Bleckmann/Hollenbeck duo
"Defying categorization" has become as predictable as any of the old categories ever were. It's simply really: just reference music without committing to any of it. So how beautiful it is to hear two players who explode all boundaries with their embrace-who commit to all, and all at once...a rich and strange world of noise, motion and melody, all of it infused with wit and unerring musicality. The myriad strains are all there, from country to jungle to operatic, but they're drawn out with a tender glance, not a wink. - Mark Fefer- SEATTLE WEEKLY , USA
Bleckmann is a jazz vocalist with an amazing ear, a thorough knowledge of bebop scales, and absolutely no inhibitions, as likely to wail like a monkey off an augmented 11th chord." - the Village Voice, USA
"...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, USA
Theo Bleckmann (voice/loops) and John Hollenbeck (percussion/drums)
Two New York improvisers intimately create melodious and mercurial soundscapes. Theo and John forge an ethereal bond born of a long track record of working together on various projects. In their duo performances, they work with layering, contrast and harmony using voice, drums, percussion, found objects, low-tech electronic gadgets and toys. Static Still is their first recording on release on gpe records
They also perform together on two recordings that Hollenbeck just released on blueshift/CRI, as well as Bleckmann's latest Songlines release. Hollenbeck's CD's, quartet lucy, (also featuring Dan Willis & Skuli Sverrisson), is a union of spacious, understated ethereal, spiritual moods that reflect the influences of Brazilian and other world music folk traditions; and no images, which Gary Giddins included in his "best jazz records of the 2001" list in the Village Voice, is an eclectic composer's statement featuring an all-star team including David Liebman, Ray Anderson, Ben Monder, Ellery Eskelin, the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others. Bleckmann's most recent Songlines release and first as a leader/composer, origami, received 4½ stars from Downbeat Magazine.
John and Theo have been working in the New York jazz and improvisers scene for almost a decade performing with such greats as Anthony Braxton, Mark Dresser, Bang On a Can and Merce Cunningham Dance Company (Theo Bleckmann) and Bob Brookmeyer, David Liebman, Cuong Vu and Mark Morris Dance Group (John Hollenbeck). They have been performing as a duo since 1997, appearing throughout the US and Europe. Both are currently touring the US in Meredith Monk and Ann Hamilton's latest music theater piece, Mercy.
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