John Hollenbeck

[jkelman]

Originally Posted by xybert

[IMG]Well, it's friday night, i'm drunk on the possibilities that a couple of days off work hold and i'm listening to this album in full after giving it a rest for a few months. Before i go on, i'd just like to note that the entire album can be streamed in full on the Sunnyside Bandcamp page, here:http://sunnysidezone.com/album/eternal-interlude


That's all i've got for now. I pretty much just wanted to document in this thread that the album can be heard. Give it a try; it's free to listen and you might like it. Cheers.

Thanks for bringing this up. IMO, John is one of the unsung compositional heroes of the past decade or so. Between his solo records and Claudia Quintet, he's amassed a tremendous discography.

And he's a great player to boot...

[xybert]

Originally Posted by jkelman

And he's a great player to boot...

Sure is... apart from on his own records, i've heard him play amazingly on albums lead by Tony Malaby, Scott Fields and Bob Brookmeyer, just off the top of my head.

[xybert]

There's a new John Hollenbeck album showing up on Amazon, due out January 29th, 2013.

Songs I Like a Lot



An album of covers from what i understand. Anything released under Hollenbeck's name is cause for celebration. Can't wait.

[Ian Thumwood]

I never became aware of John Hollenbeck's music until I was given his album "Joy and desires" nearly 8-9 years ago. The experience of hearing a big band playing something so new and creative was extremely exciting and I have been keeping an eye out for his recordings ever since. The new album looks fascinating but hasn't been issued in the UK yet.

For me, the newer jazz musicians that emerged in the early 2000's was depressingly dull and the scene seemed to be swamped with Scandinavian players that were either too much geared towards pop / fusion / techno or owed too much to folk and Classical traditions. I generally welcome new developments in jazz as half the buzz is discovering music you'be never been aware of before. I would have to say that John Hollenbeck is one of the musicians who is seriously thinking about what jazz can be whilst still being loyal to it's roots. Over the last year I've also been checking out alot of David Binney and I feel exactly the same about his music. It just seems so refreshing and original yet is recognisable as jazz. It's great how the music is evolving but both Hollenbeck and Binney seem demonstrative to my ears that the next breakthroughs in jazz will be with composition. We are really living in a Golden Era of jazz composers and thinkers. More power to the likes of John Hollenbeck and his ilk!!

[xybert]

Originally Posted by Ian Thumwood

We are really living in a Golden Era of jazz composers and thinkers. More power to the likes of John Hollenbeck and his ilk!!

Hear hear!

I've really been enjoying Songs I Like A Lot. Witchita Lineman was a staple of supermarket background music and was used in a TV advertisement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHYXBQmgyjQ) when i was a kid so i have negative associations with it. Hollenbeck's version has cleansed all the negativity and miraculously made me like it!

[jkelman]

Since it's easy to do here are:

Links to my reviews of John Hollenbeck records;
Links to my reviews of Claudia Quintet records.

Not complete as other writers got to 'em, but enough to give flavor.