the only subtle, truly magically event all evening.
And speaking of the lack of understatement, my biggest pet peeve with the event was that this is supposed to be an organization about the recording arts and music yet there were multiple times when the music was deafening and painful. Why so loud?
More „yuck“ moments (anything involving Taylor….“Oh my god, this is the first time I won a Grammy!....Oh my god, this is the first time I walked up the stairs to get a Grammy…. Oh my god, who is this lady singing with me? My grandmother? Should I be harmonizing and blending with her? Oh my god! I hope that mean African guy is not here again!”)
Bon Jovi - yawn, Green Day – hackneyed - yawn.
On the other hand, Eminem’s flaccid…...rhythms and precise enunciations were awesome, who knew he was also cursing? I hope he does one of those slowed down Texas rap albums, so I can actually get some of those bad words. Also memorable was Stephen Colbert who was hilarious as always (although I think he might be having an affair with his daughter…)
There were some great drummers! (and Travis Barker was there too!) and Carter Beauford, no wait is that Dennis Chambers?, no it is Carter. Chris Dave! I spent a day last week writing an open letter to him in the form of a string quartet piece (with drums of course)...he is so groovy. Does Beyonce need two drummers? („Ok, I’ll play the backbeat, oh you are already doing that….OK, I’ll play the hihat, oh you are already doing that….ok, I’ll play the same rhythms as you but on MY drumset…..damn I was gonna play that fill!“) I SAW alot of horns on stage, but didn’t really hear them.
The deafening music came back for the „after party“ - the music was so loud, I had to yell into Kate’s ear to say anything. Maybe I sound like a cranky old man, but that is just wrong! While disoriented by the loud music, I ran into the wall-skyscraper called Robert Horry (former NBA star). I doubt he looked down to see me, but he did feel the presence of something in front of him and waited patiently while I decided which way to move so that I was not in front of him anymore (“should I go towards 33rd Street or 34th Street?”)
The evening ended with „the presentation of the Gift Bag“, which was a disappointment for me personally because it only contained womanly hair products. Tia Carrere was in line with us and Kate complimented her on her emceeing abilities which she was happy to hear.
Grammys?...check! (been there, done that). Now if I could just get a gig at the Newport Jazz Festival, my life would be complete!
December 24 2009
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Eternal Interlude (Sunnyside Records)
Calling the drummer-composer John Hollenbeck a jazz musician is like referring to Thom Yorke as a mere rock and roll crooner. It seems a rather narrow description for someone with such prodigious talents and ambitions. Mr. Hollenbeck writes pieces for his large ensemble that are almost symphonic. They share a lot with the more ecstatic strains of contemporary classic music, the kind practiced by John Adams and the drummer’s longtime employer, Meredith Monk. And yet if David Binney is a jazz musician then so is Mr. Hollenbeck. They are both reinvigorating the art form with influences from the broader culture. Jazz needs more of this.
December 24 2009
NY TIMES
December 20, 2009
Notable Dispatches From the Edge of Jazz and Beyond
By BEN RATLIFF
1. VIJAY IYER TRIO “Historicity” (ACT) Those who admire a lot of jazz want historical synthesis like a child of divorced parents wants a family reunion. Why can’t there be a new jazz trio that does it all — one that’s flexible, intuitive and strategic, not lugubrious, arid or jammy-boring, and a repository of postwar piano-trio lessons, from Ahmad Jamal to free jazz and beyond? And why can’t it go hard into repertory, covering M.I.A., Leonard Bernstein, Julius Hemphill, Stevie Wonder and Andrew Hill? Well, there is, and it can, and it did.
2. BILL CALLAHAN “Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle” (Drag City) On a good day Bill Callahan can send a lot of lyricists to the showers, and this was a good day. Past his old bile now, he’s moved into tough love and pared-down insight over a beautiful, stubborn kind of post-folk, sweetened with strings.
3. MARCUS STRICKLAND TRIO “Idiosyncrasies” (Strick Muzik) A bright and sturdy saxophone-trio record — tenor, bass and drums — by a young musician who’s absorbed his Joe Henderson and Branford Marsalis yet never sounds overstudied.
4. WILLEM MAKER “New Moon Hand” (Big Legal Mess) Tempest-tossed slow rock and country blues, played in shimmers and drones, grunts and hollers, by a young but old-sounding southerner. Fans of “Beggars Banquet” and Charley Patton, take note.
5. STEVE LEHMAN OCTET “Travail, Transformation and Flow” (Pi) An almost scientifically precise kind of jazz, with influences as far apart as post-bop, hip-hop, and the “spectral” classical composers of the 1970s and ’80s, focused on timbre and the physics of sound. Don’t worry about what it comes from, though: it’s luminous, and easy to admire.
6. JOHN HOLLENBECK LARGE ENSEMBLE “Eternal Interlude” (Sunnyside) Profound, imaginative, well-developed pieces for 20 musicians, grown out of jazz and classical music, built around soloists but never subservient to them. As a big-band jazz composer, Mr. Hollenbeck was already good; now he’s become great.
7. NELLIE MCKAY “Normal as Blueberry Pie” (Verve). To look at its cover, you might assume this record has something to do with animal rights, 1950s fashion or Doris Day, to whom it’s conceived as a tribute. But don’t get it wrong. This ranks among the killer overhauls of American standards, with sharply original arrangements mostly by the singer-pianist-ukulelist herself.
8. DIRTY PROJECTORS “Bitte Orca” (Domino). David Longstreth’s falsetto isn’t very beautiful, and his distrust of the organic, continuous groove is almost tiringly up on stilts. But what a natural guitarist he is; what pleasure this group pulls out of harmony and counterpoint; and what a tense, powerful band it has become: the playing strains to match the ideas and just about does.
9. KURT ROSENWINKEL STANDARDS TRIO “Reflections” (Word of Mouth Music). When an improviser at this guitarist’s level turns his hand to the common jazz-musician repertory — Monk, Wayne Shorter, etc. — it’s an act of generosity. It helps you to understand both his original craft and intensity and the power of the old songs themselves.
10. RAEKWON “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ... Pt II” (IceH2O/EMI). Here’s an argument against stylistic evolution in art, in the unlikely case you were shopping for one. It picks up where Raekwon left off 14 years ago, when he and the Wu-Tang Clan collective created a vogue for fractured, word-stuffed, street-scuffed hip-hop mind-movies full of primal fear and misplaced anger.
December 24 2009
Pop & Hiss
THE L.A. TIMES MUSIC BLOG
Solid choices in Grammy jazz nominations
December 2, 2009 | 8:28 pm
Allen Toussaint’s ‘Bright Mississippi’ is in the running in the best instrumental album category. The Bay Area’s Julian Lage is one of the contemporary nominees, as is veteran Mike Stern.
Grammy voters might have made some baffling choices this year (seriously, Hall & Oates?), but not when it came to the jazz categories.
Though there was speculation that Allen Toussaint’s “The Bright Mississippi” might sneak into the major categories with its rich, reverent take on the classic sound of New Orleans, the album instead was nominated in the best jazz instrumental album category.
There it will compete against the John Patitucci Trio’s “Remembrance” and a pair of solid if not entirely groundbreaking live albums from Gary Burton teamed with Pat Metheny, in addition to the Chick Corea and John McLaughlin reunion, “Five Peace Band Live.”
In the contemporary jazz category, veteran fusion guitarist Mike Stern earned a nomination for “Big Neighborhood,” a sprawling, adventurous record that featured such guests as Esperanza Spalding, Steve Vai and Medeski Martin & Wood. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris also earned a nomination for his hip-hop-friendly Blackout ensemble’s “Urbanus.”
A welcome surprise in this category was the inclusion of Bay Area guitar phenom Julian Lage, who earned a nomination for his contemplative, acoustic-leaning debut “Sounding Point.” But all will have a tough time competing against the Grammy tradition of honoring artists who recently died, in this case Joe Zawinul and the Zawinul Syndicate’s final live recording, “75.”
The John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble’s “Eternal Interlude” marked another unexpected choice by Grammy voters in the large jazz ensemble category. The drummer for the genre-splicing New York jazz group the Claudia Quintet, Hollenbeck delivers anything but a typical big band sound with the Ensemble—their music is full of swirling rhythms and classical-adjacent song structures.
Chris Barton
December 02 2009
John Hollenbeck and the Claudia Quintet with special guest Gary Versace
premiere new works from their Chamber Music America’s 2009 New Jazz Works Grant.
Commissioning and Ensemble Development program funded through the generosity
of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Claudia Quintet +1
John Hollenbeck, drums + percussion
Chris Speed, tenor saxophone
Matt Moran, vibraphone
Ted Reichman, accordion
Drew Gress, double-bass
Gary Versace, piano
December 6th Ars Nova Workshop Philadelphia, PA
December 7th Towson State Towson, MD
December 13th Douglass Street Music Collective Brooklyn, NY
December 31st Emmanual Church “First Night” Event Boston, MA
January 9th Winter Jazz Fest NYC Bitter End 9:45pm NYC
details:
December 6
Ars Nova Workshop Philadelphia, PA
International House Philadelphia
3701 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104 Map
http://www.ihousephilly.org
Price: $12 General Admission
Buy Tickets
http://www.arsnovaworkshop.org/events/claudia-quintet-1-12-06-2009
December 7
Towson State Towson, MD
Center for the Arts Recital Hall
Monday, December 7, 8:15 p.m.
The Bill and Helen Murray Jazz Residency Program
presents drummer and composer John Hollenbeck in the initial event of his week-long residency.
All proceeds will benefit the Bill and Helen Murray Jazz Residency.
Tickets: $13 general admission; $7 seniors; $5 students
http://www.towson.edu/artscalendar/music.asp
December 13
Douglass Street Music Collective Brooklyn, NY
295 Douglass Street
Brooklyn, NY
9pm (One Set)
$10 suggested donation
December 31
First Church in Boston “First Night” Event
66 Marlborough Street
set times:
9:00 PM - 9:45 PM , 10:15 PM - 11:00 PM
(with Trevor Dunn and Matt Mitchell)
http://www.firstnight.org/FirstNight2010/Events/Evening.aspx
2010
January 9
Winter Jazz Fest NYC
Bitter End 9:45pm
147 Bleeker Street NYC
http://www.winterjazzfest.com/2010nycwinterjazzfest/2010pressrelease.html
“This is a true ensemble from top to bottom, a sonic equivalent to a hand-woven tapestry…Impressive.” -DownBeat
This brilliant New York band led by drummer and composer John Hollenbeck - a leader of a new generation of musicians who have brought together many disparate threads of contemporary music to create a new sound - recasts jazz in shimmering new shapes inflected by classical minimalism, new music, progressive rock and post-rock. The Claudia Quintet embraces the textural freedom of electronic sounds and improvisation, the structural ambition of contemporary classical music, and most importantly, the joy of bodacious grooves and unapologetically gorgeous melodies. For this ensemble, Hollenbeck has assembled a group of the foremost innovators in this new sound to create a powerhouse band. The quintet’s one-of-a-kind “jazz and beyond” sound, with massive emotional depth, comes organically from the uncanny interplay of its virtuosos: Drew Gress (John Surman, Uri Caine, Ravi Coltrane), Matt Moran (Slavic Soul Party, Mat Maneri, Theo Bleckmann), Ted Reichman (Anthony Braxton, Marc Ribot, Paul Simon), and Chris Speed (Human Feel, Bloodcount, AlasNoAxis), accompanied by guest pianist Gary Versace, best known for his work with John Scofield, John Abercrombie and Maria Schneider. Their beautifully seductive work features propulsive grooves, catchy melodies and improvisation that is nothing short of telepathic.
October 01 2009
Hi all!
Welcome to my new website:courtesy of Greg Aker (programmer) and karlssonwilker (designers). We are still tweaking and adding content, so feel free to give us some input.
My first website was a homemade job that turned into a big messy monster, so I’m very happy to have this clean, new site.
While we get the DATES page up, here are my upcoming performances
October
1 Refuge Trio Stimmenfang Festival Nuremburg, GERMANY
2 Refuge Trio Freistadt, AUSTRIA
3 Refuge Trio Porgy and Bess, Vienna, AUSTRIA
5 Refuge Trio Helsinki, FINLAND
6 Refuge Trio Turku, FINLAND
7 Future Quest DRESDNER FESTIVAL DER ZEITGENÖSSISCHEN MUSIKEN http://www.hellerau.org Dresden, GERMANY
8 Refuge Trio Katowice, POLAND
19-25 Meredith Monk Ensemble Songs of Ascension Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY
26-Nov. 2 The Claudia Quintet with special guest, Gary Versace-piano
26 Clovis High School Clovis, CA
27 UC Northridge LA, CA
28 RedCat LA, CA
29 U of Nevada Reno
30 Williamette College Oregon
31 Portland, Oregon
November
1 Earshot Festival Seattle, WA
14-16 Meredith Monk ECM Recording
30 eternal interlude cd release gig at LPR, (NYC) also featuring Future Quest and Todd Reynolds performing selections from Rainbow Jimmies
December
6 The Claudia Quintet with special guest, Gary Versace-piano Philadelphia, PA
7-11 Towson State Residency
7 The Claudia Quintet with special guest, Gary Versace-piano Towson State, MD
14-16 CQ Recording Session
Peace,
John
August 22 2009
August
27 The Claudia Quintet Palmengarten, Frankfurt, GERMANY
28 The Claudia Quintet Kulturzentrum Gems Singen, GERMANY
29 The Claudia Quintet Zomer Fiets Tour Barn Dick Feerwerd NL http://www.zjft.nl/2009/pages/english/index.php
30 with Angelika Sheridan - fl., bassfl., Ulrike Storz - viol. , Scott Roller - cello, John Hollenbeck - drums Loft, Koln, GERMANY
September
11 Future Quest re-imagining the music of Meredith Monk Theo Bleckmann Ellery Eskelin John Hollenbeck Tony Malaby Gary Versace Cornelia Street Cafe NY, NY
13 The Claudia Quintet with special guest, Gary Versace-piano
25 Theo Bleckmann/John Hollenbeck Duo New Languages Festival
26 Theo Bleckmann/John Hollenbeck Duo Bennington College, VT
October
1 Refuge Trio Stimmenfang Festival Nuremburg, GERMANY
2 Refuge Trio Freistadt, AUSTRIA
3 Refuge Trio Porgy and Bess, Vienna, AUSTRIA
5 Refuge Trio Helsinki, FINLAND
6 Refuge Trio Turku, FINLAND
7 Future Quest DRESDNER FESTIVAL DER ZEITGENÖSSISCHEN MUSIKEN http://www.hellerau.org Dresden, GERMANY
8 Refuge Trio Katowice, POLAND
19-25 Meredith Monk Ensemble Songs of Ascension Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY
26-Nov. 2 The Claudia Quintet with special guest, Gary Versace-piano
26 Clovis High School Clovis, CA
27 UC Northridge LA, CA
28 RedCat LA, CA
29 U of Nevada Reno
30 Williamette College Oregon
31 Portland, Oregon
November
1 Earshot Festival Seattle, WA
14-16 Meredith Monk ECM Recording
30 eternal interlude cd release gig at LPR, (NYC) also featuring Future Quest and Todd Reynolds performing selections from Rainbow Jimmies
December
6 The Claudia Quintet with special guest, Gary Versace-piano Philadelphia, PA
7-11 Towson State Residency
7 The Claudia Quintet with special guest, Gary Versace-piano Towson State, MD
14-16 CQ Recording Session
August 18 2009
JOHN HOLLENBECK LARGE ENSEMBLE, LED BY THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED COMPOSER/PERCUSSIONIST, CELEBRATES NEW SUNNYSIDE CD ETERNAL INTERLUDE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 AT Le Poisson Rouge
• Celebration Includes Todd Reynolds playing music from Hollenbeck’s Rainbow Jimmies CD; Hollenbeck’s Future Quest playing the music of Meredith Monk; and the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble featuring Theo Bleckmann, Gary Versace, Tony Malaby, Ellery Eskelin and others *
Join composer/percussionist/bandleader John Hollenbeck as he celebrates the release of his new Sunnyside CD eternal interlude, with a three-tiered musical feast on Monday, November 30 at Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleeker Street, New York. The evening begins at 8 p.m. (212) 228-4854. http://www.lepoissonrouge.com
The celebration will include performances by:
• Violinist/composer Todd Reynolds playing music from Hollenbeck’s recent Rainbow Jimmies CD on GPE Records
• Hollenbeck and Theo Bleckmann’s Future Quest group — Hollenbeck, Bleckmann, Gary Versace, Ellery Eskelin and Tony Malaby — playing the music of Meredith Monk
• The John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble featuring 20 of the city’s top musicians: Hollenbeck, Bleckmann, Versace, Eskelin, Malaby, Kermit Driscoll, Jacob Garchik, Alan Ferber, Matt Moran and Tony Kadleck.
John Hollenbeck is one of the rare artists who have mastered the tradition of big band composition while crossing aesthetic borderlines and speaking directly to the time we live in today. eternal interlude, the follow-up to the Grammy-nominated “A Blessing” and the second CD by John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, is an audacious example of the power of big band jazz to express emotions well beyond swing-era clichés. The CD was released August 18 on Sunnyside.
Hollenbeck’s music is a daring mix of pure, heart-on-sleeve lyricism and robust rhythmic propulsion, and eternal interlude is earning acclaim for its rich, panoramic orchestral textures as well as its members’ powerful individual voices. As Nate Chinen said in the New York Times: “The drummer and composer John Hollenbeck inhabits a world of gleaming modernity, and “Eternal Interlude” (Sunnyside), the second album featuring his Large Ensemble, reflects both the clarity and brightness of his vision.”
Hollenbeck’s twenty-piece ensemble consists of top New York musicians, like regular Hollenbeck bandmates Matt Moran (Claudia Quintet), Gary Versace (Refuge Trio) and Theo Bleckmann (Refuge Trio). Other featured players include saxophonists Tony Malaby and Ellery Eskelin, trombonist Jacob Garchik and bassist Kermit Driscoll. Unlike most contemporary big bands, this is no random agglomeration of freelancers - the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble is an actual band. Practically all of the musicians appeared on “A Blessing,” and continue to perform with the Ensemble in concert.
March 24 2009
This is John….among other duties(like composer and drummer) I’m usually the van driver. Welcome to our myspace page! I’m still a virgin myspacer, so feel free to let me in on any myspace hipster info. The main reason why I’m taking the time to do maintain this space is, that I believe in this band and would like more people to hear us. We have been together for 9 years and throughout that time we have forge a strong musical and personal bond.
I think you can hear this. In the jazz/creative/etc. world a long-lasting “band” is a unique entity, so listener support and interaction really helps us keep it going.
Peace,
John