"John is one of the most brilliant musicians I've had the privilege of working with."   Meredith Monk

"John is taking drumming to a new place-[he] is moving right along and carving his own niche."

 Bob Brookmeyer

"John Hollenbeck is one of the most efficient, well-rounded percussionists to come along in recent years."   Dave Liebman

"Percussionist-composer John Hollenbeck is among the new skinsmen with enough raw skill to make his estimable melodic gifts serve his impeccable timing."   K. Leander Williams - Time Out/NY

"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

"...superb, technically ingenious...,passionate and serious, but also playful and funny..."   Douglas Wolk - Village Voice

"...It's sensitive, thinking music, continually changing shape and texture; Mr. Hollenbeck is an estimable jazz drummer whose goals clearly lie beyond jazz."    Ben Ratliff - New York Times

"Drummer-percussionist John Hollenbeck is fast becoming the downtown bandleader to watch.  His

 compositions flow sinuously from one avant-sound world to another, and he has great taste in sidemen, too."   K. Leander Williams - TimeOut/NY

"Percussionist Hollenbeck's pieces employ pulse and its illustrative variants to such a degree that eddies of sound are often created"  Jim Macnie - Village Voice

"...beautiful counterpoint..."  Christopher Porter - Washington Post

"...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    

 

 

The Chicago Tribune April 5, 2002

Claudia Quintet experiments are easy on the ear

By Howard Reich

Innovative jazz does not have to be harsh, angry, loud, shrill or grating; it can be delicate, witty, ethereal and radiantly lyric, as the Claudia Quintet pointed out Wednesday evening in the Chicago Cultural Center.

Led by versatile percussionist John Hollenbeck, the quintet made its Chicago debut with an original and stylistically wide-ranging repertoire that surely shattered some listeners' assumptions about the nature of jazz experimentation. The band reveled in unusual harmony, unorthodox instrumentation and unconventional structure, but the music addressed the ear gently.

There was substance and ingenuity to these scores as well, for the quintet delved into neo-baroque fugal writing, African and Middle Eastern melody and classical chamber music techniques. Yet Hollenbeck and friends elegantly merged these, and other, sources of inspiration. From the opening notes of "The Arabic Tune," it was clear that this band was not going to waste a note. In the gripping introduction to the work, Hollenbeck and Matt Moran shared a single, telegraphic line on vibes, instantly establishing an air of rhythmic tension and melodic expectation.

If this ostinato recalled the minimalism of Philip Glass, Hollenbeck's music quickly transcended the limitations of that idiom, for the score soon blossomed, with exquisite blending of tone from Moran's vibes, Chris Speed's clarinet and Chris Dahlgren's acoustic bass.

The comparatively hard backbeats that Hollenbeck produced on the next work may have abruptly altered the sound of the ensemble, yet Speed's outrageously bent pitches and charismatic, muscular lines required no less. With the rest of the quintet firmly supporting the two, the ensemble once again was producing a unanimity of tone and gesture.

Ultimately, every piece showed a different facet of the group's art. The canonic opening of a medium-tempo work attested to the skill of Hollenbeck's writing, while the sustained lyricism all the players produced in the ballad "Love Song for Kate" represented the kind of unabashed melodicism one does not often encounter from musicians as adventurous as these. And in "Adawa," the band transformed a ceremonial African folkloric tune into a joyously uptempo ensemble piece, complete with rhapsodic accordion solo from Ted Reichman.

The tour de force came with "No D," a masterfully constructed composition that opened with a stunning, Gene Krupa-like solo from Hollenbeck. After this eruption, the rest of the band leaped into the fray, each pursuing a fiercely independent line.

That an ensemble this young could pull off such intricately scored writing said a great deal about the players' commitment to Hollenbeck's ideas. Equally important, the quintet was led by a percussionist who proved as accomplished with a pen as he is with a pair of sticks. And though Hollenbeck played impeccably well, rarely placing himself at the center of the action, the band and the tunes always came first.

 

 CODA MAGAZINE-FALL 2002

John Hollenbeck
No Images
Composers Recordings CD2002

John Hollenbeck
Quartet Lucy
Composers Recordings CD2003

John Hollenbeck
The Claudia Quintet
Composers Recordings CD2004

Drummer John Hollenbeck has a widely varied musical background, and his first three recordings as a leader capture a large part of it, while maintaining some stylistic threads that reassure that he’s more than a musical magpie. Hollenbeck’s credentials include stints with fellow Eastman School of Music grad Maria Schneider’s orchestra, Klezmer Madness, Brazilian pianist Pablo Ziegler and Bob Brookmeyer’s New Art Orchestra. Brookmeyer is a major compositional influence, and Hollenbeck has won both commissions and awards, including the prestigious Gil Evans Fellowship from the International Association of Jazz Educators. Balancing that academic cred is the fact that he’s also participated in a number of small groups that dominate the hardscrabble scene in New York’s East Village. Is it any wonder that these three projects cover such a broad spectrum of contemporary sound?

No Images is something of a valedictory statement, recorded primarily in 1995, and partially conceived while Hollenbeck was finishing his degree at Eastman. As the title suggests, the recording deals with themes of sight and perception. The title piece, the sole performance from 2001, is based on a stark poem by Waring Cuney about the death of dreams and played by directing a small electric fan at an old autoharp. The sound shimmers and shifts like metallic guitar feedback, with the occasional plucked string breaking the sonic haze like notes on a hammered dulcimer.

The centerpiece of No Images is a 25-minute tour de force built around a sermon by Martin Luther King about the perils of what he terms “The Drum Major Instinct”. The trombone trio of Ray Anderson, David Taylor and Tim Sessions acts as both a chorus, echoing and emphasizing King’s distinctive speech patterns, and as vocal parishioners shouting encouragement and agreement to the preacher. Remarkably, Hollenbeck claims that he was unfamiliar with Max Roach’s Chattahoochie Red, which makes similar use of King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. As if the challenge of improvising around King’s mesmerizing cadences wasn’t enough, Hollenbeck ups the ante by making the musicians work in the dark, so King’s voice becomes the sole focus of their attention. It’s a stirring performance that actually manages to surpass Roach’s for drama and passion.

The three-part chorus is also the basis for the opening “Bluegreenyellow”, which assigns colours to the tenor saxophones of Dave Liebman, Ellery Eskelin and Rick Dimuzio. It marks Liebman’s return to tenor after years of concentration on soprano, and he sounds like he never put the horn down.

Liebman and Eskelin return to duet with Hollenbeck on two rousing sets of six improvisations each, while the remaining piece marks the initial meeting of the formidable trio of Hollenbeck, guitarist Ben Monder and the remarkable vocalist Theo Bleckmann.

No Images is an exceptional debut recording — one that might have been a hard act to follow had Hollenbeck released it six years ago. Followed by the first recordings by his two current working bands — Quartet Lucy, with Bleckmann, saxophonist Dan Willis and bassist Skuli Sverrison, and The Claudia Quintet, with reed player Chris Speed, accordionist Ted Reichman, vibist Matt Moran and bassist Drew Gress — No Images sounds like a promise fulfilled.

The Quartet Lucy recording is as filled with the ethereal voice of Bleckmann almost as much as the singer’s two recordings as leader, with added textures like Willis’ English horn, berimbau and cello. Hollenbeck’s Brazilian influences are much in evidence, and he frequently eschews a drum kit for hand percussion.

The music of Old And New Dreams and Codona are two other touchstones, particularly on “Foreva” with its taut bassline, textured sax and wordless, percussive vocals. Like Don Cherry, Hollenbeck seems drawn to exotic rhythms and singsong phrases, and he weaves it all into a form that defies characterization as jazz, new music or anything else. As on his own recordings, Bleckmann is a fearless singer, willing to stitch together improbable techniques, like the combination of Gregorian chant and throat singing that is the backbone of the closing “The Meaning Of Life”.

Meditative and moving, Quartet Lucy is on the short side at a shade under 50 minutes, but there is much to savour here.

The Claudia Quintet is the most unified sounding of Hollenbeck’s three recordings, filled with music of long tones and small gestures that rewards close listening. Speed, Moran and Reichman are all capable of drawing a variety of sounds from their instruments, and compositions like “Thursday 11:14 p.m. (grey)” find them in deep conversation with hushed tones and muted expression. Gress is the centre of much of the music, often providing the sole melodic element while the other instruments create texture.

As a percussionist-composer, Hollenbeck is relatively unique. With the exception of some of the raucous pieces on No Images, his music glistens more than anything else. Rhythm is frequently subordinate to colour — from the manipulated autoharp on “No Images” to the combined accordion and vibes in Claudia.

Seldom has a young musician given listeners so much to chew on at one time. These three recordings represent an impressive introduction for anyone who hasn’t already encountered Hollenbeck.

James Hale
 

 

Downbeat Magazine October 2002

John Hollenbeck
The Claudia Quintet
Blueshift/CRI 2004

Drummer John Hollenbeck has traveled among jazz, contemporary classical and pan-ethnic folk music with the agility of a seasoned commuter on the New York City subway. Recently, he's worked in composer Meredith Monk's ensemble, clarinetist David Krakauer's klezmer bands, and the Village Vanguard Orchestra. Hollenbecks own discs throughout the past few years show how much he's gained from these multifaceted associations. The Claudia Quintet is the most remarkable of these recordings because it features a spirited working band that becomes an ideal instrument for his compositions.

The other musicians in the quintet reflect Hollenbeck's own versatile journeys. Accordionist Ted Reichman, reedist Chris Speed and vibraphonist Matt Moran also work together in the Balkan-meets-swing Slavic Soul Party. Speed and bassist Drew Gress have also collaborated with such resourceful global jazz explorers as Dave Douglas. While the group undoubtedly draws from these diverse experiences, no influence becomes too obvious. For instance, without playing a generic tango beat, Reichman channels the melodic gravity that the Argentinean idiom has lent his instrument.

Some of Hollenbeck's songs initially echo modern chamber music-"'a-b-s-t-i-n-e-n-c-e" and "Love Song For Kate"-before constantly surprising shifts turn everything around. An extended musical conversation between Speed and Reichman on "Thursday 7:30pm" is redirected through Hollenbeck and Gress' interjections. At other times, the drummer would appear to play a contrasting rhythm from the rest of the group, but its really the ostensible digression that ties them all together. Frequently, the bandleader just makes his presence heard with a few succinct cymbal runs.

Hollenbeck's unassuming leadership offers his band members several ideal opportunities to present their own ideas. Speed goes from the long serene clarinet lines on "Love Song For
Kate" to a honking and squawking tenor on "Burt And Ken." Moran must have also had fun
playing with the vibraphone's pitches on "Thursday 11:14am." At one point, he just lets
the notes linger up in a range that would make a pet dog go apeshit.  -Aaron Cohen

                              

                                                                                                           

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