Eurojazzist Randomizer #21: John Hollenbeck | Marta Sanchez | Fluidian
One More triple Pleasure
The first album I’m writing about this week is also the last one I listened to –just a few hours ago. I was scrolling through Instagram with my morning coffee and saw a video on a story posted by Fully Altered Artist, saying that John Hollenbeck had released a new album and that it’s „incredible record“.
I have some very fond listening memories connected to Hollenbeck. When I was just starting to listen to contemporary jazz a little over 20 years ago, one of the first bands I fell in love with was his The Claudia Quintet. I was lucky enough to see them live once as well. Later I also grew to love his large ensembles. And a few years ago I saw his duo performance with Marianne Trudel at Jazzahead! – and that was great too. Somehow I “skipped” the band GEORGE due to the always (too) large amount of new music, but there will be time.
Over these years Hollenbeck has somehow managed to evolve his expression in just the right way – every new project and ensemble sounds fresh and different, while somewhere at the core we still recognize Hollenbeck as a very layered composer and arranger, but also as a musician who bases his music on intriguing rhythmic patterns.
The current album „Peace and Justice мир і справедливість PAZ E JUSTIÇA“ refers in its title to the ongoing wars in the world, and particularly the one taking place in Ukraine. There is plenty of information about the genesis of the album on Bandcamp, and here I would only add that he recorded it with the Portuguese Hot Club Jazz Orchestra. I can’t elaborate much after just one listen, except to say that it is excellent music and, as always, a very creative approach to the large ensemble format. Hollenbeck doesn’t deconstruct it, but somehow manages to find new angles and approaches while respecting the format and tradition.
On Monday I’m travelling to an event called Raške duhovne svečanosti, where I’ll be moderating a talk about a jazz book. The town of Raška is small and located in the not particularly developed southwest of Serbia, about a 3–4 hour drive from Belgrade, so naturally it isn’t on the map of major jazz events. However, on this occasion Spanish pianist Marta Sanchez, who is building a rather nice career in the US, will perform there. She will actually have three dates in Serbia – first at Raške duhovne svečanosti, followed by two appearances at the Belgrade club Bluz & Pivo (one jam session and one trio concert). At the concert I’ll be seeing, she’ll play in a trio with bassist Kanoa Mendenhall and drummer Mark Whitfield Jr. Very cool!
Since I hadn’t kept up enough with her discography over the past couple of years, I checked what had been happening and found her solo album „For the space you left“, released earlier this year by Out of Your Head Records. I was fascinated!
An important aspect of this record is its approach to prepared piano, which doesn’t mean that this is an avant-garde album in the sense of complete improvisation based on sound texture. The preparation is there to enrich the sonic picture, but the focus is on the essential values of solo piano expression based on the holy trinity of composition, arrangement and improvisation. Every segment here seems equally important and effectively highlighted, and Sanchez shines precisely in these fine nuances, in the interplay between melody and sound texture. I’m looking forward to seeing her trio, but I’m also glad that her visit led me to discover this wonderful album.
I’m concluding this week’s Randomizer with a look at the Fluidian project, behind which is Romanian multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Emil Gherasim. I received a message from him a couple of weeks ago, introducing his work. What immediately caught my eye was that he recorded his latest album with Nils Petter Molvær, and that he had previously recorded with Arve Henriksen. Enough for me to make a note and remind myself to listen to the album „Windscapes“ when I had the time.
It is actually a collaborative album with Molvær, featuring compositions by both musicians, which already says enough about the direction of the album itself. However, Molvær doesn’t play on every track, while those on which Emil Gherasim is the only musician irresistibly remind me of some of Eivind Aarset’s more introspective work. In the album credits he is listed as playing „synths & noises, guitar & electronics, piano, sample-based chamber orchestral elements (strings and woodwinds)“, so in that sense his expression is sonically rich and colorful enough, while compositionally it differs from Molvær’s. Although, you could easily think he was a “Scandinavian musician” if you found yourself in a blindfold test.