John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble: Eternal Interlude (2009)

Troy Collins

Senior Contributor since 2006

After hearing Sonny Sharrock's Ask The Ages, there was no turning back.

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Published: August 20, 2009

John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble: Eternal Interlude

In addition to leading the unclassifiable Claudia Quintet and performing numerous sideman duties, composer and percussionist John Hollenbeck is renowned for his inimitable multi-layered writing. Hollenbeck studied under composer Bob Brookmeyer Bob Brookmeyer
1929 - 2011
trombone before charting a unique path in creative improvised music, incorporating elements of minimalism, post-rock and indigenous folk music into his eclectic compositions. As leader of a twenty piece Large Ensemble, he expands the sonic palette of traditional big band writing with his unorthodox approach.

Featuring a series of commissions from jazz orchestras around the globe, Eternal Interlude is the Large Ensemble's sophomore effort, following their debut, A Blessing (Omnitone, 2005). Employing a wide range of instrumental sonorities, these kaleidoscopic pieces invoke the rich tone colors and varied dynamics of contemporary classical music as much as the muscular power of the original big bands.

An aficionado of new music with a predilection for the hypnotic rhythms of the early minimalists, Hollenbeck also serves as regular percussionist for composer Meredith Monk Meredith Monk
b.1943
vocal . Sharing Monk's fascination with the endless timbral potential of the human voice, Hollenbeck employs fellow Monk Vocal Member Theo Bleckmann Theo Bleckmann

vocal as the Ensemble's lead voice, who lends an air of tranquility to even the most forceful proceedings. Though the band can swing like mad, it is their masterful restraint during introspective passages that most impresses. "The Cloud" is indicative—a placid tone poem woven from a billowy mosaic of delicate flutes, somber brass and hushed voices.

Excelling at atmospheric impressionism, the Ensemble also swings old school, demonstrated by the cubist assemblage "Foreign One," a punning play on Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk
1917 - 1982
piano 's "Four In One." Opening with a ramshackle piano line and rousing thicket of horns, the piece vacillates between swirling contrapuntal charts and serene interludes, subtly suggesting Monk's mercurial intervals. Updating the classic Thad Jones Thad Jones
1923 - 1986
trumpet -Mel Lewis Mel Lewis
1929 - 1990
drums big band sound with Frank Zappa Frank Zappa
1940 - 1993
guitar, electric -esque chutzpah, "Perseverance" features a string of vociferous saxophone solos, the leader's pneumatic drumming and intermittent ethereal detours.

Revealing more exotic influences, the ebullient "Guarana" mixes Latin American rhythms with infectious ostinatos, invoking Steve Reich Steve Reich
b.1936
composer/conductor as readily as Gil Evans Gil Evans
1912 - 1988
composer/conductor . The title track offers a summation of Hollenbeck's interests—an epic work that builds from lush pointillism to soaring harmony. Opulent musings ascend to anthem-like intensity as cagey horn arrangements alternate with Bleckmann's dulcet vocalese—a panoramic canvas that Hollenbeck sketches with scintillating color.

Like fellow Brookmeyer graduates Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

composer/conductor and Maria Schneider Maria Schneider

band/orchestra , Hollenbeck strives to preserve the big band tradition by infusing it with novel new ideas. Eternal Interlude is a striking example of the future, today.

Track Listing: Foreign One; Eternal Interlude; Guarana; The Cloud; Perseverance; No Boat.

Personnel: John Hollenbeck: drums, composer, whistling (4); Ben Kono: flute, soprano and alto saxophone, whistling (4); Jimmy Viner: clarinet and tenor saxophone; Tony Malaby: tenor and soprano saxophone; Dan Willis: tenor and soprano saxophone, flute, English horn, whistling (4); Bohdan Hilash: clarinet, bass and contra-alto clarinet, whistling (4); Ellery Eskelin: tenor saxophone (5, 6); Rob Hudson: trombone, whistling (4); Mike Christianson: trombone, whistling (4); Jacob Garchik: trombone, tenor horn (2), whistling (4); Alan Ferber: trombone; Tony Kadleck: trumpet, flugelhorn; Jon Owens: trumpet, flugelhorn, whistling (4); Dave Ballou: trumpet, flugelhorn; Laurie Frink: trumpet, flugelhorn; Kermit Driscoll: acoustic and electric bass; Gary Versace: piano, organ, keyboard; Matt Moran: mallet percussion (1, 3, 4); John Ferrari: mallet percussion (2, 5, 6); Theo Bleckmann: voice, whistling (4); JC Sanford: conductor.

Record Label: Sunnyside Records
Style: Modern Jazz