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FOR

The Claudia Quintet

2007, Cuneiform Records

FOR

Chris Speed  clarinet, tenor saxophone
Matt Moran  vibraphone, vocals/lyrics (6)
Ted Reichman  accordion
Drew Gress  acoustic bass
John Hollenbeck  drums, comp., e-tape prep. (6)


“It’s curious, and sometimes lightly funny without sour, satiric edges. It doesn’t need alignments with jazz or rock or anything else to vindicate itself.”
-Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

“Though this combination of instruments and this blend of styles are hardly obvious, the band now sounds so thoroughly integrated and seamless that you’d think it was a tenor-trumpet quintet or a 16-piece big band. You can almost imagine other clarinet/vibes/accordion groups springing up in its wake. Yet how many would have jazz soloists as imposing and inventive as Speed and Gress, or a composer as fiendish, playful, and patient as Hollenbeck? Few. Or, actually, none. Though I encourage folks to give it a go. The Claudia Quintet, inimitable, deserves to inspire.” –Will Layman, PopMatters

FOR

“Drummer John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet has created a sound. Let’s not call it jazz, or chamber music, or rock for that matter. It is the Claudia sound, period.” –Mark Corroto, All About Jazz

 

“No matter how dark the music gets—and this album has a more muscular urgency than previous ones (and some powerful solos)—light, beauty and a sense of well-being always seemready to emerge. Conversely, as chipper and optimistic as the music becomes, you never feel some easy, new-age solution is being offered…4-stars” –Paul de Barros, DownBeat