JOHN HOLLENBECK Triple Bill @ Le Poisson Rouge, Nov 30, 2009
NOV 30, 2009 -- W. VILLAGE: What better way to get to know a composer and performer than to see them perform three sets with three completely different groups? And while you're at it, why not put it in a hip club with state of the art acoustics? How about free liquor and food in the next room? No, this is not a fever-induced dream I had last night, this was John Hollenbeck at (Le) Poisson Rouge. From this point on in the article I will refer to (Le) Poisson Rouge as LPR to avoid sounding extremely pretentious.
The first group to open the show was Hollenbeck, Reynolds, Moran trio featuring Hollenbeck's original tunes. With Hollenbeck mostly on drum set, Todd Reynolds on violin, and Matt Moran on vibraphone, the instrumentation set the mood for chamber music for the whole night. The tunes were incredibly vivid in their imagery. Hollenbeck's ability to paint with the drums is striking and Reynolds was a complete virtuoso violinist.
The music was written while Hollenbeck was at an arts retreat in the Adirondack Mountains. The inspiration of nature is definitely apparent in the tunes with titles like "Lost in Fog," "Getting Chilly," "My Deer," and the ironic but telling "Tax Penalty Payment Approaching."
Next up was the group Future Quest performing the music of Meredith Monk. This was also my first time hearing Monk's (Hollenbeck called her "The Other Monk") compositions. This group was a quintet with Hollenbeck on drums, Gary Versace on organ and piano, Ellery Eskelin on soprano sax, Tony Malaby on tenor sax, and Theo Bleckmann on voice and electronics. Bleckmann, the consummate entertainer made his entrance on to the stage in the middle of the first tune, waltzing (literally) through the audience with an invisible partner. Again the tone was set: everything about this portion of the show was carefully considered and intentionally off balance. The fact that Meredith Monk herself was in the audience probably helped to raise the stakes for the performers.
Again Hollenbeck showed off his versatility and minimalist esthetic throughout the set. The drums didn't enter with anything close to a beat until the middle of the 2nd tune, which carried huge impact. He uses the drums every way imaginable, including as a melody instrument. At one point he held a microphone up to each cymbal to amplify the pitched overtones of each one. There's only one word to describe Gary Versace: intensity. Whether he was playing a mind-blowingly technical obligato part or a single note, the keyboardist treated each with complete focus and fanaticism. Both Eskelin and Malaby sounded great, and traded off with Bleckmann. interpreting melodies. One interesting thing is that for the entirety of this show (both with Future Quest and big band) Theo Bleckmann sang no words, only syllables. It was eye opening to hear how much expression and creative control he had just by choosing to sing on an "E" vs. an "Oh" sound, and so on. I would be interested to know if Hollenbeck had a hand in these decisions or not.
The final set of the night was the main event, as it was actually the CD release party for the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble's Eternal Interlude (Sunnyside). Both Bleckmann and Matt Moran joined the standard big band instrumentation, along with Ellery Eskelin as a 6th sax on the composition "Perseverance."
Hollenbeck's approach to large ensemble writing is not so different from his writing for small group; he treats the whole group in the way he treats his drum set - a palate of colors and textures for him to play with. One section that pointed to this was during "Perseverance," when the band subtly transitioned from a drum solo to a moment of collective sound. The resemblance between the two was powerful.
The set consisted of three lengthy compositions plus one short encore. The musical was textural and rhythmic, by no means traditional jazz big band writing. If it could be called anything, it would be closer to contemporary classical, but more importantly it is just profoundly expressive music. I definitely look forward to delving deep into the world of Hollenbeck's compositions and performances. Up next: Claudia Quintet at Winter Jazz Fest!!!
